<\/p>\n
Until recently, American politics operated on a simple premise: Aspiring politicians must suck up to party bosses, run for local office, earn supporters, master policy details and only then earn a shot at higher office.<\/p>\n
That model has collapsed.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s rising stars take a different escalator \u2014 television, social media, podcasts, activism, entertainment or the internet \u2014 that goes straight to the top.<\/p>\n
Their chief currency is not institutional support but the attention economy.<\/p>\n
Which helps explain why Los Angeles now finds itself facing the possibility that Spencer Pratt could make a mayoral runoff.<\/p>\n
Pratt, if you\u2019ve been living under a rock, was one of the villains on the reality show \u201cThe Hills.\u201d He\u2019s also a Republican in a city that is not exactly known for electing Republicans, which means the odds of him actually becoming mayor remain very long.<\/p>\n
But he\u2019s breaking through, and not just because he\u2019s what passes for being famous in the year 2026.<\/p>\n
He talks like an actual person. He sounds angry about things many residents are angry about: crime, homeless \u201czombies\u201d who abuse dogs, wildfires, government dysfunction and the growing suspicion that the incumbent mayor, Karen Bass, is an empty pantsuit.<\/p>\n
To be fair, Pratt is aided by the fact that Bass (who is still the clear frontrunner) is having a hard time persuading many Angelenos that everything is fine when they can see flames, tents and the potholes, despite all those government reports explaining why none of those things are anybody\u2019s fault.<\/p>\n
Pratt has been able to point these things out, not just because he\u2019s personally a victim of the Palisades fire but also because he possesses qualities that conventional politicians can\u2019t buy: passion and authenticity.<\/p>\n
Democrats have their own version of this phenomenon. Think Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani or controversial Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner.<\/p>\n
Sure, their ideologies are different from Pratt\u2019s. So are their backgrounds. What they share is an ability to command attention and outmaneuver better-qualified establishment politicians.<\/p>\n
And more of them are coming.<\/p>\n
After Pratt\u2019s strong showing on Tuesday, Politico\u2019s Alexander Burns published a provocative piece titled, \u201cThe Biggest Threat to JD Vance Is Spencer Pratt<\/u><\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Burns\u2019 point is that Pratt-like candidates are likely the wave of the future, and that his success will likely inspire imitators \u2014 possibly even presidential contenders: \u201cThousands of Americans have bigger public platforms than Pratt did at the start of his race. All of them have access to the same AI hype tools his campaign uses.\u201d<\/p>\n Attention is now the key to political power. The ability to dominate a news cycle is more valuable than the ability to draft a white paper. A viral video can reach more voters than a year\u2019s worth of carefully crafted position statements.<\/p>\n Sara Longwell, the publisher of the Bulwark, frequently conducts focus groups to test the public\u2019s mood. She recently revealed that provocative right-wing influencer and podcaster Candace Owens keeps being organically mentioned as a possible presidential candidate<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n And even if Owens never runs for the Republican nomination in 2028, her fellow podcaster, Tucker Carlson, just might.<\/p>\n Which brings us back to Burns\u2019 Politico piece: If there is \u201ca challenge to an orderly handover of Republican leadership in 2028,\u201d he writes, \u201cit is far less likely to come from one of the usual suspects \u2014 [Marco] Rubio, Ted Cruz, Glenn Youngkin and so on \u2014 than from a Pratt-like fireball aimed at Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s right, but I\u2019m left wondering why the assumption is that this can only happen in the GOP. Why is it that the Democratic version hasn\u2019t sprung from the entertainment industry?<\/p>\n Shouldn\u2019t Gavin Newsom be looking over his shoulder just as much as JD Vance?<\/p>\n Democrats possess a vastly larger reserve of celebrities, yet that never seems to translate into successful candidacies. Why did Paul Newman, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks, The Rock, George Clooney, Matthew McConaughey, et al. take a pass on running for president?<\/p>\n Why has it been the Republican celebrities (see Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger) \u2014 and now reality-TV stars (see Pratt and Trump) \u2014 who have emerged as political candidates?<\/p>\n One theory is that Republicans were simply more vulnerable to a hostile takeover because their institutional defenses were weaker.<\/p>\n In dark-blue California, at least, that certainly rings true.<\/p>\n Perhaps Democrats are, paradoxically, too rigidly hierarchical \u2014 too skilled at gatekeeping and incumbent protection \u2014 for their own good. Strong institutions may be excellent at preventing chaos right up until the moment they desperately need someone chaotic enough to rescue them.<\/p>\n Because if there\u2019s one thing Democrats could use at the moment, it\u2019s a charismatic figure to rise from these streets (or at least from a podcast studio) to solve their problems. Someone who could magically erase the perception that they\u2019re preachy, uncool and permanently trapped as the nation\u2019s cultural hall monitor.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, the gods rarely send a deus ex machina <\/i>when requested. More often, it seems, they send a deeply flawed reality-TV star.<\/p>\n Matt K. Lewis is the author of \u201c<\/i>Filthy Rich Politicians<\/i><\/a>\u201d and \u201c<\/i>Too Dumb to Fail<\/i><\/a>.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.latimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Until recently, American politics operated on a simple premise: Aspiring politicians must suck up to party bosses, run for local office, earn supporters, master policy details and only then earn a shot at higher office. That model has collapsed. 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