Dividing the Overdogs

H/T Practical Radicals

“Underdogs prevail by uniting with each other and taking advantage of or creating divisions among overdogs.” - Practical Radicals by Deepak Bhargava and Stephanie Luce

Julie: It seems like we are in a moment of growing divisions among overdogs (those with the most power, currently dominating). Let’s take a look at that and see where the hopeful opportunities may lie, starting with the surprising Trump-Mamdani Oval Office “love fest.” This BBC article described it well: “The cordial relations on display… may complicate efforts by Republicans to use the self-described democratic socialist as a bogeyman in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections, when control of the US Congress will be up for grabs.” Trump, as he often does, went off script - creating a potential divide with MAGA and his party. I’m curious how that will play out.

Traci: Yes, I still don’t trust that the cordial meeting will offer NYC protection against ICE raids in the greatest city of immigrants, but I agree that it may complicate things for the party who wants to leverage “socialism” against Democratic candidates. There are so many cracks in the Republican MAGA juggernaut, that it’s hard to capture them all – but the fact that so much media coverage was dedicated to not only covering this meeting, but to dissecting Trump’s bizarre response as you describe from that BBC article, is really important. We’re even seeing this in the conservative media landscape, whether it’s Joe Rogan critiquing Trump over the Epstein files, Tucker Carlson critiquing US support for Israel, or Candace Owens attacking the FBI over their investigation of Charlie Kirk’s murder – it feels like some strange bedfellows are emerging.

Julie: Perhaps lost in the pre-Thanksgiving news was the fact that a Texas district court ruled that Texas’s newly gerrymandered Congressional maps are unconstitutional. While this isn’t the last word on the topic, it’s a surprising setback for the Trump regime’s most blatant attempt to rig the game in the 2026 elections.

Let’s stay in the south for a moment and look at the Tennessee special election. Republican Matt Van Epps beat Democrat Aftyn Behn by roughly nine points. When compared to the 22 point margin Trump carried in that district in 2024, the Democratic candidate shrunk that margin by a lot - another seed of hope. And speaking of strange bedfellows, we have another major division in the south: Marjorie Taylor Green’s very bitter breakup with Trump, starting primarily over the Epstein files, but continuing to her objections over the Republican budget and cuts to Medicaid. Talk about a division of the overdogs!

Traci: That’s right, Julie, and fortunately for us, I think Green’s post-Congress plans include continuing to be an anti-Trump gadfly. Meanwhile, inside the halls of Congress we see both House and Senate Republicans with very slim margins increasingly challenged by a few of their members who are finding a spine. We recently wrote about the Republicans who voted with the Democrats to release the Epstein files. But in the last few weeks we have also seen Republican Senators outlining their concerns about U.S. actions on the coast of Venezuela and rejecting the Trump regime’s tariff plan. And recent news stories make it clear Green is not the only GOP woman willing to stand up. Per the NYT, “a small group of G.O.P. women have been among the most vocal in raising what their colleagues say is a broader frustration with the speaker” with examples of complaints from Rep. Nancy Mace, Elise Stefanik and Anna Paulina Luna. More and more Members complaining openly about House Republican Speaker Johnson’s leadership provides another opening to divide the overdogs.

Julie, what, if anything, do you think we should be doing to maximize the impact of these divisions?

Julie: Well, for one thing, I think we can see that the public pressure is working. I know we have heard questions from others, and debated for ourselves, whether things like No Kings protests, boycotts, and other resistance actions are really effective. I say, keep up that pressure - it is creating important space and validation for dissent and division against the immoral and cruel actions of this regime.

With so many people scared to defy Trump over the last 12 months, this also feels like an opening for more folks to state where they disagree. As hard as it is to graciously accept opposition from people who really should have known better a long time ago, I think we need to keep watching it play out, and be more open to folks evolving. I’m not saying we forget about legitimate policy disagreements or extend more trust than has been earned, but now is not the moment for the knee-jerk judging and “cancelling” we’ve seen in recent years. It’s time to make room for holding onto contradictory things - a moment to hold space for more paradox (I appreciated this substack from Paul T. Shattuck that really spelled this out).

And above all, keep pushing those divisions, while we maintain our solidarity focusing on a better, more just future.