How I Would Like Democrats To Change

A guidebook for big wins and bringing about good stuff

Richard Y Chappell

, one of my favorite philosophers, has an article titled “How I'd like Democrats to Change.” It’s paywalled, and I won’t spoil what’s in it, but it’s a pretty incredible article, definitely worth paying for (and Richard gives a lot of his substack money to charity, so it’s a valuable opportunity to do good). Being highly original, I decided that I would also write about how I want the Democrats to change. After losing the election and every single swing state on Tuesday, I decided they needed my help.

I agree with Richard that it’s quite easy to overestimate the extent to which the Democrats would do better electorally by prioritizing your pet issues. Probably the main reason the Democrats lost is that they, like most incumbents, were blamed for inflation. Incumbents got trounced all across the free world. The immigration crisis also played a role.

Still, I think the Democrats can do more both to succeed as a party and to do good. For this reason, I thought I’d write about how I think the Democrats can do more good. The Democrats should try to campaign on big, popular programs, and then when they get into power, carry those out, along with obscure programs that do immense good. So, how should they do that? And what secret, hidden programs should the Democrats push for that they shouldn’t campaign on?

This is my project 2025.