Charting the Way Forward

Happy 2026 everyone! We're back with an episode on Way to Win's conventional wisdom shattering research summary that went out last December. By focusing on the time honored tradition of talking to voters we came to some conclusions that are very different from the story the DC establishment has about what happened in 2024 and where voters are at as we head into this midterm year. Host Ke...

Secretaries of State are on the front lines of protecting our democracy, and next year their jobs are going to be particularly difficult and crucial. This interview with Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar will give you a sense of the honesty and integrity he approaches his job with, joining host Kerry Eleveld and Way to Win President Tory Gavito in a discussion that will leave you appreciatin...

IT’S OUR 50TH EPISODE! And who better to celebrate it with than OG Friend of the Pod Terrance Woodbury of HIT Strategies. Join us for a look back at where we started the year, how Democrats are positioned as we approach 2026, and the transformative opportunity staring us in the face. Let's put a bow on it!

In this episode of Charting the Way Forward, guest host Maddie Medved sits down with political content creator Sylvia Salazar, founder of the bilingual platform Tono Latino. They unpack how she cuts through the noise to reach Latino audiences, blends persuasion with virality, and lives her motto that “action is the antidote to news anxiety” - all while navigating the emotional toll and real-world...

Continuing our series on understanding the November 2025 elections and how things became a tiny bit less doomy,  host Kerry Eleveld and Way to Win Chief Strategy Officer Jenifer Ancona are joined by Melody Oliphant of the GA Youth Justice Coalition, who breaks down and goes deep into the epic and surprising Georgia results. Stay tuned to the end for a solid hate listen podcast recommendation!

Host Kerry Eleveld brings together the in-house team for insights into last week's history-upending election results, with Way to Win President Tory Gavito, Political Director Joe Hamill and media and research consultant Dan Ancona.

More focus group sound this week, this time from Democratic defector voters in Nevada, and two fantastic guests: Diana Valles, President of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Way to Win Director of State Partnerships Kendra Alvarez. Diana and Kendra join host Kerry Eleveld to explore how the right wing social experiment is hurting people and how we can work together to fix it.

New focus group sound this week! We talked to Democratic defectors in AZ and NV, and had Casey Clowes from Progress AZ on to help host Kerry Eleveld and Way to Win President Tory Gavito sort through it all. Trust us: you are going to want to hear these clips, and you can find Casey on all socials at caseyclowesaz.

Earlier this week the NYT Editorial Board sort-of-maybe attacked us with a very strange editorial claiming that because moderates have won in a few races, moderation is the true and only path to Democratic electoral salvation. Host Kerry Eleveld has on President Tory Gavito, CSO Jenifer Fernandez Ancona and Dan Ancona to dismantle their argument and talk about other campaign work in process.

It's another Charting the Way Forward Democratic Party Home Makeover Edition! Host Kerry Eleveld and Chief Strategy Office Jenifer Fernandez Ancona talk to Rep. Simon about how why a massive California Prop 50 victory matters, her work in Congress, and what the vision what a new revived Democratic Party needs to be.

Host Kerry Eleveld, Way to Win President Tory Gavito and Chief Strategy Officer Jenifer Fernandez Ancona get to know Esosa Osa, a powerhouse activist and head of Onyx Impact, and discuss work in the AI and misinformation space.

Way to Win and the ad testing platform Swayable held a strategy convening, Persuasion 2025, on Tuesday September 30th, at the Wharf Dockmaster in DC. Join Way to Win President Tory Gavito, Chief Strategy Officer Jenifer Fernandez Ancona and media strategist Dan Ancona for a discussion of some of the many wild moments and key takeaways from the day.

Satirist, creator of the Star Spangled Banter tour, and all around amazingly funny person Heather Gardner joins Maddie Medved for a discussion about living the creator life and the work in this moment.

Simon Rosenberg is both a consummate DC insider and has been doing fantastic work organizing a community of engaged and superinformed pro-democracy activists at Hopium Chronicles. He joins host Kerry Eleveld and Way to Win Chief Strategy Officer Jenifer Fernandez Ancona on the show as American democracy enters a period of maximal danger, with Trump lashing out and throwing tantrums as his failures...

Veteran political reporter Ron Brownstein joins host Kerry Eleveld and Way to Win President Tory Gavito for a big picture discussion of this moment, including thoughts on the approach the Democratic leadership is taking to respond to MAGA authoritarianism.

If you think "the groups" are why Democrats are losing, you need to hear this one. Two top organizers -- Dreama Caldwell from NC and Britney Whaley from GA -- join host Kerry Eleveld and Way to Win President Tory Gavito for reporting from the trenches of the fight to keep American democracy from sliding into darkness.

Newly dubbed Friend of the Pod -- the DC based feisty activist and State of the States host Joe Sudbay -- joins host Kerry Eleveld and the Way to Win brass (Jenifer Fernandez Ancona and Tory Gavito) for a conversation about how the DC bubble has gotten somehow even more insulated from actual reality, and the work we're doing to break through this and start to shift what needs shifting.

Maddie Medved hosts for a deep dive with Gen Z's Walter Cronkite (Rolling Stone's analogy, not ours, but it works): journalist, lawyer, master creator, writer of the #1 of news substack on earth, and genuinely nice and down to earth guy Aaron Parnas.

Rising star ace researcher Caitlin Jury from Equis joins host Kerry Eleveld, President Tory Gavito and head of political Joe Hamill from Way to Win to discuss a fresh hot new Equis poll. Lots of rich data in this episode, including what may be early signs of significant shifts in Latinx support for Trump and MAGA.

Data impresario Philip Bump joins host Kerry Eleveld, chief strategist Jenifer Fernandez Ancona and media strategist Dan Ancona for a discussion that starts with his latest piece, a strong and insightful read on how the dismal state of Democratic party favorability does not mean imminent electoral doom.

Texas Republicans are rigging the midterms to escape accountability for the wildly unpopular agenda that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans are enacting. It’s decidedly ‘not cool,’ as 7th generation Texan and Way to Win President Tory Gavito and Latino expert Kristian Ramos tell host Kerry Eleveld. Join us for a fully fleshed out discussion of Texas politics as it relates to federal elections and R...

NEW POLL: genius pollster Celinda Lake joins host Kerry Eleveld and the Way to Win brass, President Tory Gavito and Chief Strategist Jenifer Fernandez Ancona, to go through the findings from a comprehensively thorough study of the group of voters that showed up for Biden but sat out 2024.

Host Kerry Eleveld returns for a strategy discussion about the disastrous immigration secret police funding in the Big Ugly MAGA Bill, with Way to Win chief Tory Gavito and media consultant Dan Ancona, who goes Full Kornacki on some of Way's immigration data. If you're curious what Way to Win strategy zoom calls are like, this episode is a peek inside our process.

As of recording time on Wednesday July 2nd, the fate of the Big Ugly Ass Murder Budget Bill was hanging in the balance. Kristian Ramos and Jenifer Fernandez Ancona join pinch host Dan Ancona to discuss the meaning and ramifications of this comprehensively disastrous legislation.

Zohranmania! Join First Official Friend of the Pod Terrance Woodbury for a show we recorded the day of the NYC Mayoral Primary. Terrance is joined by the Way to Win brain trust of host Kerry Eleveld, Jenifer Fernandez Ancona and Tory Gavito, who dig into how Black voters are thinking about the primary and everything else. Particularly given the results, you will not want to miss this one!