As the “vibe shift” takes hold, Democrats who enthusiastically partook in the most extreme “Woke 1” rhetoric find themselves in a bind. Their old statements now seem unhinged. They can admit they were wrong, perhaps with a nod and a wink to how crazy we all went during lockdown. Or they can dig in their heels and stand by their old positions. Neither option is particularly attractive.
If you try to distance yourself from 2020-era statements, you come off as intellectually spineless and willing to go along with whatever’s popular, either because you have no ideas of your own, or because you’re too cowardly to break ranks. Your convenient conversion might also not be believed. As Ms. Hong found, no one buys that a 37-year-old ought not be judged by the beliefs she held as a 31-year-old. Refusing to capitulate feels good, but doesn’t solve the core problem that voters perceive you as an extremist crank.
So what is a plucky, progressive Democrat suffering from a nasty 2020 hangover to do? If it were me, I’d start by deleting my tweets.
Good luck with that — presumably, the craziest stuff from those running in the midterms and (especially) the Dems’ 2028 presidential candidates have all been screencapped by now by opposition researchers.
And for those on the left who reject the word “woke” to describe 2020 and/or their current worldview:
https://t.co/7clXwIDeIt pic.twitter.com/jK7FsDoNQH
— Jarvis (@jarvis_best) August 13, 2026