<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“I hate the Packers,” Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota said of his state’s rival football team from Wisconsin.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“Lamar Jackson was robbed,” grumbled Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland, still bitter that the Baltimore Ravens quarterback had <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6120405/2025/02/06/bills-josh-allen-2024-nfl-mvp-ravens-lamar-jackson/" title="">fallen just short</a> of winning the N.F.L.’s Most Valuable Player Award.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“The Sixers suck right now,” declared Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, lamenting the decline of Philadelphia’s basketball team.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The hot takes are flowing as a parade of ambitious Democrats talk sports, trying to accentuate their salt-of-the-earth credentials and forge stronger bonds with voters.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">These Democrats are flocking to sports radio shows and podcasts as their party tries to correct for what it <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/13/us/politics/trump-gen-z-influencers-democrats.html" title="">widely takes as an article of faith</a>: that President Trump won back power with help from young men who found themselves drawn to him through what was once an apolitical sphere of the media.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">As their party reels from the impact of Mr. Trump’s policies and struggles to craft a new strategy and message, Democrats have found that yakking about sports is perhaps the easiest way to reach skeptical or disengaged audiences who might not otherwise want to spend time listening to a politician.</p><div class="css-1336jj"><div class="css-121kum4"><div class="css-171quhb"></div><div class="css-asuuk5"><noscript><div class="css-7axq9l" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="css-1b5b8u1" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z" fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd"></path></svg><div class="css-6yo1no" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript-message"><p class="css-3kpklk">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.</p><p class="css-3kpklk">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.</p></div></div></noscript><div class="css-1dv1kvn" id="optimistic-truncator-a11y" tabindex="-1"><hr/><p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. 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