Ben Wickler

like incomes went up for a while, child poverty was cut in half and then the support went away. And so people, you know, if you're getting a thousand dollars a month because you have two kids and you make $40,000 a year, that's a huge, huge deal for your family. And when that goes away, the

like incomes went up for a while, child poverty was cut in half and then the support went away. And so people, you know, if you're getting a thousand dollars a month because you have two kids and you make $40,000 a year, that's a huge, huge deal for your family. And when that goes away, the

suddenly the floor is falling out at the same time as the price of keeping a roof over your head and filling your prescriptions and getting the food you need is going up. So that's why the economy sucked for a ton of people because they had, they had helped that disappeared and the cost of getting through the day rose.

suddenly the floor is falling out at the same time as the price of keeping a roof over your head and filling your prescriptions and getting the food you need is going up. So that's why the economy sucked for a ton of people because they had, they had helped that disappeared and the cost of getting through the day rose.

And those voters who had a lot of other things on their mind were the least likely to pay attention to political news. They were least likely to be, you know, tuning into this show or to, or to the MSNBCs of the world or reading a newspaper and, And they didn't – they felt like things were getting worse when a certain party was in charge and they didn't show up to keep that party in power.

And those voters who had a lot of other things on their mind were the least likely to pay attention to political news. They were least likely to be, you know, tuning into this show or to, or to the MSNBCs of the world or reading a newspaper and, And they didn't – they felt like things were getting worse when a certain party was in charge and they didn't show up to keep that party in power.

We saw the same thing happening everywhere in the world. The incumbent parties lost ground for the first time in more than a century in every wealthy democracy on planet Earth. Right. In the United States, it's particularly infuriating because Democrats actually were fighting for the exact things that folks needed, and Republicans stopped them. They blocked them and took them away.

We saw the same thing happening everywhere in the world. The incumbent parties lost ground for the first time in more than a century in every wealthy democracy on planet Earth. Right. In the United States, it's particularly infuriating because Democrats actually were fighting for the exact things that folks needed, and Republicans stopped them. They blocked them and took them away.

If we'd had a couple more Democratic votes in the Senate, we could have provided long-term support for folks. And what is really clear to me is that we were not communicating to people to talk the talk, to show up and show that we're fighting for working people in their lives in places and ways that they actually heard and saw and felt.

If we'd had a couple more Democratic votes in the Senate, we could have provided long-term support for folks. And what is really clear to me is that we were not communicating to people to talk the talk, to show up and show that we're fighting for working people in their lives in places and ways that they actually heard and saw and felt.

And that is an indictment on us for how we communicate and also shows the power of the right wing community. you know, propaganda and organizing machine that they've been able to dominate this conversation and tell people your life sucks because of some, some them that Democrats are on the side of against you.

And that is an indictment on us for how we communicate and also shows the power of the right wing community. you know, propaganda and organizing machine that they've been able to dominate this conversation and tell people your life sucks because of some, some them that Democrats are on the side of against you.

And it's, it is both, you know, Republicans trying to divide people based on their identities, but it's also a message about saying Democrats don't actually care about you, whoever you might be. And the way we beat that is not by abandoning parts of our coalition.

And it's, it is both, you know, Republicans trying to divide people based on their identities, but it's also a message about saying Democrats don't actually care about you, whoever you might be. And the way we beat that is not by abandoning parts of our coalition.

by people that deserve the same freedom and respect everyone gets, the way we defeat that is by showing that we are fighting for people and Republicans are the ones trying to rip them off and divide and distract them in order to pick their pockets.

by people that deserve the same freedom and respect everyone gets, the way we defeat that is by showing that we are fighting for people and Republicans are the ones trying to rip them off and divide and distract them in order to pick their pockets.

Unless you argue that that's actually part of what Trump is doing. And he was trying to reverse that and tell a story where Democrats are the party of the rich. That's true.

Unless you argue that that's actually part of what Trump is doing. And he was trying to reverse that and tell a story where Democrats are the party of the rich. That's true.

So it's everything, but I will put one particular circle around something, which is you have to actually have a fight. That means there have to be two sides of the fight, that attention follows conflict. To me, 2018 was an election about healthcare and about Republicans trying to rip away people's healthcare in order to give tax cuts to the ultra-rich and big insurance companies.

So it's everything, but I will put one particular circle around something, which is you have to actually have a fight. That means there have to be two sides of the fight, that attention follows conflict. To me, 2018 was an election about healthcare and about Republicans trying to rip away people's healthcare in order to give tax cuts to the ultra-rich and big insurance companies.