Thread by @alexbronzini

I’m at WelcomeFest, America’s “largest public gathering of centrist Democrats.”

Lakshya Jain: “The voter you're trying to win over is a soccer mom, who isn't really as concerned with the election on Tuesday as she is with her kids soccer semifinal on Saturday.”

Citing Democratic lawmakers’ visits to El Salvador, Matt Yglesias argues that “the groups” create “bad incentives for democrats” (h/t @NatPurser)

@NatPurser Adam Jentleson: people wishing to push the Democratic Party in the correct direction should “speak up more on Twitter,” where people will “pile on you”

@NatPurser Rep. Tom Suozzi recounts being asked by Dem consultants: “Why are you talking about immigration? That's a Republican issue.”

He recalls answering: “No, it's what everybody's talking about. That's what they talk about when they go out to a party or a family dinner.”

@NatPurser He advises candidates in the crowd: “You can’t let yourself be pushed around by consultants.”

@NatPurser Rep. Suozzi: “Trump says extreme things on the right. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says extreme things on the left. The more extreme things you say, the more follows, the more likes.”

@NatPurser Now up: Ritchie Torres

@NatPurser First disruption of the day: @ClimateDefiance against “Genocide Ritchie”

@NatPurser @ClimateDefiance

@NatPurser @ClimateDefiance Torres says that “the greatest threat to our democracy does not come from the far left, but from the cowardice and complacency of the center.” Quoting FDR, he tells the crowd: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

@NatPurser @ClimateDefiance Josh Barro: “When I look at policies in New York that stand in the way of abundance, very often, if you look under the hood, you eventually find a labor union at the end.”

@NatPurser @ClimateDefiance Barro asks Torres: "Is there a way to have a pro abundance Democratic Party agenda in New York without breaking the strong link that exists between your Democratic Party and the labor movement?"

@NatPurser @ClimateDefiance Barro asks: “Is abundance actually popular in the middle in a place like New York?” Torres interjects: “I’m not aware of anyone who is against more housing.”

@NatPurser @ClimateDefiance Rep. Jake Auchincloss: “I'm pretty unwilling to accept the lecture on corporate power from the Left when they are carrying the water for the most pernicious, nefarious corporations in modern history, which are social media corporations.” (Huh?)

Panelists now speculating on how to campaign on abundance. Derek Thompson: “The far right has a story. The far left has a story. The center doesn't have story. That's a problem. What I would say in response to that is, yeah, stories are for children. Americans need a plan.”

Crowd now singing Happy Birthday for Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez

Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez to Matt Yglesias: “I would argue that most Americans are Blue Dogs in the sense that our demand for economic agency, the nuts and bolts of antitrust, can I fix my own shit, can I sell my chickens to who I want to...”

MGP: “Our kids feel like they have to move to LA or New York to be successful…we are tired of being an afterthought.”

It’s David Shor time

Shor says that a lot of people, “maybe not in this room,” think that “there are no string voters, that all that matters is mobilizing the base, and what we say doesn't matter. I think that's just a crazy thing to believe.”

Shor concludes with a slide praising Harris’s most effective TV ad, in which she promises to “crack down on landlords who are charging too much.” (Wonder what the abundists in the crowd make of that.)

“We just sort of lost some alpha energy,” says Elissa Slotkin. She says she has “some more of that than the average Democrat.”

“I was in the Pentagon. I was in the CIA before,” says Slotkin. “It's too hard to fire people who are not performing…The way DOGE is doing it is the dumbest, most astrategic way to do things. But I don’t disagree with the concept that we need to do different things.“

Slotkin says that Democrats have placed too much emphasis upon digital strategy. “60% of Michiganders don't have a news out on their phone and they consume no news…It’s just not the way you win, at least in a swing state.”

Slotkin: the real divide within the party isn't moderates vs. progressives, but whether "Trump's second administration is an existential threat to the country." "Existential, in a Department of Defense context, means you are required to get your ass in gear to figure this out."

And that concludes WelcomeFest 2025. Now heading to the happy hour.