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Democrats will spend the next two years in the political wilderness — locked out of power in the White House and both chambers of Congress, lacking a clear party leader and, at the moment, navigating terrible approval ratings, including by their own voters.

What’s to be done? 

For Nevada Democrats, the answer seems to be posting (or, more professionally, changing up their media strategies). 

The News of the Week: Democratic messaging

We’re little more than a month into the second Donald Trump administration, and political dynamics are already being scrambled. A Quinnipiac University poll from last week indicated that voters are frustrated with just about everyone — Trump, Elon Musk and both parties in Congress had negative approval ratings.

But the biggest losers of the poll were congressional Democrats, who hit an all-time low approval rating of just 21 percent. It’s not just Republicans who don’t like them — Democrats’ approval rating among their own voters is 9 points underwater.

A quick peek at social media, and it’s not hard to see why. Liberals are upset by what they view is an anemic response to the frenetic pace of the Trump administration, the influence of unelected Musk, the chaos of mass firings and federal funding freezes and Trump’s Cabinet picks. They want Democrats to do something to stop it — and they’re frustrated that Trump’s agenda is moving apace.

The Democrats most able to do something are state attorneys general — they’re the ones fighting Trump’s policies in court, notching some notable victories already. 

But congressional Democrats — minorities in both chambers of Congress — have thus far been fairly powerless to stop Trump and Musk from taking a chainsaw to the federal government.

So many elected Democrats are hoping that improved messaging can help meet the gap — and they’re trying to expand the methods by which they deliver that message.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who leads Senate Democrats’ messaging arm and who has a robust online presence, took his colleagues through a presentation in the early days of the Trump administration about how often they should be posting to each social media platform. Having witnessed Trump’s effective strategy of appearing on podcasts during the campaign, they’re now more proactively seeking out influencers and podcast opportunities. 

Will it be enough? Democrats think they have a strong message, homing in on Musk in particular as an unelected billionaire accessing citizens’ personal data, Republicans’ efforts to cut Medicaid and continued rising costs, particularly of eggs. 

But where they deliver that message may matter just as much.

“In states like Nevada, where voters are focused on their lives and what’s happening in them, we've got to make sure that we're reaching them and using local media to do so,” Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) said in an interview. “Using local newsletters, figuring out podcasts, radio — all the different things where we can actually reach them to our communities.”

The Nevada Angle

Democrats in the Nevada delegation have been experimenting with new ways to connect. Cortez Masto started a new YouTube series last week, posting a 16-minute long video discussing the impacts of federal funding cuts with Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and breaking down clips into YouTube Shorts. 

Not a natural camera seeker, Cortez Masto’s YouTube following and initial views are still relatively small, but a comment from Booker (“We need more conversations like this and leaders like you!”) suggests that it’s the kind of post he wants to see his colleagues making.

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), meanwhile, recently appeared in a 15-minute segment on the “I’ve Had It” pop culture podcast, hosted by two Oklahoman women with about half a million YouTube subscribers and who previously had Kamala Harris as a guest.

Authenticity — real or perceived — is the coin of the realm for competing online. Fresh off of a re-election win, Rosen (who’s pretty media-trained) spoke a little more loosely, dropping a few PG-13 curse words and ragging on her Republican colleagues while remaining on message going after Musk and high prices. 

“We don’t know what he’s doing there, but we need to demand he gets the hell out,” Rosen said of Musk. “Nobody elected him and nobody trusts him.”

When asked if there was anything Democrats could do to stop Musk and Trump, Rosen encouraged voters to “flood the zone” the way Trump has, bombarding Republicans’ phone lines and inboxes. The video has a little more than 100,000 views on YouTube. 

All of the Democratic delegation members are experimenting more with direct-to-camera short form videos as well. 

Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) said she’s focused on featuring the stories of affected people, such as fired federal workers at Lake Mead, and has been encouraging more to reach out. But she acknowledged that messaging — no matter the medium — may take time to register with voters.

“I think that right now, people haven’t felt the pain [of Trump’s actions],” she said. 

“We're going to tie it back to [the fact that] not one thing they're doing is going to bring down the price of gas at home, bring down your groceries at the grocery store, or bring down your housing costs,” Lee continued. “That's what they ran on, and that's what they got elected on … it's going to be a while.”

And while some Democrats are trying to use more national platforms, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) is leaning into the standard approach — going hyperlocal. Horsford appeared at 15 events while the House was on recess last week, posting videos along the way of his visits to Black-owned restaurants in the Historic Westside of Las Vegas, the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas and the Pahrump VA Clinic.

“People want to be heard,” Horsford said. “They want a channel to express what's happening to them. And they want to know their representative is actually fighting for them.”

The Impact

Members of the Nevada delegation are not the household names that some of their colleagues are, and so high engagement on social media isn’t going to come immediately. But they have two years to try to make their case before the next round of elections.

To get a sense of their reach right now (on official accounts):

6. Mark Amodei (18K X followers; 2.5K Instagram followers; 20 YouTube subscribers)

5. Steven Horsford (20.7K X followers; 6.5K Instagram followers; 580 YouTube subscribers; 6K TikTok followers)

4. Susie Lee (35.4K X followers; 6K Instagram followers; 440 YouTube subscribers)

3. Dina Titus (49.9K X followers; 7K Instagram followers; 220 YouTube subscribers)

2. Jacky Rosen (53.4K X followers; 13.4K Instagram followers; 650 YouTube subscribers)

1. Catherine Cortez Masto (75.3K X followers; 15.7K Instagram followers; 1.5K YouTube subscribers)

Around the Capitol

🚤Lake Mead layoff fallout — After 13 employees at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area were laid off as part of the federal firing spree, Lee is asking House Natural Resources chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR) to push back against staff cuts at the lake, which is the ninth most visited site in the entire National Parks System. In a letter with Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo copied, Lee said that the firings are threatening the site’s ability to welcome visitors and test the reservoir’s water.

🌊Senators join GOP on offshore drilling — Republicans have begun using the Congressional Review Act process, which allows them to overturn recently approved regulations from the Biden administration. In the Senate, Cortez Masto, Rosen and Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) joined all Republicans in overturning a Biden-era regulation mandating oil and gas companies undergo archaeological studies before beginning offshore drilling.

In an interview with Politico, Rosen said her vote was intended to “right-size regulations.”

What I’m Reading

E&E News: Dems join Republicans to torpedo Biden offshore drilling rule

The race is on for Republicans to repeal Biden-era rules written in 2024 — and in this first test, Nevada’s two senators joined the effort.

The Nevada Independent: Nevada Republican Gov. Lombardo speaks out against GOP’s possible Medicaid cuts

What happens in Washington matters in Carson City.

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nevada wants to make it illegal for school employees to aid ICE

But will what happens in Carson City matter in Washington? (Or rather, the ICE field offices in Nevada?)

Notable and Quotable

“Everybody talks behind his back … all the Republicans.”
— Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), on Donald Trump, to the “I’ve Had It” podcast

Vote of the Week

H.Con.Res.14 — On Agreeing to the Resolution, as Amended: Establishing the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2025 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2026 through 2034

This is House Republicans’ controversial budget measure, which directs the Energy and Commerce Committee to cut $880 billion — a metric impossible to achieve without cutting Medicaid.

AMODEI: Yes

HORSFORD: No

LEE: No

TITUS: No