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The Democratic Party’s Identity Crisis

The Democratic Party’s Identity Crisis

Update: 2025-08-281
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The Democratic strategist Lis Smith joins the guest host Clare Malone, a New Yorker staff writer, to discuss the state of the Democratic Party, and how a decade of reliance on anti-Trump rhetoric has left Democrats reactive and directionless. They consider why groups that Democrats once counted on—from young people to communities of color—are shifting rightward, and what new strategies politicians from Gavin Newsom to Zohran Mamdani are testing to prove that the Democratic Party stands for more than opposition to Trump.

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The Democratic Party’s Identity Crisis

The Democratic Party’s Identity Crisis

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker