Data Centers Are Suddenly Everywhere in Democratic Campaigns

(Photo illustration by Sarah Rogers/The Bulwark | Photos: Shutterstock, X.com)WHEN DEMOCRATIC OPERATIVES and ad makers began mapping out their midterm campaign strategies last year, they went looking for a villain beyond Donald Trump—a bogeyman who could motivate voters.Elon Musk played the role for a while. Then Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took center stage in the midterm messaging. Other operatives have floated making JD Vance or Trump family members the bête noire.But as the midterms near, it turns out it’s not a person who Democrats are villainizing, but a place. Or, rather, the concept of them.Data centers are the Democratic party’s en vogue bad guy, increasingly demonized by candidates running in competitive races, along with the corporations racing to build them around the country.A sampl