Democrats have spent years warning Americans about Donald Trump.
They have criticized his conduct, challenged his policies, defended democratic institutions, and repeatedly described the danger of returning unchecked power to him and his MAGA allies.
But Patrick Reynolds believes warning is no longer enough.
Democrats must fight.
They must stop playing defense, stop softening their message, and stop pretending they are engaged in an ordinary political contest with ordinary opponents.
That is the central argument Reynolds makes in my new Lean to the Left interview, now streaming.
And he is not simply offering political commentary.
He has produced four aggressive campaign ads designed for use in the House and Senate races that will determine control of Congress.
Patrick Reynolds is the grandson of tobacco pioneer R.J. Reynolds.
His family’s wealth came from cigarettes, but his father also died from smoking the Camels and Winstons that helped build that fortune.
In 1986, Reynolds testified before Congress and called for a ban on tobacco advertising. He spent the next several decades as one of the nation’s most visible opponents of Big Tobacco.
That decision came at a personal cost. It created conflict within his family and forced him to confront the legacy into which he had been born.
But it also gave his life a purpose.
Reynolds now says that his years fighting tobacco taught him an important political lesson: public policy depends on who holds power.
He watched tobacco companies direct most of their political money toward Republicans. He watched public-health initiatives stall. And he watched meaningful action become possible when Barack Obama entered office with Democratic majorities in Congress.
That experience made him increasingly partisan.
“If we had Democrats in power,” he reasoned, stronger tobacco policies could be enacted. So could action on climate change, reproductive rights, gun safety, and other priorities.
Eventually, Reynolds decided to move beyond tobacco activism and create a super PAC devoted to electing Democrats.
Most campaign ads are predictable.
A candidate tells us why he or she is wonderful. Then the candidate tells us why the opponent is terrible.
The names and locations change, but the formula remains the same.
Reynolds believes voters are tired of it.
His Congress Majority PAC is taking another approach. Its ads are not built around individual candidates. They attack Trump and Republicans as a party and can be used in different races throughout the country.
Each ends with two simple words:
Vote Democrat.
That may sound obvious. But Reynolds believes Democrats too often fail to make a forceful, unified national case for their party.
He wants to change that.
The interview includes four ads Reynolds wrote, produced, and narrated.
One directly confronts Trump and links his record to the Republicans in Congress who support him.
Another focuses on climate change, Big Oil, and Trump’s dismissal of global warming.
A third makes an economic argument, contrasting periods of prosperity under Democratic presidents with Republican deregulation and the financial crisis that followed the Bush years.
The fourth may be the most politically interesting.
It speaks (although there is no VoiceOver) to voters who once supported Democrats but have become disappointed, frustrated, or alienated from the party.
Reynolds does not pretend those concerns do not exist. He acknowledges them.
Then he delivers his appeal:
Vote Democrat, even if it hurts.
It is funny, but it also reflects a serious political reality.
A voter does not have to love every Democratic position, every Democratic politician, or every Democratic message to recognize the danger of giving Trump and MAGA Republicans unchecked power.
Reynolds wants these ads placed strategically—not broadcast nationally with money wasted in safe states and districts.
He says approximately 20 competitive races may determine control of Congress.
Those are the places where the Congress Majority PAC hopes to operate.
The ads could also be matched to events.
A climate-change message could run in a battleground district experiencing a heat wave, flood, hurricane, or other extreme weather event.
An economic ad could be placed where the cost of living is dominating local concern.
The objective is not simply to make noise. It is to influence the voters who will decide who controls the House and Senate.
The ads are important, but they are not the whole story.
The real story is Reynolds’ challenge to the Democratic Party.
Stop playing nice.
Stop responding to Republican attacks with timid explanations.
Stop allowing Trump and MAGA politicians to dominate the emotional argument.
Make Republicans defend their record.
Make them answer for Trump.
Make them answer for their positions on climate, guns, reproductive rights, the economy, and democracy.
Reynolds says continued Republican control of Congress would give Trump dangerously unchecked power.
“The future of our democracy is at stake,” he warns.
That is not a subtle message.
Nor should it be.
This is not a subtle moment.
The new interview with Patrick Reynolds streams Monday on Lean to the Left. It includes all four ads—and a clear warning to Democrats who still believe restraint, caution, and traditional campaign tactics will be enough.
They will not.
Democrats must fight harder.
They must sharpen their message.
And they must stop playing nice.
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