A Campaign To Crush Corrupt Power
There’s a reason most people don’t go anywhere near this fight. It’s not just the money or the power—it’s the network behind it, the quiet understanding that some doors are never supposed to be opened. And yet, Nicole Locklin is doing exactly that.
Not with vague slogans or performative outrage, but by stepping directly into a space where influence has long operated without scrutiny—and asking questions that make very powerful people uncomfortable. The real story isn’t just who she’s taking on. It’s what starts to come into focus once you look closely at how their world actually works.
In other words, “I want the rest of you cowboys to know something—there’s a new sheriff in town. And his name is Reggie Hammond.” Sorry, folks, I’m an ‘80s kid. I still love Eddie Murphy in 48 Hours. But the bit about the new sheriff? That could not be more apropos here.
Hopefully the new sheriff—or sheriffs I should say—are in time to save our malfunctioning monopoly known as the United States of America. You see, a new crop of Democrats has broken free from prison. No it has not been behind bars. But in their heads. That Panopticon pulsating with self-doubt, discretion-over-aggression, and the ongoing act of balancing a stack of plates on your head while Republicans launch Tomahawk Missiles at you.
And that’s where Nicole comes in. I got the chance to interview her this week. Nicole is…how shall I say it…everything the Democratic Party needs. The kinda candidate we could use in every race. Let 1000 Nicoles bloom. Now let me explain why.
[Disclosure: I worked with Nicole Locklin for Congress on their launch. Additional disclosure: I’ve worked with others, yet this is the first one I’ve written about. Because she’s that good]
Nicole is the kind of brilliant, hard-charging, charismatic rock star that goes straight after Republicans and billionaires—the conjoined twins of American corruption. She talks constantly about how their venality’s led to illicit wars. Illegal trade wars. And cuts to healthcare, childcare, and any program not benefitting those who—no matter how hard they look—just can’t seem to find that perfect third yacht.
She is pointing directly at the billionaire predators, “The Epstein Class” as she/we call this addled herd, blaming them directly for preying on us. Our wages. Our jobs. Our right to vote. Our housing. Our privacy. Our girls. Nicole is right over the bullseye.
No mealy-mouthed half-messages or platitudes. No back flips to avoid offending a donor or corporate-media asshole who’ll never give a Democrat a fair shake anyhow. No bowing to cretinous blobs who’ve turned our Oval Office into their gold rush. She tells voters exactly what’s happened to us. Who’s responsible and must be held accountable. And how she’ll fix it. We call these stories. It’s how normal people who don’t poll-test vacation locations communicate.
Let’s come back to Nicole in a second. I wanna tell you a quick story of my own. It’s about why I’ve screamed for two decades about how Democrats must be more aggressive, in policy and message. Use advantages. Show no mercy for GOP fasc-bots. Go for the jugular.
For a quarter century the default expectation has been Republicans fight til the death, Democrats file (strongly-worded!) letters til dinnertime. C’mon, they wouldn’t want to be disrespectful! So a Republican shares blood libel with a deranged fairy tale of “post-birth abortion” (it’s not a thing, that’s called murder). A Democrat responds with a hearty laugh and a “that’s so ridiculous” like they’re Ricky Ricardo.
Instead of delivering the verbal beatdown any MAGA chud deserves for sharing this sick, conspiratorial lie—which has led to actual mass murder. For example, those murdered by a delusional zealot who attacked a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood.
Look, folks, I know this game personally. I lived it. I was invited on all the shows in the early 2000s. But nobody told me I was supposed to be a patsy because I was a Democrat. And if they had, I would’ve told them where they could shove that little slice of un-wisdom.
So here’s a story you won’t hear elsewhere.
One time, in 2004-5, I went on Hannity & Colmes. As in Sean Hannity. World renowned liar and low-rent prick. Sean kept attacking Democrats personally, so I started in on Republicans, and then on him. Sean never went to college. Which makes no difference to me—two of my smartest friends never went to college. But I knew it bothered Sean.
By the time the show was ending, we were trading barbs during the closing credits. He called me an “asshole” and banned me from the show. Forever. Poor Sean-y boy.
🚨 CLIFF’S NOTE
I’m about to break down how the system works behind the scenes to stifle liberal dissent—patterns, corporate-media bias, how I experienced it personally.
You won’t hear this on cable news.
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I would go on these shows to assert Democratic messaging and respond to GOP lies, taking on those who’d continue to haunt our politics; a future top Trump election-denying lawyer, and Trump’s current craptastic pollster). When they lied, I mocked them. Insulted them. Used an onslaught of facts to make them look stupid. And had fun doing it!
But these busy little bees—wussified MAGAs-in-waiting—they didn’t respond to being humiliated on live tv by telling the truth. Instead, they rigged the system—by running to the stations and whining about how mean I was. In particular, MSNBC, at the time featuring shows hosted by Tucker Carlson, Alan Keyes, and Michael Horowitz, among the overall lineup of gentlemen and scholars. Because, as always, the corporate-owned media outlet had no idea what it wanted to be.
Now as you know, Republicans are never mean except for every moment of every day when they’re mean. And I didn’t play my (apparently) expected role of “Democrat who giggles as Republican lies and assassinates character.” So I was banned from MSNBC. I know this because a primetime host at the time—no, it wasn’t David Shuster—shared that I was on “the list” they gave hosts. The list was those who were not to be booked (lest a Republican cry?). And I was on it for a a number of years.
I didn’t care all that much. If the dictate was be a purposeful loser. Embrace humiliation as kink (see JD Vance). Act like every cringe Republican now lying prone before Trump because he’s sooooo sca-wy! Yeah, I wasn’t doing that. I’ll never do that. I don’t play for The Washington Generals.
I tell you this because things are changing. Increasingly, many Democrats loudly offer clear policy alternatives. Use emotional language. Show aggressiveness in taking on Republicans. Keep their narrative simple. It’s been an evolving process, sped up by carrot-colored Caligula regaining his crown of cockspur—or should I say bone spur—thorns. I’ve done all I can to fast-forward the process on Blue Amp Media’s YouTube and Substack. So have many others.
It mostly started in 2016-ish with a few Democrats who grew tired of getting their teeth kicked in. And a growing coalition of creators, columnists, activists, pundits and others not holding political office. We all got that politics isn’t a damn white paper. It’s a story.
Stories don’t work if the villain’s some vague “systemic challenge” floating in the ether. Voters don’t rally against a PowerPoint. They rally against corrupt power. To put it simply: a bad guy. So instead of mumbling about “concerns” and “process.” Instead of saying “shame on you” to those who feel no shame when reading from a Manchurian Candidate script—Donald Trump is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known—about a man who makes sponges seem complex, do as we’ve have done around campfires for thousands of years. Tell stories.
Many in Democratic leadership still aren’t there. Whether it’s due to internal weakness, fear of donors, addiction to a past that no longer exists…it doesn’t really matter: What matters is Democratic fighters have decided they’re just gonna go ahead and take care of it themselves. Fighters like Jon Ossoff, James Talarico, Chris Murphy, Ted Lieu, Jasmine Crockett, Jamie Raskin, Tammy Duckworth, Chris Van Hollen, Gavin Newsom, J.B. Pritzker, and more. Many more. And growing.
From leftists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to center-left liberals like Dan Goldman, they’re doing something revolutionary: telling the truth plainly. Naming who’s screwing people over and calling for them to be held accountable. And explaining exactly how they’re going to do that, while enacting real change.
And this is where Nicole Locklin comes in. Running for Congress in Florida’s 26th District against longtime district dingbat, Mario Diaz-Balart. He’s been credibly accused of committing mortgage fraud. His favorite posture when “what Trump said” comes up is to offer nothing. Alligator Alcatraz (in the district)? He’s got nothing to say. Healthcare? Zip. But he did vote to kill Obamacare. The Epstein Files Transparency Act? Not a bother in the world, for Mario (and he voted against it).
Meanwhile, Nicole gets that Balart is part of this awful system, there is a bigger context, and message, here. It’s about taking on MAGA and billionaire corruption creating an affordability crisis. This isn’t optional, it’s 101 level politics. Republicans have understood this forever, even when peddling well-done Trump Steaks with ketchup. As Democrats spent years submitting grant proposals to committee—the voters—who didn’t get why the cochleae of their inner ears were processing some dreary lecture they never signed up for.
Humans are wired for narrative. Beginning, middle, end. Hero, villain, conflict, resolution.
So with candidates like Nicole you’re seeing messaging sharpen into something voters can feel in their bones: Republicans and their billionaire backers are bad actors—taking our rights, rigging our economy, protecting corruption—and Democrats are the ones fighting back. Anti-corruption framing, which even Democratic leadership’s finally using, is breaking through. Because it gives people something tangible to latch onto. Not vibes. Not jargon. A fight.
And it turns out showing passion, that you care, isn’t just rhetorical flair. It’s authentic. It’s natural. It’s human. Who knew??
Nicole’s is leaning directly into affordability. She’s calling out Epstein Class mooks making life unaffordable for those living in neighborhoods across her district. That’s the key. She doesn’t just say “costs are too high.” She says who is raising them. She doesn’t just say “healthcare is broken.” She says exactly who broke it. And then she tells voters exactly what she’s gonna do about it.
It’s not complicated. It’s just been weirdly absent from too many of our campaigns. It no longer is. Thanks to incumbents and candidates like Nicole Locklin. And when you do it right, you don’t sound angry for the sake of being angry—you sound like someone who gets the problem and has the guts to fix it.
Look, Republicans cheat. We know this. It’s all they know because the public hates their policies, and rightfully think their President acts like an asshole. If Democrats stay aggressive on both offense and defense—and ignore leadership if they boo-hoo about it—the GOP’s cheating may net them nothing. The lines may crumble as they did in Hungary. With the kind of election we should have if Democrats do this, even a few stolen seats won’t make a difference. In fact, the blatant cheating’s only served to remind Americans why they hate Trump and his puppets running Congress.
Gerrymandering can tilt the playing field, it can’t save you from a political wipeout.
Look, Trump is in the Epstein files more than Jesus is in the bible. He gives no bid contracts to his billionaire, predator pals, and cuts SNAP, Medicare, Medicaid and more to fund his corruption. He’s the most corrupt President ever—it’s not close. He started and lost a war in Iran. He’s wrecked farms, ranches, and small businesses with dumbass tariffs and by deporting workers. Gas prices are insane.
Name an issue, he’s on the wrong side. Abortion, gun safety, gay rights, global warming, minimum wage, taxing billionaires, workers’ wages, universal healthcare, family & medical leave, drug policy, NATO membership. And sending out images of himself as Jesus. Wow, did that ever land like a lead zeppelin, Trump, you schmuck.
We’ve seen it in Hungary—and we’ve seen it in recent U.S. off-year races. Republicans thought structural advantages would help them float safely above fair elections. When the results poured in they came crashing to Earth like they were guided by Trump’s FAA. When voters clearly understand who’s hurting them and who’s fighting for them, they show up. Big. And when they show up, math changes fast.
Democrats don’t need to reinvent politics—they just need to stop talking like academics or consultants and start speaking like Nicole Locklin. Human beings in a fight for liberal democracy. The rule of law. Not being Putin puppets. If that happens, there will be no lines gerrymandered enough for Republicans to save their broken arses in November. The warranty’s run out.
If you’ve made it this far, you get it.
This is about understanding how power operates—and why it’s so often unchecked. That’s what we do here. Every day.
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Thank you Supriya Kang, MD, the real pambo, Jean Marie Gunner, PaulM, Laura K, and many others for tuning into my live video with Cliff Schecter and Nicole Locklin for US Congress! Join me for my next live video in the app.
