“Weak.” “Woke.”
Those are the words that are most closely associated with the Democratic party these days, according to prominent Democratic pollster John Anzalone.
Anzalone knows of what he speaks. He was Hillary Clinton’s pollster in 2016. And Joe Biden’s pollster in 2020. And has Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper — among many others — as clients.
He has sat in a slew of focus groups since the election and says he has heard those two words over and over. And Anzalone admits that he now “understands when people say ‘the Democratic party has left me’.”
I talked to Anzalone on Wednesday as part of my “Out of the Wilderness” series on Substack Live — in which I talk to smart Democrats about what went wrong in 2024 and how to fix it before 2028.
You can watch episode 1 with
here. And Episode 2 with here.What else did John and I talk about? A ton — but here are a few highlights:
The Trump campaign crushed the Harris campaign when it came to negative messaging/advertising
The Democratic party is schizophrenic right now — “we have so many voices in our heads”
Purity tests are ruining the Democratic party
Trump’s appeal was that he was speaking “the bubble in peoples’ heads that they couldn’t say”
Democrats need to focus their 2026 spending on winning back the House and winning state legislatures
Why Tim Ryan’s 2022 campaign should be talked about more
Rahm Emanuel gets it
What the Post-It note on Democrats’ mirror should say
Thank you to
, , , , and many others for tuning into episode 3 of “Out of the Wilderness.” If you want to watch future episodes LIVE, make sure to download the Substack app!
This content is FREE. But in order to continue to do this sort of independent journalism — calling balls and strikes no matter what uniform the batter at the plate is wearing — I NEED YOU. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber today. It’s $6 a month or $60 for the whole year.
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