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Democrats have changed tactics and it seems to be paying off. One of the lessons that Democrats learned from 2024 is running a bunch of ads and assuming the voters understand and get it is not the most effective strategy.
In 2025, with Trump back in the White House, Democrats and their progressive allies have been taking their message to the voters face-to-face. Democrats aren’t just staying in blue or purple areas, they are heading to some of the most conservative states and districts in the country to deliver the message that the Republican controlled federal government isn’t working for them.
Rep. Ro Khanna is taking this message to one of the reddest states in the country by visiting South Carolina.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) is taking his “benefits over billionaires” tour to South Carolina next week, holding town halls in GOP districts in the deep south.
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Khanna will also use the trip to troll Republicans and talk directly to some of their voters, including those who rely on Medicaid.
Khanna will participate alongside Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.) in town hall meetings in the districts of Republicans Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and William Timmons (R-S.C.).
Timmons’ district is more solidly Republican, but Democrats are eyeing Mace’s seat.
“The Mace one is a winnable district, light red,” Khanna said. “That’s exactly the type of district which we could win if we put in the effort, but it’s not a give-me.”
It was very nice of Republicans to put the most significant issue of the 2026 and maybe 2028 election in policy terms by passing a massive tax cut for the rich that is in part paid for by cuts to services for everyone else.
The divide among the electorate should not be red versus blue, but the billionaires versus everyone else. A lot of people in South Carolina are going to be harmed by the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, and Democrats are showing up in the state to tell Republican voters what their representatives have done to them.
The most impactful contact that can be made with voters is in-person contact, and Democrats are going to be in Republican districts through election day 2026, spreading the message.
What do you think of Rep. Khanna’s South Carolina town halls? Join the conversation in the comments below.
