Democrats can learn from WWE as they fight against Trump and Republicans

In the '80s, one of the greatest rivalries in professional wrestling unfolded between “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair and “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes.

Flair, the champion, represented the “greed is good” mantra, flaunting his thousand dollar suits, alligator shoes and Rolex watches. Rhodes was the working man, the son of a plumber, overweight, blue collar, plain spoken. Every night, across the country, fans would show up in droves in the hopes that Dusty would get the better of the self-professed “Dirtiest Player in the Game.” In Dusty, fans had someone they could relate to and root for. In Flair, fans saw the way the elite and privileged could hold their hero down.

A decade later, the same themes would be revisited, this time pitting "Stone Cold" Steve Austin from Victoria, Texas, against World Wrestling Entertainment boss Vince McMahon. Time and again, “Mr. McMahon” would use the levers of power to try to cheat the beer-drinking, foul-mouthed Austin out of his championship.

The rivalry propelled professional wrestling to new heights, producing record television ratings and pop-culture status. It was every worker's fantasy come true. Watching the employee stick it to the boss.

WrestleMania for politics

In many ways, the world of professional wrestling is the perfect mirror for what the world of politics has become. After all, the ultimate cult-of-personality character, Donald J. Trump, once partook in a WrestleMania angle dubbed the "Battle of the Billionaires."

Trump was wrong: Why J.D. Vance didn't deserve his endorsement

And that’s the thing about the Republican Party that Democrats have a hard time understanding, to the GOP, it’s all theater. Just as WWE coined the phrase “sports entertainment” to market their product, Republicans see themselves in a similar light and act accordingly. Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Paul Gosar, Matt Gaetz, Ted Cruz, Lauren Boebert, Sarah Palin etc. have effectively formed a “heel” faction.

Their floor speeches, committee hearing statements and television appearances serve the same utility that a Paul Heyman promo on "Friday Night Smackdown" does: to further the storyline, fan the flames of conflict and get you to tune in next week.

I often get asked by my fellow Democrats if these Republicans really believe what they’re saying. But that question misses the entire point. It doesn’t matter if they believe it, the audience does. And that’s what it’s always been about.

'Stench' at Supreme Court: Politically motivated leak shatters innocence

How to fight against Republican theater

What Democrats need to do is take a page out of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes’ playbook and fight back. Embrace the role of the working-man underdog going up against the corporate conglomerate elites. Use the Republican Party’s own metaphor against them.

We don’t need a conversation about public policy; we need a conflict about public policy. Democrats need to wrap that public policy with a cloak of theater, charisma, showmanship and conflict. Republicans want to make this an “us versus them” contest. Fine. But let’s define who the “us” and “them” actually are.

The “us” Republicans talk about are the privileged. The billionaires and millionaires. The 1% who own the 99%. The bosses who tell the rest of us to do more with less. The powerful who tell us they won’t increase our wages as they sit in their palatial vacation homes. The corrupt who take money from big oil, while the rest of us have to foot the bill for rising gas prices.

The cheaters who have put their foot on the neck of democracy because they are afraid of the working class, rising up and putting them in their place.

Misinformer in chief: Elon Musk is no doctor, but he plays one on Twitter

The “them” Democrats are talking about are the workers at the factory who put in a hard day’s work while the bosses take another vacation day off. The patients who are struggling to afford their health care.

The construction workers building the roads and bridges that the Republicans voted against funding. The teachers who are trying to give our children the head start we didn’t have, while the GOP tries to use the levers of big government to interfere in education decisions. The women who are fighting for equal pay.

This isn’t a fight that’s gonna be won with PowerPoints and statistics. It is a style of fighting that Democrats are not as well-versed at or even comfortable in. But that’s the fight we have whether we like it or not. If we embrace it, if we adapt to it, it’s a fight I believe we can win. Ultimately, it comes down to which side of the American dream you’re really on.

Kurt Bardella is a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributors. He is an adviser to the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He is a former senior adviser for Republicans on the House Oversight Committee. Follow him on Twitter: @KurtBardella

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: WWE can teach Democrats to fight Trump and Republicans