Oct 1, 2026 · 46 min · 11 segments
Today we're dropping the first episode of our "Closing Argument" series celebrating TWO YEARS of Charting The Way Forward. First up: Indivisible's Leah Greenberg on The Grassroots and the largest…
Leah GreenbergGuestKerry EleveldHostDan AnconaHost
Jenifer Fernandez AnconaHost
Well, it really goes back to something that we've discussed here in my previous visits, which is around the credibility gap, right? That people like a lot of democratic policies without feeling confidence that they're Voting is going to elect someone who is going to deliver on the stuff that they are promising.
And so a lot of what we saw when we were digging in on this relationship between affordability and accountability is that people the affordability policies are popular, the accountability policies are popular, but what really activates people is when you're telling a linked story that actually connects cost of living and corruption, that helps people understand why are conditions for me getting worse as Washington continues to enrich itself, that actually helps people see that you're somebody who is serious, not just about piecemeal policies, but on cracking down on unaccountable system of elites who are enriching themselves at your expense.
And it helps to place them on more of a clear anti-system outside of the corruption of Washington position in the political spectrum that lets people hear some of the policies that you're proposing on affordability.
And so that for us was a really important piece of the puzzle because we got to figure out ways that we reach people who it's not just about, it's not about persuasion.
It's about them being convinced both that like you are offering them the right things and that it is worth their time to vote in the first place.
And in order to do that, you have to tell stories that actually resonate with their experience.
And what we found is that this kind of linked story of cost of living and corruption was something, a place where things really resonated.
Yeah, Dan has flashed up, and this is actually a slide from our polling, which showed that we asked voters what they thought the number one threat to the country was.
So their top issue when you asked them about issues was cost of living and inflation.
But when you asked them what they thought the number one threat to the country was, it was government corruption.
And so it's a very similar sort of finding about how important this is to people.
And I was taken with your theory of the case that promises are just empty promises unless you're backing them up with something.
And if you're not naming that corruption and how you're going to go after it, then it just sounds like you're making more empty promises.
One of the things that we have not totally figured out how to disambiguate is we know that for some of the people who answered this way, you know, this corruption, the first thing that's going to come to mind is the Nick Shirley stuff is, is the thing in Minnesota that they were pushing, pushing.
I've heard reports that a lot of the Democrats in Minnesota are struggling right now because they're the party in power there.
Well, it really goes back to something that we've discussed here in my previous visits, which is around the credibility gap, right? That people like a lot of democratic policies without feeling confidence that they're Voting is going to elect someone who is going to deliver on the stuff that they are promising.
And so a lot of what we saw when we were digging in on this relationship between affordability and accountability is that people the affordability policies are popular, the accountability policies are popular, but what really activates people is when you're telling a linked story that actually connects cost of living and corruption, that helps people understand why are conditions for me getting worse as Washington continues to enrich itself, that actually helps people see that you're somebody who is serious, not just about piecemeal policies, but on cracking down on unaccountable system of elites who are enriching themselves at your expense.
And it helps to place them on more of a clear anti-system outside of the corruption of Washington position in the political spectrum that lets people hear some of the policies that you're proposing on affordability.
And so that for us was a really important piece of the puzzle because we got to figure out ways that we reach people who it's not just about, it's not about persuasion.
It's about them being convinced both that like you are offering them the right things and that it is worth their time to vote in the first place.
And in order to do that, you have to tell stories that actually resonate with their experience.
And what we found is that this kind of linked story of cost of living and corruption was something, a place where things really resonated.
Yeah, Dan has flashed up, and this is actually a slide from our polling, which showed that we asked voters what they thought the number one threat to the country was.
So their top issue when you asked them about issues was cost of living and inflation.
But when you asked them what they thought the number one threat to the country was, it was government corruption.
And so it's a very similar sort of finding about how important this is to people.
And I was taken with your theory of the case that promises are just empty promises unless you're backing them up with something.
And if you're not naming that corruption and how you're going to go after it, then it just sounds like you're making more empty promises.
One of the things that we have not totally figured out how to disambiguate is we know that for some of the people who answered this way, you know, this corruption, the first thing that's going to come to mind is the Nick Shirley stuff is, is the thing in Minnesota that they were pushing, pushing.
I've heard reports that a lot of the Democrats in Minnesota are struggling right now because they're the party in power there.
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