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In addition to being a very smart book, Ben speaks in his authentic, funny voice. I admit I'm copying/pasting from the kindle version, but I promise I also bought the hardcover! Go buy and read #ThisIsThePlan

I agree that the ecosystem and state parties should transition from a "snowflake" model (where canvassers knock on the doors of nearby strangers) to a relational model where we have so many volunteers & organizers that they talk to their *friends* at the same scale.

But, simultaneously, Ben is very transparent that the evidence around knocking on the doors of strangers is very thin. And a big 2008 study during the Obama campaign had disappointing results.

I appreciate the detail Ben goes into re: how the WI Dem party operates. For instance, they moved from traditional canvassing to the "snowflake" model of neighborhood teams.

And this is *hard*. Screaming about the absolute vile destruction this administration wreaks is cathartic. But we have to be very disciplined about winning tough elections (ie, over-performing) because the senate map is brutal. And we'll probably need more than 50 seats to kill the filibuster.

Ben lays out the inherent tension of saving our Republic winning the support of voters who care much less about that goal than they do about quality of life. Ben's mantra: “If you care about democracy, talk about roads.”

To be clear, I'm not becoming a substacker. I enjoyed writing the occasional blog post back in the day, and I'm glad substack has kept old-school, long-form writing as part of our media diets. If you subscribe, expect maybe one post a year :)

There's a similar result in a recent NBC poll. Why care about non-voters? Trends among that crowd are indicative of the beliefs of presidential-only voters, who are also fairly apolitical. Turnout in presidential elections is near all-time highs, so we need the support of these "surge" voters.

This change proved unpopular in the 1970s, but with a majority of kids now *driven* to school, the backlash will be more muted this time around.

As far as I know. I don't see why it would be any different!

If I understand your question correctly: yes, very much so in this case: Waymo is 100% responsible. (This wasn't a debate about Tesla autopilot -- agreed, there are tricky questions there.)

Of course, that freedom can lead presidents to do awful things, eg Bush killing hundreds of thousands in the Iraq War. I remember protesting--in vain--with so many against the war in Feb 2003. Really drove home how important winning close presidential elections was--as have these past 2 yrs.

The nice thing, from a politician's point of view, is that voters don't care about foreign policy (outside of wars that increase their gas prices) and the issues are too abstract/remote for low-info voters to hold strong opinions. Politicians can really lead the way on the moral high ground here.

Well... maybe...(follow up tweets indicate that the specifics of the story are disputed)

Perhaps not, but I'm addicted to evidence. I honestly think it's a great RCT But you raise a good point. I'm not sure "Hey, you're completely misinterpreting these results" works either...I was hoping "I love this data & here are my thoughts" would help Perhaps neither work.Appreciate the feedback

Wait... "policies tested here are not moderate as he often claims"...YOU used the word moderate seven times in your piece! But truly no biggie since: imho "moderate" is just too squishy a term. That's why I prefer more defined terms like "popularist", "anti-establishment" etc.

Or, and here's where I live in the nuanced world or trying to win elections in tough districts, a candidate takes popular positions AND proves their independence (and, ideally, shows how they have a record of getting things done).

Right... hence my describing the condition as "popularist" -- focusing on taking popular issue stances (ideally on voters' most important issues) rather than approaches like "fight" or "deliverism" or "independence". Not that those are mutually exclusive, to be clear.

You really don't believe me that they are scare quotes I guess :) I'll just have to hope others are more generous

We can disagree on how to interpret data, but please don't spread disinfo www.welcomestack.org/p/deciding-t...