Way to Win
@waytowinus.bsky.social
A power network of organizers, activists and donors. We're here to upend politics as usual with research, intelligence and strategic action from across the winning diverse Democratic coalition. Listen to our new podcast, Charting the Way Forward!
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Way to Win
@waytowinus.bsky.social
· Nov 13
The next phase of the imagination battle begins now
After seven years of work, last Tuesday’s election was not the outcome we hoped for.
open.substack.com
Good morning friends. Some common sense:
50 years of predatory capitalism x
Recent price shocks x
Broken media environment x
Campaign & Dems failure to tell a clear story about why things still feel bad
... led to the result we saw. It wasn't Latinx. Our first take at a theory of what happened.
50 years of predatory capitalism x
Recent price shocks x
Broken media environment x
Campaign & Dems failure to tell a clear story about why things still feel bad
... led to the result we saw. It wasn't Latinx. Our first take at a theory of what happened.
Reposted by Way to Win
"Sometimes strategic debates are overtaken by events..." Like winning from the boroughs of NYC to the red hills of Georgia!
JUST POSTED: some thoughts about the arguments of the past few weeks, Tuesday's election results, and where we are headed from here.
Everyone Is Wrong
The Way To Win Is Strength, Not Moderation. The 2025 Winners Proved It.
chartingthewayforward.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:22 PM
"Sometimes strategic debates are overtaken by events..." Like winning from the boroughs of NYC to the red hills of Georgia!
Reposted by Way to Win
Here's the formula, folks:
"Much of what we have learned and communicated validates the approach that won in 2025: fight not fold, focus on affordability, make a populist argument that names the villains, and respond to cultural attacks."
"Much of what we have learned and communicated validates the approach that won in 2025: fight not fold, focus on affordability, make a populist argument that names the villains, and respond to cultural attacks."
JUST POSTED: some thoughts about the arguments of the past few weeks, Tuesday's election results, and where we are headed from here.
Everyone Is Wrong
The Way To Win Is Strength, Not Moderation. The 2025 Winners Proved It.
chartingthewayforward.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Here's the formula, folks:
"Much of what we have learned and communicated validates the approach that won in 2025: fight not fold, focus on affordability, make a populist argument that names the villains, and respond to cultural attacks."
"Much of what we have learned and communicated validates the approach that won in 2025: fight not fold, focus on affordability, make a populist argument that names the villains, and respond to cultural attacks."
"These decisions have both moral and political consequences. The thinking Democrats are using to make these decisions has to change."
Everyone Is Wrong
The Way To Win Is Strength, Not Moderation. The 2025 Winners Proved It.
chartingthewayforward.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:49 PM
"These decisions have both moral and political consequences. The thinking Democrats are using to make these decisions has to change."
JUST POSTED: some thoughts about the arguments of the past few weeks, Tuesday's election results, and where we are headed from here.
Everyone Is Wrong
The Way To Win Is Strength, Not Moderation. The 2025 Winners Proved It.
chartingthewayforward.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:35 PM
JUST POSTED: some thoughts about the arguments of the past few weeks, Tuesday's election results, and where we are headed from here.
JUST POSTED: new Charting ep with Diana Valles, President of the legendary @culinary226.bsky.social union. It's going to take a lot of collective power to build an economy with better options than hoping to hit a jackpot in Vegas:
📺 youtu.be/hDPgvpUHn1Q?...
🍎 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
📺 youtu.be/hDPgvpUHn1Q?...
🍎 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
"Hopefully I'll Get Another Jackpot" (feat. Diana Valles and NV Voters) - Charting Ep 46
YouTube video by Way to Win Action Fund
youtu.be
November 6, 2025 at 6:24 PM
JUST POSTED: new Charting ep with Diana Valles, President of the legendary @culinary226.bsky.social union. It's going to take a lot of collective power to build an economy with better options than hoping to hit a jackpot in Vegas:
📺 youtu.be/hDPgvpUHn1Q?...
🍎 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
📺 youtu.be/hDPgvpUHn1Q?...
🍎 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
This is the approach Sherrod Brown should have taken, both morally and politically.
Please note this: Raising the "salience" of immigration actually worked in Dems' favor in one of the most important swing counties in the country. This is more grist for the idea that attacking Trump is succeeding among the nonwhite working class (see thread below).
November 6, 2025 at 6:06 PM
This is the approach Sherrod Brown should have taken, both morally and politically.
Reposted by Way to Win
Sharing this again because when Way to Win surveyed people who voted for Biden in 2020 and did not vote at all in 2024, "too far to the left" wasn't their critique.
Good morning friends, here's the first writeup of our poll. We'll have more about the details we're excited about and our podcast interview with Celinda - the genius pollster we worked with - posted shortly, so stay tuned!
EXCLUSIVE: Democratic voters who skipped the 2024 election favor candidates like Bernie Sanders and AOC. Polling shows they believe inequality is at the heart of America’s problems and health care should be available to everyone.
November 3, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Sharing this again because when Way to Win surveyed people who voted for Biden in 2020 and did not vote at all in 2024, "too far to the left" wasn't their critique.
Last week was a bit of a blur - we got the ep up but not the post, so: NEW FOCUS GROUP SOUND on this week's Charting the Way Forward!! We had on @caseyclowesaz.bsky.social and checked in with voters in AZ and NV - 🧵
📺 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb1S...
🍎 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
📺 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb1S...
🍎 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
¡El Macho💪🏽Populismo💰Es Muerte☠️! (feat. Casey Clowes and AZ Voters)
YouTube video by Way to Win Action Fund
www.youtube.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Last week was a bit of a blur - we got the ep up but not the post, so: NEW FOCUS GROUP SOUND on this week's Charting the Way Forward!! We had on @caseyclowesaz.bsky.social and checked in with voters in AZ and NV - 🧵
📺 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb1S...
🍎 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
📺 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb1S...
🍎 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
Reposted by Way to Win
Every word of this piece by @davekarpf.bsky.social. Democrats are not going to win by nominating more "moderates" who spout only focus group-tested pablum. We need to figure out ways to break through an increasingly rigged communications environment to catch voters attention. 1/
"We didn’t get here because Democrats failed to talk about “kitchen-table issues” on the campaign trail. We got here because Democrats believed talking about kitchen-table issues was the only thing they needed to do," writes @davekarpf.bsky.social. newrepublic.com/article/2023...
Why Centrist Democrats Keep Being Wrong About Elections
A new 60-page report insists the party is too radical. But the problem isn’t the party platform. The problem is the broader environment.
newrepublic.com
October 30, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Every word of this piece by @davekarpf.bsky.social. Democrats are not going to win by nominating more "moderates" who spout only focus group-tested pablum. We need to figure out ways to break through an increasingly rigged communications environment to catch voters attention. 1/
Reposted by Way to Win
This podcast from @waytowinus.bsky.social also points out the flaws in the NYT argument. We need candidates who fit their constituencies and can convince voters that they will fight for desperately needed change, not just centrist retreads. 2/ podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
This NYT Editorial Didn't Age Well and It's Only Been Three Days
Podcast Episode · Charting the Way Forward · 10/23/2025 · 55m
podcasts.apple.com
October 24, 2025 at 6:13 PM
This podcast from @waytowinus.bsky.social also points out the flaws in the NYT argument. We need candidates who fit their constituencies and can convince voters that they will fight for desperately needed change, not just centrist retreads. 2/ podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
“The Chicago stuff should be more than a canary in the coal mine,” said @torygavito.bsky.social. “This administration is using extreme enforcement measures to distract from the fact that housing is still just too damn expensive, our rent is still too expensive.”
apnews.com/article/lati...
apnews.com/article/lati...
Progressive groups launch $1.4 million campaign to win back Latino voters from Trump
Progressive groups are launching an effort to reconnect with Latino voters to regain support in places where President Donald Trump has made inroads.
apnews.com
October 24, 2025 at 9:32 PM
“The Chicago stuff should be more than a canary in the coal mine,” said @torygavito.bsky.social. “This administration is using extreme enforcement measures to distract from the fact that housing is still just too damn expensive, our rent is still too expensive.”
apnews.com/article/lati...
apnews.com/article/lati...
Reposted by Way to Win
Surrendering to the demands of the anti-vaccine war on science sure stopped their war on science!
The "partisans" (so many questions) are not wrong, moving to the center is not the Way to Win, and hello @nytimes.com Ed Board. Apparently we are at the phase of responding to an argument without responding to the actual argument. Our first time being subeditorialized! Fun.
🤩🧵
🤩🧵
October 22, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Surrendering to the demands of the anti-vaccine war on science sure stopped their war on science!
Ahahahaha
October 23, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Ahahahaha
Reposted by Way to Win
worked for kamala, can't argue with results
The "partisans" (so many questions) are not wrong, moving to the center is not the Way to Win, and hello @nytimes.com Ed Board. Apparently we are at the phase of responding to an argument without responding to the actual argument. Our first time being subeditorialized! Fun.
🤩🧵
🤩🧵
October 23, 2025 at 1:24 AM
worked for kamala, can't argue with results
Reposted by Way to Win
Appalling. Via @thebulwark.com's newsletter, Mike Johnson basically blesses Trump's $230 million DOJ shakedown by claiming Trump thinks he's "owed" it, as if that makes it okay.
Cites my reporting on this. Ds, push this harder. Rs have no good answer (see below)
www.thebulwark.com/p/our-house-...
Cites my reporting on this. Ds, push this harder. Rs have no good answer (see below)
www.thebulwark.com/p/our-house-...
October 23, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Appalling. Via @thebulwark.com's newsletter, Mike Johnson basically blesses Trump's $230 million DOJ shakedown by claiming Trump thinks he's "owed" it, as if that makes it okay.
Cites my reporting on this. Ds, push this harder. Rs have no good answer (see below)
www.thebulwark.com/p/our-house-...
Cites my reporting on this. Ds, push this harder. Rs have no good answer (see below)
www.thebulwark.com/p/our-house-...
Reposted by Way to Win
Pretty clear that Trump is building a private club at the White House, a northern Mar-a-Lago, where the price of admission will be bribes in the tens of millions of dollars.
“The good news is this means that the next Democratic inhabitant of the White House can demolish the Trump Presidential Palace Ballroom and Casino and restore the East Wing and the rest of the White House grounds to their pre-Trump state.”
www.thebulwark.com/p/we-will-te...
www.thebulwark.com/p/we-will-te...
We Will Tear Down the Trump Palace Ballroom and Casino
Thinking like a dissident movement.
www.thebulwark.com
October 22, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Pretty clear that Trump is building a private club at the White House, a northern Mar-a-Lago, where the price of admission will be bribes in the tens of millions of dollars.
Reposted by Way to Win
"I am not in the business of giving politicians advice. But I will say that if the experience of Lincoln suggests anything, it is that there can be no real success without principle — ironclad and unyielding." — @jamellebouie.net
Thanks to @waytowinus.bsky.social for gifting.
Thanks to @waytowinus.bsky.social for gifting.
It was from earlier this month, but this is an exceptionally well argued piece from @jamellebouie.net. Strongly recommended. Gift link.
Opinion | ‘The Most Epic Political Victory Our Country Has Ever Seen’ Is Nothing of the Kind
www.nytimes.com
October 21, 2025 at 1:17 AM
"I am not in the business of giving politicians advice. But I will say that if the experience of Lincoln suggests anything, it is that there can be no real success without principle — ironclad and unyielding." — @jamellebouie.net
Thanks to @waytowinus.bsky.social for gifting.
Thanks to @waytowinus.bsky.social for gifting.
It was from earlier this month, but this is an exceptionally well argued piece from @jamellebouie.net. Strongly recommended. Gift link.
Opinion | ‘The Most Epic Political Victory Our Country Has Ever Seen’ Is Nothing of the Kind
www.nytimes.com
October 21, 2025 at 12:08 AM
It was from earlier this month, but this is an exceptionally well argued piece from @jamellebouie.net. Strongly recommended. Gift link.
Reposted by Way to Win
I'm trying to digest the editorial, but I keep coming back to this plot & the simple statistical mistake it's making. **OF course** moderate Democrats outperformed Harris in purple seats, purple-seat voters don't like progressive presidential candidates! The comparison artificially inflates strength
October 20, 2025 at 8:50 PM
I'm trying to digest the editorial, but I keep coming back to this plot & the simple statistical mistake it's making. **OF course** moderate Democrats outperformed Harris in purple seats, purple-seat voters don't like progressive presidential candidates! The comparison artificially inflates strength
Reposted by Way to Win
Shockingly substandard stuff from @nytimes.com
I'm also frankly pretty floored that, in the sections of this editorial that deal with why Dems lost in 2024, there is no mention at all of inflation. According to the Times, Dems lost because of a bad favorability rating. But their favs weren't bad until after they lost!
October 20, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Shockingly substandard stuff from @nytimes.com
Seen a little chatter about how tuned out people are, but in our recent research we've found quite the opposite to be the case. This was from our poll of Biden '20 voters that skipped 2024; we've found similar results in focus groups. Most people (75%!) are paying serious amounts of attention.
October 20, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Seen a little chatter about how tuned out people are, but in our recent research we've found quite the opposite to be the case. This was from our poll of Biden '20 voters that skipped 2024; we've found similar results in focus groups. Most people (75%!) are paying serious amounts of attention.
Reposted by Way to Win
If the editorial board that proudly platforms Brooks, Stephens and Douthat thinks you're too damn liberal, you're probably barely liberal enough.
The "partisans" (so many questions) are not wrong, moving to the center is not the Way to Win, and hello @nytimes.com Ed Board. Apparently we are at the phase of responding to an argument without responding to the actual argument. Our first time being subeditorialized! Fun.
🤩🧵
🤩🧵
October 20, 2025 at 5:11 PM
If the editorial board that proudly platforms Brooks, Stephens and Douthat thinks you're too damn liberal, you're probably barely liberal enough.
The "partisans" (so many questions) are not wrong, moving to the center is not the Way to Win, and hello @nytimes.com Ed Board. Apparently we are at the phase of responding to an argument without responding to the actual argument. Our first time being subeditorialized! Fun.
🤩🧵
🤩🧵
October 20, 2025 at 4:32 PM
The "partisans" (so many questions) are not wrong, moving to the center is not the Way to Win, and hello @nytimes.com Ed Board. Apparently we are at the phase of responding to an argument without responding to the actual argument. Our first time being subeditorialized! Fun.
🤩🧵
🤩🧵
NEW ADS AND DATA: Democrats are still operating from a place of fear on immigration, but they absolutely have an opportunity to go on offense against Stephen Miller's horrifying ICE raids. This ad, Afraid of Americans, was the strongest approach of the four that we tested.
October 17, 2025 at 6:34 PM
NEW ADS AND DATA: Democrats are still operating from a place of fear on immigration, but they absolutely have an opportunity to go on offense against Stephen Miller's horrifying ICE raids. This ad, Afraid of Americans, was the strongest approach of the four that we tested.
New Charting the Way Forward with @replsimon.bsky.social on the ongoing Democratic Party Home Makeover, talking about California Prop 50, how it's going in Congress, and shared visions for rebuilding the party.
📺 www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS5P...
🍎 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
📺 www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS5P...
🍎 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
Rebuild It From The Studs (feat. Rep. Lateefah Simon) - Charting the Way Forward Ep 43
YouTube video by Way to Win Action Fund
www.youtube.com
October 16, 2025 at 4:50 PM
New Charting the Way Forward with @replsimon.bsky.social on the ongoing Democratic Party Home Makeover, talking about California Prop 50, how it's going in Congress, and shared visions for rebuilding the party.
📺 www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS5P...
🍎 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
📺 www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS5P...
🍎 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...