The Battle for the Future of the Democratic Party

Progressive and centrist Democratic candidates had big wins in the 2025 elections. On this week’s On the Media, a data scientist fact-checks the claim that Democrats need moderate voters to win. Plus, an Arizona state senator shares how she’s reaching her constituents on TikTok and on the ground.
[01:00] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with G. Elliot Morris (bsky.app/profile/gelliottmorris.com), a journalist, statistician, and author of the data-driven news website Strength in Numbers, to hash out what the data says about whether becoming more moderate is really the key to Democratic candidates winning more elections.
[20:09] Brooke chats with Matt Bennett (bsky.app/profile/thirdwaymattb.bsky.social), co-founder of Third Way, a center-left think tank, about his view that (democrats.he) Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York City poses a “serious political problem” for the Democrats.
[36:06] Finally, Brooke calls up Analise Ortiz (bsky.app/profile/senanaliseortiz.bsky.social), state senator for Arizona’s 24th district, to discuss how TikTok, old-fashioned door-knocking, and making tangible differences in peoples’ lives is the way for the Democrats to start winning again.
Further reading:
• Moderation is not a silver bullet (gelliottmorris.com/p/moderation-is-overrated), by G. Elliott Morris
• Seven data-driven lessons from the 2025 elections (gelliottmorris.com/p/seven-data-driven-takeawa…), by G. Elliott Morris
• Was It Something I Said? (thirdway.org/memo/was-it-something-i-said) by Third Way
• Debunking Myths About the Democratic Party, (thirdway.org/memo/debunking-myths-about-the-de…)by Third Way

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