The Democratic Party is reeling from historic unpopularity. Between 2020 and 2024, Democrats lost more than 2 million registered voters across the country, while Republicans gained nearly 2.5 million. Instead of correcting course, Democrats are now trying to spin ex-CIA and Pentagon officials as the “alpha” leaders who can save their crumbling brand.

The New York Times recently profiled several Democrats running on national security résumés, including Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Abigail Spanberger, Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, and New Jersey’s Mikie Sherrill. The media line is simple: their past work in the Deep State supposedly proves Democrats “love America” and are tough on security.

But the reality looks very different. Spanberger’s lead over Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears is fading as she ducks questions on hot-button issues like gender ideology in schools. She’s also pledged to roll back law enforcement cooperation with ICE—hardly the stance of a candidate who claims to be strong on public safety.

Sherrill, once touted as a “pragmatic” Democrat, voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, siding with radical activists over biological reality. Slotkin, billed as a tough anti-woke moderate, was absent from the Senate vote entirely. When Democrats had a chance to prove they were serious about defending women’s rights in athletics, they folded.

For all their posturing, these supposed “alpha” Democrats are falling back into the same old patterns: avoiding cultural fights, appeasing the activist left, and hoping a CIA badge or Pentagon title will paper over their weakness. Voters aren’t buying it.

Polls show that crime, border security, and protecting children from woke ideology dominate voter concerns. President Trump’s crackdown on crime in Washington, D.C., has proven wildly popular—even drawing reluctant praise from Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser. Meanwhile, Democrats are trying to make bureaucrats and spooks the new face of their party, while quietly pushing policies that coddle illegal immigrants and undermine basic American values.

Democratic strategists may believe trotting out candidates with intelligence community backgrounds is a clever way to rebrand, but the approach exposes their desperation. Instead of tackling the issues that matter most to ordinary Americans—safety, sovereignty, affordability—they are clinging to the very establishment figures many voters distrust.

If Democrats think painting Deep Staters as cool is their ticket to midterm success, they may be in for another rude awakening. Voters know the difference between real toughness and a manufactured campaign pitch—and they’ve had enough of the latter.