A Stolen Playbook

In the world of politics, strategists prefer tried-and-true methods. They rarely dive into the unknown – unless someone else was bold and wild enough to try it with success. Then any party is happy to co-opt that strategy and call it their own.

In 2016, after gliding down an escalator, Donald Trump blamed the challenges of America and misfortunes of some Americans on immigrants. In particular, he called out Mexicans as the ones “sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with them. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”

Blaming immigration for societal challenges ignited a country-wide fire that spread. Ironically, after Mitt Romney lost the bid for election four short years earlier, the Republican Party focused on courting the Latino vote. Then, this reality star saunters up to the microphone, throws out a line or two loaded with hatred and more than a tinge of racism, and it landed for many while incensing the other side. It was a visible target that the disgruntled could affix their crosshairs to and the other side could be disgusted by.

Trump gave life to a boogeyman. We went from Joe the plumber, a man struggling to make ends meet that many could appreciate, to Miguel, the dark-skinned Guatemalan who trekked through Mexico, crossed over to America illegally, is mowing lawns and doing odd jobs to give himself and his family a better life. Now, an entire voting group want you to believe he is the reason why we are paying more for bread and eggs and crime seems to be rampant.

Since that time, illegal entry, borders and crimes by immigrants have been the central issue on which the Republicans have campaigned. The easiest mark has been the border to our south, Mexico. Unemployment, inflation, crime, interest rates, health care are all a result of illegal immigrants. The boogeyman.

‘Build a wall’ was a tactile project coupled with a catchy slogan that all could rally behind. The inherent racism and hatred behind it were ignored since the primary message was trying to help America and Americans.

When pushed on this issue, Republicans claimed they love Latinos but despise the policies of the country that allow illegals to come to America and the party here that legislates pathways for those immigrants free of repercussions.

Our campaigns morphed from the idea of an immoral concept to blaming a supposed immoral people.

Fast forward to 2026. The left flank of the Democratic Party realizes the success of this playbook. Unthinkable a decade before, the progressives must vilify a new enemy. Like in 2016, this enemy must be personified. It must be a version of Miguel, the dark-skinned, illegal Latino. Not a concept or a law, rather their version of a boogeyman.

On the progressive side, the criminal is wealth. The immoral is success. Money and power are bad things that are corrupt to its core. Strength leads to oppression and should be scorned. These characteristics are personified by white-ness, affluence, accomplishment and influence. Who better personifies that description than the Jew in America? Who better than the slick suited, smooth English speaking, white man, Bibi Netanyahu?!

Since World War II, Jews have punched far above their weight class. While teetering at 2% of the population in America, we are close to 10% of Congress for more than 30 years, (6% of Congress and 9% of Senate identify as Jewish). There is Jewish representation in all four major sports ownership, where 30% of owners in all are Jewish. It is 50% in the NBA!

Almost 25% of the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest people in the country identify as Jewish and more than 54% earn more than double the median income in America.  58% of Jewish Americans hold higher degrees and the listing of Jewish doctors and attorneys and Fortune CEOs is askew for 2% of the population.

Israel, a country of 8 million people, is reported on or about more than China, Russia, Canada, Mexico and Australia combined. All said countries have ten times the land mass and population of Israel. Ethiopia, which is home to more than 140 million people, and almost all inhabitants live beneath the poverty line, is mentioned 1/1000^th of the time in major and minor media sources.

When it comes to towering strength, the Jew represents perfectly. And it is the perfect target for vilification along with the small strip of land called Israel. 78 years young and a military and technology superpower on par with China, Russia and the United States are perfect elements for demonstrating might and force. Another disproportionate success.

The left flank of the Democratic Party has in essence stolen the playbook from the other team. In place of ‘Mexico’, ‘build a wall’ and the fictional ‘Miguel’ sneaking over the fence, the anti-hero is the learned, successful, ‘Zionist’. The political mechanism that helps to advocate for Israel is the low-hanging target, ‘AIPAC’, open for rapid and continued fire. The ‘Jew’ is the reason for eggs and bread being expensive. Border jumping has been replaced with a false genocide and paying for illegal citizens’ health care has been substituted for paying to promote apartheid.

The rhetoric increasingly portrays Zionists, Jewish institutions, and pro-Israel organizations as symbols of broader social injustice. Whether intentionally or not, this mirrors an earlier political strategy of attaching complex economic and social frustrations to a highly visible group.

Mamdani and El Sayed double dip. As extreme progressives, they can denigrate Zionists while staying true to their propagandized and radicalized beliefs of hating Israel. Graham Platner could keep with this detestation of Jews by expressing views worn on his sleeve that are consonant with the tattoo on his chest. It cuts in all directions, regardless of where one’s Jew-hatred stems from. Couple these politicians with campus activists and social media influencers peddling for clicks and you have a perfect brew of a revulsion that worked wonders for Pharoah, Ferdinand and Goebbels and then brought their country to rubble.

But make no mistake, the growing list of cowardly Democrats like Nancy Pelosi, Jake Auchincloss and Jamie Raskin who voted to defund offensive AND defensive protections from Israel just weeks ago, were doing so to vilify the perceived powerful and criminalize the successful. They were playing the same playbook as 2016, except this time, on the other side of the pendulum. Hurt Israel. Punish the Jews.  ‘They are the reason for your suffering and upset’ is the unspoken subtitle to the progressive campaign. Meanwhile, the voting history and full-throated pledges of former supporters vanished when presented with a chance to be a cause-célèbres or stay relevant for another day.  How ironic for a gaggle of white, educated, successful people, some who are even Jewish.

America was built on creating ideas and lifting people up. Not by debasing people and blaming others for misfortune. Campaigns have been won and lost on concepts, beliefs, legislation, and positions. Not on hate. Jews have read this book before and we are too familiar with how it ends. Of course, badly for us. But also, horribly for the country that espouses those tactics.

The crime of the masses is not only following a morally bankrupt playbook that has worked in recent history. It is staying silent to the hypocrisy and actions of those espousing this strategy.