My path into the Democratic Party began at our family’s kitchen table. Growing up, we ate dinner each night alongside the portraits of two household heroes: the pope and President John F. Kennedy.
Our reverence for Kennedy was rooted not merely in our pride as Irish Americans. It was rooted in a deep sense of trust that he and his fellow Democrats were dedicated to fighting for families like ours — working-class families that lived life one missed paycheck away from economic calamity.
Today, more than six decades later, the Democratic Party remains the only major political party dedicated to uplifting working families — but increasingly, we are perceived as an exclusive club for Washington insiders and wealthy elites. That is an unmistakable repudiation of our political identity.
Three months after the setback of the 2024 election, members of the Democratic National Committee will soon cast their votes for the organization’s next chair. We must elect a DNC chair who will bring our party back to basics and, in so doing, lead us to victory in red and blue states alike.
For more on the DNC chairman election, tune in Thursday to MSNBC’s live candidate forum, starting at 3 p.m. EST
This process must begin with a new 50-state strategy that worked so well for the party 20 years ago. If Democrats refuse to reach out to broad swaths of the country, we will continue to be seen as out of touch. You’ll never win people over if you don’t meet them where they’re at.
Instead, Democrats must return to the grassroots and start rebuilding trust with the voters who have been at the heart of our political coalition for nearly a century: working-class Americans of all colors, creeds and cultural backgrounds.
Of course, it won’t be easy to rebuild trust at a time when a record number of Americans have lost faith in our political system. And their skepticism is warranted. Washington is broken and beholden to powerful special interests. Costs are extraordinarily high. And most Americans don’t believe their kids will be better off than they are.
Across the nation, there is fundamental frustration with politics as usual — which means Democrats need to re-evaluate our political strategy on a fundamental level.
While much ink has been spilled since the election about reworking our party’s messaging strategy or recruiting new messengers, the challenges we face run deeper. Viral clips and podcast appearances can go only so far if our party’s brand is unappealing.
If we want to win tough races, Democrats need to build new political infrastructure that supports our candidates every day of every cycle. Think of it this way: If a house is falling apart, you don’t just repaint the walls. You rebuild it from the foundation up. The same is true for the DNC: We must rebuild our political home from the ground up. Building new political infrastructure may not be sexy. But it is absolutely essential.
Though this task is daunting, Democrats have done it before. We’ve even done it in the 21st century. And we can do it again.
Back in 2006, I began my first professional role in politics, as the DNC’s national finance chair. I joined the DNC for one reason and one reason only: I believed in Howard Dean’s 50-state strategy.
During his time as chair of the DNC, Howard put our party’s boots on the ground in every state and on every day throughout the election cycle — and supported candidates up and down the ballot. Under him, Democrats didn’t just show up months before a presidential election — we showed up all 365 days of the year on the toughest terrain imaginable.
The results spoke for themselves. During Howard’s first cycle as chair, Democrats won majorities in both chambers of Congress for the first time in more than a decade. We flipped Senate seats in then-reliably red states like Missouri, Montana and Virginia — each of which had voted for George W. Bush just two years prior.
And, just as impressive: The 50-state strategy was remarkably inexpensive, by contemporary standards. During my tenure at the DNC, we made sure that we invested the same amount of money into every state, rather than pump inordinate amounts of cash only into safe blue bubbles.
Sure, the party leaders in big blue states — like my own — grumbled about receiving the same amount of money as states like Kansas or Kentucky. But that was the point! Our goal was expanding the Democratic tent by establishing a presence in every voting precinct — whether it was in Nebraska or in New York.
Democrats must revive this same strategy ahead of the 2025 elections, and especially the 2026 midterms.
Frankly, we should warmly welcome the opportunity to run anywhere we can. The party has a deep bench of political talents that spans the ideological spectrum. Strong majorities of Americans agree with us on issue after issue — from protecting reproductive rights to raising the minimum wage to lowering health care and housing costs. And if the past is prologue, voters will soon be eager to elect leaders who offer a change of course from those currently in power in Washington.
So the only question is: Will the DNC’s members meet this moment by electing a chair who will rebuild our party across every state and territory?
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
