The other path for the American Democrats: the hardliners are starting to make their move

In the Sergio Leone-style Western saloon that American politics resembles today, there is a growing desire to respond to the quintessential villain, Donald Trump, with a tough-guy attitude. The Democrats are trialling this new approach, attempting to stand up to the White House or the Pentagon by flashing icy stares and adopting a ‘finger on the trigger’ stance à la Clint Eastwood – and it seems to be working, judging by how effectively they manage to infuriate Trump or his Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. It is a strategy that is bringing a pair of ‘gunslingers’ – Mark Kelly and Jon Ossoff – into the spotlight; many already see them as a presidential ticket, and it is also opening up opportunities for hardliners with a different approach, such as Rahm Emanuel or Gavin Newsom.

In a summer marked by the rise of the Democratic Socialists – the progressive wing led by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, which continues to rack up victories in the primaries for the mid-term elections – the opposition party is pondering how to chart a course that will take it back to the White House. There is widespread scepticism about whether a shift to the left is a winning strategy. The Democratic establishment, which hopes to control Congress over the next two years, would feel more reassured by centrist presidential candidates with executive experience, such as Governors Josh Shapiro (Pennsylvania), J. B. Pritzker (Illinois), Gretchen Whitmer (Michigan) or the young and charismatic Wes Moore (Maryland). But through a barrage of attacks on Trump and well-orchestrated social media campaigns, a third camp is emerging, straddling the line between the socialists and the establishment. The trailblazer has been California’s outgoing governor, Gavin Newsom, who has long since repositioned himself as a left-wing ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) figure. This new camp comprises the ‘tough guys’ with a story to tell and charisma to spare, of whom Senator Kelly from Arizona and Senator Ossoff from Georgia are the most interesting examples.

On Tuesday evening, they held a joint rally in Atlanta which many observers saw as a preview of an ‘Ossoff-Kelly 2028’ ticket, although Kelly joked with Politico about who should be considered the leader and who the deputy: ‘Why did you put us in that order?’. Ossoff is up for re-election in November; Kelly is not standing in this election and is helping some colleagues by sharing his own story. A fighter pilot during the first Gulf War, an astronaut and shuttle pilot, and husband of former Democratic Congresswoman Gabby Giffords – who survived an assassination attempt – Kelly, aged 62, now holds the Arizona Senate seat once occupied by John McCain, and bears a resemblance to him as a public figure. His profile has risen in recent months following a bitter clash – including in court – with Pentagon chief Hegseth, who seeks to demote him and strip him of his pension for urging military personnel to refuse orders they deem illegal.

“I don’t think anything illustrates the times more appropriately,” said Ossoff as he introduced Kelly, “than the fact that the corrupt, draft-dodging president, who has recklessly plunged our nation into a war he doesn’t know how to end or win, has sought to imprison this man, who embodies American heroism.” This attack comes just a few days after Trump was accused of being a layabout who thinks only of playing golf, building ballrooms “and travelling with Natalie on the aeroplane given to him by the Emir of Qatar”: a mischievous reference to the President’s personal assistant, Natalie Harp, who has been at the centre of a bitter clash between Ossoff and the White House for days. The 39-year-old senator from Georgia is emerging as a new Obama-esque figure; he possesses oratory skills similar to those of the former president, has a campaign logo reminiscent of Obama’s famous 2008 ‘O’, is a shrewd strategist when it comes to his own image, and manages to slip one or two phrases into every speech that go viral on social media and infuriate the White House.

Kelly is the perfect partner for Ossoff’s hard-hitting narrative and already seems to be practising his White House campaign speeches. “I had a president who tried to charge me with conspiracy,” says the Arizona senator. “The Iraqis fired missiles at my plane. I’ve nearly crashed several times. I’ve flown four times on a spacecraft built by the company that submitted the lowest bid. My wife nearly got killed whilst doing the same job I do now. I’ve been through many ups and downs. All of this has taught me a great deal about keeping on fighting for this country.”

Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s former chief of staff, former mayor of Chicago, recent ambassador to Japan and almost certainly set to run for the presidency, also falls into the ‘tough guy’ category. A born fighter with a boxer’s approach, Emanuel now, however, plays the tough guy mainly with his own people. He is one of the harshest critics of the choices the Democrats have made in recent years; he rejects ‘woke’ excesses and is also opposed to building the entire political message solely around attacking Trump. For 2028, he wants strong messages, few culture wars and plenty of solutions to people’s problems. He lacks Ossoff’s charisma, but in interviews he comes across as a rough-and-ready realist, a trait that appeals to many in the party.