The Democrats’ latest approach to regaining voters is a new embrace of the country’s oldest symbol.
Two days before Flag Day, when President Donald Trump’s military parade runs through Washington, Democrats Pat Ryan (DN.Y.) and Chris Delugio (D-Pa.) incited Thursday afternoon to give their colleagues the gift to unite them.
It was a 4″ x 6″ American flag. Forced to be deleted He was handcuffed at a Homeland Security press conference held in Los Angeles.. ”
The flag made in Pennsylvania at Delgio was messaged by a dear colleague written by West Point alumnus Ryan, who toured two Iraq, and US Navy officer Delgio, who performed three developments there. They joined forces to become co-chair of the first-ever 18 Democratic Veterans Caucus, formed just three days ago.
“Patriotism does not belong to one party,” the letter read. “The flag and the value it represents belong to all Americans.”
As Democrats are looking for messages to refute the Magazine, they are looking within their ranks for reliable messages of overreach by people who hold power.
“We are now handcuffed, so the timing is very appropriate. One of our House colleagues has been charged and is currently being charged. We have deployed the federal government not only against the National Guard, but also against the US citizens, but increasingly, Trump, who is now Republican, and their definition of patriotism, iso Support Trump and Maga? ” Ryan told Politico.
Democrats are looking at the military exhibits taking place in Washington on President Donald Trump’s 78th birthday and on the Army’s 250th birthday. In this week’s speech, even California Gov. Gavin Newsom clasped his criticism of Trump in patriotic terms, saying that he “orders the American hero, the American army, and forces them to force vulgar exhibits to celebrate his birthday, as other failed dictators have done in the past.”
This is the message that they hope to resonate with 90% of counties that transitioned to Republicans last November. Or Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) Put it down Earlier this year, it was time for the Democrats to “take the flag.”
Ahead of the Trump parade, outside groups like the vote are bringing together ex-service men to make a less subtle contrast. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a former naval officer, said, “We’re organising fellow veterans online to call out how Trump puts his ego while Trump fires veterans from federal jobs and encourages the VA. And others who served in the military, like Joanna Mendoza, are running to challenge Rep. Juan Siscommani (R-Ariz) and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.
“Patriotism is not something Democrats should accept, because patriotism is not created by the Republicans,” Moore said in an interview.
Former Transport Secretary Pete Battigigue On Instagram Thursday said, “A flag, a salute to patriotism, or a story of American greatness, is completely hollow if it doesn’t respect the freedom it represents.”
Last month in Iowa, at City Hall hosted by voters from the Democratic Political Action Committee, Buttigieg closed his opening remarks in a long flag meditation on his three-year-old daughter. The former director of the Navy Reserve Bureau, which deployed in Afghanistan for seven months, praised the “values, stories that represent the flag, incredibly rich and inspiring – and yes, a very complicated story, everything that happened under that flag.”
And it comes when the party’s brightest stars include many veterans – entering the governor’s mansion and poised to help Democrats seize their homes.
Rep. Mikie Sheryl, a New Jersey party’s governor candidate, is a former Navy helicopter pilot.
Her candidacy was inspiration A group of female veterans running to Congress in 2026hopes to replicate the success of the 2018 wave by running moderates in national security experience.
And like Buttigieg, other possible 2028 presidential candidates are leaning towards a powerful national symbol. Kelly is also a former astronaut. And then there was Reuben Gallego, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq.
Democrats don’t face easy tasks when trying to get the flag back from the fixture coded right at this time. Change voter sentiment Up to 8 months to the right.
“Last month, Major Paul Eaton (Ret.), a senior adviser to PATEVETS, the PAC that sponsored Buttigieg’s Town Hall, said that the messaging was extremely successful with Pigeonhole rights,” said the less-patriotic (AS) parties.
Mendoza, a retired US Marine, says that when Republicans claim that they are the true party of patriots, they find it “very frustrating.” Medoza said she deliberately chose the colour of her campaign to create the point “They don’t own it and we have to get it back.”
“The Republicans do not own this country, and do not own the American flag,” she said. “It belongs to people.”
Democrats have spent years fighting the perception that they are not patriotic. And it can take just as long to reverse that image.
But “a key part of how we get out of the moment we’re in is military veterans who can help us close the gap,” Ryan said. “That’s why I think this reaffirmation of constructive, unified patriotism is essential right now.”
