You can watch this episode of Right Now With Perry Bacon above or by following this show on YouTube or Substack. You can read a transcript here.
Democrats in recent years win elections based on hatred of the incumbent Republican president but then quickly lose power once in office. Author Ed Burmila argues these defeats are in part because Democrats are addicted to a safe, milquetoast approach of casting themselves as centrist and competent, instead of pushing a core set of values and policies. Voters punish Republicans for governing poorly but don’t reward Democrats for being more effective, in part because Democratic governing often doesn’t improve their lives much, according to Burmila. His book Chaotic Neutral: How the Democrats Lose Their Soul in the Center explains these troubling patterns. In the latest edition of Right Now, Burmila urges Democrats not to interpret their likely victory in 2026 and potentially 2028 as a mandate for a bland agenda once in office. 2029, if Democrats have a trifecta, must be a time for transformative reforms of the court system and other institutions to stop our fascist far right from gaining even more power.
