Democrats Archives - KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show

The Democratic establishment doesn’t get that people vote their morals. So says our guest David Fenton, successful public relations veteran of fifty years. Civil rights, wars, climate change: he says these are moral issues and people vote with their hearts The post PR Professional of the Left: Win by Touching People’s Morals appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & R...

They feel betrayed. What used to be a dependable advocate for working families has, over the last two decades, morphed into being a second party of the interests of the wealthy. From his own experience, our guest author Les Leopold The post Why the Working Class Has Given Up on the Liberal Establishment appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

The far right got a major boost with the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk.  What used to be the Republican party is no more. The young man’s appeal to other young men is a major hurdle for traditional patriotic Americans. And The post Gavin Newsom: Democrats Savior ’28? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

After 2024, the mainstream of the Democratic Party is in the wilderness, but Zohran Mamdani may lead a way out. This week’s guest Fred Glass, talks about what early 20th century California history can teach us about the 2025 New The post Why Mamdani May Revitalize the Democratic Party: 1911 CA Precedent appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

What mainstream Democrats don’t understand is that anti-elites are economically progressive, while the elites are economically conservative. NYCs Mamdani won the primary by building an economic coalition. On this show, Joan C. Williams talks about her important new book, Outclassed. The post How The Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy...

In the 90s, the party took a turn to the right, taking the working and middle class base for granted. Instead they went for Trump in 2024. Clinton hurt this former base with austerity, and poorly thought out welfare reform The post Democrats Can Win Again: If… appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

There’s a reason the same voters were undecided between Bernie and Trump in 2016. People wanted real change. And in 2024, Democrats walked into a trap. As bad as it looks today, writing in Newsweek, today’s guest Matt Robison argues The post Under Water Now, Democrats Have to Become the Party of Change appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

No question, it’s all about re-connecting with the working class: People without a college degree, lowering the cost of health care, championing the self-employed, addressing the transportation problems of the heartland. Our guest  today Paul Glastris Washington Monthly editor in The post Time for Democrats to Post a Clear Agenda for America appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podc...

Democrats seem to always pay attention to the top, the federal races. But what worked for the right wing in 2010 can work for us: Our guest Eric Schmeltzer writes, in The New Republic, that to take power away from The post Republicans Got It: Bottom Up Works. Wake Up, Democrats! appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

Populism is the common language of America. Author and Georgetown University historian Michael Kazin notes people were not inspired by Harris’s “opportunity economy” talk. People feel disconnected and want a sense of membership, a sense of power, which unions used The post Toward a Revival of Left Populism: What It Takes To WIn appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcas...

Playing defense defines the playing field. Shall we just accept a world run by international mega-billionaires? On this show, Sam Pizzigati of Inequality.org argues now is the time to get ready to go on offense against what Trump Musk and The post To Win, Go on Offense appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

In the wake of the shocking presidential election, we Democrats now have an opportunity and an obligation. Once again, the heartland of America saw the Democratic Party as two-coast elitists. Our guest today, veteran political organizer Bob Creamer says despite The post “Defending Democracy” is Fighting for You, Not the Status Quo appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast &...

There’s a mountain of electoral gold which, for the first time, is being mined: graduates of regional public universities. Many of them men. Colleges with “state” in their name. Our guest Washington Monthly editor in chief Paul Glastris talks about The post Tim Walz’s Unique Appeal to Young Men’s Masculinity appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast &...

As Americans, we want what we want right now. But it doesn’t work that way to make real political change. As with any mechanism, there are certain things that must be learned to make it work and achieve our goals. The post Nuts and Bolts: What Needs to be Learned to Make Our Agenda Reality appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

They weren’t there for Biden. A large chunk of young men are for Trump, but with a new presidential candidate, the Democratic Party is connecting with young people. One millennial voice is Josh Lafasan, on today’s show he says the The post Gen Z, Millennials and The 2024 Presidential Election appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

It may have the word “liberal” in it but it’s anything but. Until the Biden/Harris years, the corporate wing of the Democratic Party had its deserved image of serving the richest among us. Trump understood raw populist anger to win The post Waving Goodbye to Neoliberalism? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

Since at least 2016, the Democratic policy has been driven by big contributors, yielding rural voters to Trump who at least pretended to hear them. With Minnesota Governor Tim Walz nominated as VP for Harris, middle America people who had The post With Walz, Can Democrats Win Back Rural America? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

There is a palpable movement under Kamala Harris; so why is party leadership still so out of touch with working people as they were in 2016? Our returning guest, veteran party insider Norman Solomon, says the DNC is still top-down The post Dems Need the Middle Class: Why is the DNC Still So Corporatized? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

Today, more than ever, politics is theater. On today’s big stage we see Biden as an old weakened man, and then we have Trump with blood on his face, standing strong, defiant, fist in the air. On today’s show national The post After The Shooting of July 13, Is it Over? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

The final chapter in our guest’s new book, Liberalism as a Way of Life asks the question: Requiem for a Liberal Way of Life? Well, is it really over? Reached in Sydney Australia where he’s professor of politics and philosophy The post Under Attack the World Over, What Is Liberalism? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

Wisconsin is a key swing state in the upcoming election, with traditions of both real right and real left. On today’s show on-the-ground journalist Christina Lieffring tells us about realities in that 90% rural state. She says to win voters, The post Wisconsin Rural Voters: Challenge and Opportunity for Democrats appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

Democracy is itself largely improvisation. Pushing back against the powers that be; the mainstream. Our guest Randy Fertel, author of the new book Winging It; Improv’s Power and Peril in the Age of Trump, says rationality alone is not enough; The post The Power of What Appears to be Improvisation appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

Truman was down and nearly out. Then he did a campaign whistle stop tour of America and beat the odds. TV eye candy is one thing but seeing a president in the flesh connects far better, and connection is needed The post Should Biden Whistle Stop Campaign Across America? appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

The Right gets it; where are Democrats? In his new book What it Took to Win, author and history professor  Michael Kazin looks at the last hundred or so years and says it’s clear what has and still works.  Whether The post Trumpism is a Movement; Movements Are How Democrats Have Won appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .

America today is not the America of the past. But in his new book What it Took to Win, author and history professor  Michael Kazin, it’s clear what has and still works. This fear of popular movements  has fed the The post What it Takes for Democrats to Win: Historian Michael Kazin appeared first on KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show .