What is the Democratic Party? What Could It Be?
About this episode
What is the Democratic Party, and what could it be? Wikler — Wisconsin's Democratic chair from 2019 to 2025, a DNC chair candidate, and author of 'This Is The Plan' — argues the party is less an institution than an amorphous blob: 'hollow parties' captured by consultants and donors. He diagnoses the 2024 loss: voters hated prices and the party's brand. His remedy is the Wisconsin model — year-round organizing, a presence in every county, new staff, flipping the state supreme court — as proof civic rebuilding works. The party needs a unifying affordability message, a genuine big tent, and an end to its 'eat their own' instinct. On Israel and Gaza, he says both sides' passions are real but voters care more about costs. They discuss money in politics, the collapse of local news, and populist versus institutional messaging.