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A Democratic commentator is warning that his party has not built anything close to the political machine that Charlie Kirk created for conservatives and that his party must “change course urgently” to win the next generation.
The assessment comes from Kaivan Shroff, a political commentator, attorney, and online influencer, in a Sept, 23 op-ed for MSNBC. Shroff argued that while Kirk has often been remembered for his fiery debating style, the more significant legacy is the infrastructure he left behind through Turning Point USA.
“Kirk created a lasting political infrastructure for young conservatives that Democrats have yet to match,” Shroff wrote.
Shroff recalled his own work as press secretary for Dream for America, a group formed to counter TPUSA, saying he saw firsthand how far-reaching Kirk’s organization had become. Founded in 2012, TPUSA expanded to thousands of college and high school chapters, with field organizers, training programs, and large-scale conferences that feed young activists into the Republican Party.
“This is not a loose collection of social media influencers, but a professionalized, well-funded network designed to last and grow,” Shroff wrote.
One current job posting for TPUSA explains that the position involves working with TPUSA student groups to launch new chapters, recruit students and help them register to vote, among other duties.
“The contrast with Democrats could not be starker,” Shroff wrote. “The party doesn’t have anything similar to TPUSA in either function or scale.”
Shroff contrasted TPUSA’s operation with what he called a “patchwork of valiant, often issue-specific,” progressive efforts. The imbalance, he noted, has already shown up in electoral results. Citing Tufts University data, Shroff pointed out that a majority of young men voted for Donald Trump in 2024, reversing the support that same demographic gave Joe Biden four years earlier. Young women also shifted toward Trump, with support rising from 33% in 2020 to 40% in 2024.
Trump himself credited Kirk for the change, thanking him at TPUSA’s “AmericaFest” gathering last December for what he called a “historic victory.”
Shroff criticized Democrats for focusing too narrowly on digital messaging and influencer outreach in response to these shifts. Efforts such as podcast appearances and progressive influencer tours may create viral clips, he said, but they lack the durability of TPUSA’s chapter-based organizing.
“While these groups may generate moments, they do not create the deep, lasting infrastructure that can actually compete with TPUSA for young voters’ attention,” Shroff explained.
Even new ventures like Chorus, which trains progressive influencers, remain focused on building online audiences rather than local, sustained grassroots operations. In Shroff’s view, Democrats risk continuing to “fight only half the battle” unless they return to the slower, less glamorous work of community organizing at scale.
“Kirk’s legacy is that he left Republicans with a durable political machine that is already shaping the future and will continue to do so,” Shroff concluded. “Unless Democrats build something comparable, they will keep fighting only half the battle and risk losing the next generation of Americans for good.”
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