Democratic donors are planning to spend $20 million to figure out how the Democrats can talk to dudes.
Democrats are viewing men as an exotic species they need to study in order to learn how to speak to them. The party is trying to decode American men and worm their way inside their brains with messaging.
In a long analysis in The New York Times titled “Democrats Are Still Searching For Path Out of the Wilderness,” the newspaper talks about the $20 million initiative with a straight face.
Faced with cratering support among key voter groups (including black Americans), the Democratic Party is investing millions to try to understand and reconnect with one demographic it has steadily lost: The American male.
The effort, code-named SAM, short for Speaking with American Men: A Strategic Plan, reflects growing alarm inside the party about its image, particularly among younger, working-class male voters. Once a reliable part of the Democrat coalition, this group shifted decisively to the right in 2024, helping deliver Donald Trump a second term — this time with a national popular vote win.
SAM’s mission, according to internal documents obtained by The New York Times, is to study the “syntax, language, and content” that resonates with men online, including in male-dominated digital spaces such as gaming platforms and social media forums, and to reshape Democratic messaging to meet the dudes where they are.
The plan marks a significant departure from traditional outreach strategies. It urges the party to abandon what it calls a “moralizing tone” in favor of language that feels authentic and compelling to male voters who have become increasingly alienated from progressive cultural and political narratives, as well as the female-dominated Democratic Party.
One of SAM’s proposed tactics includes placing advertisements inside video games, since that is where young men spend a lot of time and it’s not a place that conventional political media reaches. The goal is not only to get their attention but to counter the influence of so-called “right-wing messaging” that the Democrats believe is happening.
The Democratic Party’s erosion among men is part of a broader trend as in 2024 men of all demographics swung hard to the right. This shift has rattled party strategists, who now see male disengagement as a serious structural liability heading into 2026 and beyond, according to the Times report.
The SAM project reflects a deeper reckoning within the party.
“We lost credibility by being seen as alien on cultural issues,” said Democratic pollster Zac McCrary, warning that even a strong showing in the next election could mask long-term damage.
For Democratic strategist Anat Shenker-Osorio, who has led hundreds of voter focus groups, the solution is simple: Stop navel-gazing and start acting. Voters, she says, “are hungry for people to actually stand up for them — or get caught trying.”
In focus groups conducted by Shenker-Osorio, swing voters often compare political parties to animals.
Republicans are typically described as “apex predators,” such as lions, tigers, or sharks. They are seen as powerful and aggressive. Democrats, by contrast, are likened to slow or passive creatures such as tortoises, sloths, or slugs.
One Georgia voter offered a more pointed comparison, calling Democrats “a deer in headlights,” frozen and helpless even when danger is clearly approaching.
These metaphors reflect how many voters, especially men, perceive Democrats as lacking strength or resolve, according to Shenker-Osorio.
With SAM, the party appears to be testing whether it can speak directly to a group it has spent decades alienating.
