Republicans in Full-Blown Panic Mode as Rural Voters Revolt Against Data Centers

For the first time in years, it is now the Republican party who's forced to play defense for once now that their support for AI and big tech is blowing up in their faces. Axios reports that the Republican party's send campaign arm sent a private memo to their AI overlords letting them know that the backlash to data centers has become so intense that it is hurting their chances of retaining the Senate in November. And Republicans reportedly want big tech companies to quote do whatever it takes to stem the public backlash. And AI companies are trying because, as Axios explains, tech giants are scrambling to pull together media campaigns to try to shift opinion before it hardens locally and nationally. But it may be too late because Axios continues. AI CEOs and top Republicans share in the rising panic. They tell us internal polls show data centers are as popular as spent nuclear waste and more broadly have become a proxy for feelings about AI and you absolutely love to see it. Now data centers have become so unbelievably toxic that Republicans have been forced to do what they almost never do. They are retreating. That to me is shocking because it's usually the Democrats who are retreating but in this instance it is Republicans who are retreating. And Republicans are especially concerned about the Senate race in Ohio where the Democrat Sherrod Brown is hammering John Hustad, the Republican for supporting data centers. Here's one of the ads that Brown is running. He's been called the face of data [music] centers in Ohio. Why? Because John Hustad spent years aggressively recruiting data [music] centers to the state, cutting sweetheart tax deals and fast-tracking approvals while ordinary residents watch their electricity bills explode. [music] We are here with Ohio Senator John Houston. He has a lot of experience with something called data [music] centers. John Houston. Who's he really working for? >> I'm sure Brown and I approve this message. >> That, my friends, is a very good ad. That is a devastating message that is going to resonate with voters across the political spectrum. I say that because a Gallup poll from back in March found that seven and 10 people oppose data centers either somewhat or strongly. And that includes 63% of Republicans. And if I had to guess, I would say that hatred for data centers has only grown since March. Now, this data is also reflected in the GOP's own internal polling, hence the panic. But they're worried that if the Republican loses this Ohio race, it'll have long-term repercussions for the entire tech industry going forward. To go back to the Axios article, they write, "If Husted loses and data centers get the blame, politicians across the country will take notice and they will not go near the next one." The memo says this has become a sleeper issue for the entire election cycle. So to Republicans, this is about more than this one Senate seat. Of course, they want to win. Of course, they want to retain control of the Senate. But this race could solidify the status of data centers as political poison. And the industry as a whole would suffer as a result of that. And the AI bubble might even burst a little bit faster because of it, which would tank the entire economy while a Republican president is in charge, mind you. meaning that the entire Republican party would be blamed for it, as was the case with the 2008 Great Recession when George W. Bush was still president. And Republicans obviously don't want that to happen. They would prefer to benefit from the AI gravy train for years to come. So, they know that it's a ticking time bomb and they're sounding the alarm so that way their AI donors know that like, hey, this is kind of the last chance for all of us to get rich, so you've got to turn things around. But unfortunately for them, it may already be too late. And I can assure you this isn't unique to Ohio because Politico reports that it's hurting Texas Governor Greg Abbott in deep red rural areas too. In fact, Shelby Webb of Politico argues that the governor is actually bleeding support due to data centers and explains some longtime conservatives are now considering the unthinkable, voting in November for a Democrat to be Texas's next governor. And Abbott's August directive to pause Texas data center grid approvals hasn't convinced all of them to vote for him. quote, "They understand the repercussions of that, but you know what I'm hearing is, yeah, we'll have a Democrat in there and grit our teeth and bear it, but hopefully we'll come out of it the following election," said Nanny, who lives in Tom Green County. They're so upset. They just want Abbott out. The welcoming approach that Abbott's Texas has taken toward data centers until now makes the rural push back and the governor's retreat particularly striking as the industry grapples with resistance nationwide. Rural people feel like they're the ones seeing the brunt of this and they don't like it, said Jim Henson, executive director of the Texas Politics Project. These issues are starting to bond together a lot of the people against data centers. So, if Texas actually does do the unthinkable and they elect a Democratic governor for the first time in 35 years, it will be because of data centers. And if that happens, you can stick a fork in the industry. It'll be cooked at that point. There's just no coming back from that. It will be the biggest political loser in modern American history. And that's assuming that it's not already too late. But I will say that Republicans are very good at adapting, whereas Democrats are much slower to adapt. Now, to Democrats credit, a lot of corporate Democrats are pivoting away from data centers themselves, but they do need to go the extra step and pin the unpopularity of data centers on Republicans. And I just don't know that they're savvy enough to do that. And it's also a lot harder to do that, a lot more unpersuasive if your party oversaw the proliferation of data centers when you had power. But I am pleased to see that Democrats are at least doing the bare minimum, which is pivoting away from data centers. For example, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro did a 180 on data centers and is now making an effort to actually try to regulate them, which is interesting. My governor Tina Cotekch of Oregon also did a 180 and she canled a 32 acre land sale previously allocated to a data center and she subsequently endorsed locally endorsed moratoriums even though earlier this year it seemed like she was hellbent on turning our entire state into one giant data center and she conspicuously pivoted around the time that polling showed that her Republican opponent was actually leading. Now, correlation doesn't equal causation, but if I had to guess, I'd say that Governor Cotch probably felt like she had no choice but to pivot away from data centers because if she didn't, she was leaving herself vulnerable to attacks from the Republican who might have tried to outflank her on this issue because everybody knows that people in Oregon are pissed off about data centers. We all [ __ ] hate them. They are everywhere. And last time I checked, we ranked fifth throughout the country for the most data centers. And listen, nobody likes Christine Drazzen. She's run for governor of Oregon before and she lost. But she's been strategically quiet on the issue of data centers and she even offered some platitudes here and there about, you know, maybe we'll leave this up to communities. And I think that COC feared that a lot of Oregonians would make the same calculation that rural voters in Texas might make and she might have expected some Democrats to cross party lines or just not vote in order to punish her for enabling the takeover of data centers in our state. And I'm skeptical that, you know, voters would actually opt for a Republican in Oregon because this is a deep blue state. But COE wouldn't have made a pivot that sharp if her internal polling didn't scare her shitless. Now, for those wondering, no, our governor didn't face a substantial primary challenge. There were approximately 14,395 primary opponents running against her, and leftist votes were split like a hundred different ways. But the fact that a governor in a deep blue state like Oregon is feeling the heat, too, that really demonstrates just how angry voters are about this issue. But here's the thing. Republicans are also capable of pivoting. And in order to obscure their previous support for data centers, they're going the extra step of pivoting and attacking their opponents for being pro- data center. And if you look at the gubernatorial race in Wisconsin where Franchesca Hong, the anti-data center DSA candidate, narrowly lost, it's actually the Republican who's attacking the Democrat David Crowley over his support for data centers. Meet data center David Crowley. >> There's an opportunity for us to really become AI and a data hub for not only for the entire country, but for the entire globe. >> And he wants you to pay for it. Data center David Crowley won't roll back data center tax incentives. Our lakes run dry. Family farms paved over. Why? Because Crowley's campaign is funded by the people building them. Data center David Crowley. Big tech wins. Wisconsin pay. >> Damn. In retrospect, Franchesca Hong's Thanksgiving tweet doesn't look too bad now, does it? But if you would have told me that Sherrod Brown ran that ad, I would have believed you because it could have been anyone's ad. A Democrat, a socialist. If you look at, you know, Franchesca Hong, she was running strongly against data centers, hence why she had so much momentum. But that's an ad from Crowley's pro- data center Republican opponent, Tom Tiffany. He sounds like a lib or a lefty. And as the Wisconsin Examiner reports, data centers are becoming a central issue of the race, largely because Crowley's Republican opponent is hammering him for supporting data centers. Now, the irony is that Tiffany doesn't mention data centers in his platform at all because he supports them himself, but he's deploying the typical Republican strategy of forcing the Democrat to play defense in order to downplay his own vulnerabilities. But thankfully, it actually doesn't seem to be working. A new poll shows that Tiffany is trailing Crowley by four points. And part of the reason why his attack doesn't seem to be landing is because voters know that Tiffany is a hypocrite. The Cap Times editorial board released an article pointing out that Tiffany actually serves the AI oligarchs himself and they referenced a vote that he made for an earlier version of Trump's big [ __ ] bill that would have banned states from regulating AI for 10 years. That is devastating. That's a huge blemish on your record if you are purporting to be the anti-data center candidate. On top of that, other local outlets are drawing attention to the money that he took from AI lobbyists. Meanwhile, Crowley himself has actually pivoted away from data centers and announced his support for robust regulations while simultaneously highlighting Tiffany's duplicity on this particular issue. So, even though it was ostensibly savvy to center the race around data centers, one could argue that Tiffany's decision to do that may have actually come back to bite him in the ass because this is one of the few issues where voters aren't falling for GOP bullshitting as easily. They're tapped in and they're going through the records of politicians with fine tooth combs to sus out any traitors because once again, and I can't stress this enough, people [ __ ] hate data centers. With that being said, I still think that Crowley needs to go on the offensive a bit more and he needs to use the word moratorium and be explicit. Now, he's been reluctant to do that because he says that as the governor, he wouldn't have the legal authority to enact a statewide moratorum. But our governor in Oregon said the same thing which is why she's supporting the next best thing which is a locally enforced moratorum across the state. Like she's endorsing communities enacting their own moratoriums. And that word is really important because it's straightforward and it tells voters exactly where you stand. My governor using that word communicates to me that she got the [ __ ] message. She knows how pissed off we are. And this is one of the only times where I would ever recommend that somebody look to something that Tina Cotch is doing, right? But it just goes to show you that politicians have to listen. Otherwise, the unthinkable could happen. A Republican could lose to a Democrat in a red state and a Democrat could lose to a Republican in a blue state. And nationally speaking, every single Democrat has to drive home the same message. They've got to hammer Republicans for supporting data centers. Do not let Republicans run away from this. Tie them to data centers directly. highlight any donations that they've taken from big tech companies and draw attention to any meetings that they've had with AI executives and lobbyists because this is a 7030 issue of high salience to voters, especially in states that have already been taken over by data centers and Democrats have to seize the opportunity once and for all. They've got Republicans right where they want them. And if they don't harness the rage towards data centers, Republicans are going to try to, which is exactly what Tom Tiffany is doing. But midterms aside, the fact that so many politicians in both parties are running away from data centers at 100 miles an hour is a reminder that we actually do still have some power in this country. It doesn't mean that our politicians care about us as human beings because they don't. But they do have to listen to us, especially during election years, because they care about themselves and they know that if we're pissed off, we will punish them for not doing what we want. And I think that Democratic socialists and socialist adjacent candidates have been successful specifically because they've been able to harness that rage. It's the exact same political strategy that Republicans use with the difference being that the rage they harness is always manufactured and misdirected towards minorities. Whereas the rage that Democratic socialists harness is actual rage that stems from the bottom up and not the top down. So just remember that you are the boss of these politicians. This proves it. And the faster more Americans understand this, the better off we'll all be. [music] >> [music]