Dan Ancona
@danancona.bsky.social
Daddo and married to @jenancona. Standing athwart history yelling, WTF. Research, writing, ads, and building processes for understanding and persuading across the Dem-left coalition.
I mean, I think the narrative has to be something in the vicinity of this kind of thing, which I think most progressives would find broadly acceptable?
February 7, 2026 at 12:29 AM
I mean, I think the narrative has to be something in the vicinity of this kind of thing, which I think most progressives would find broadly acceptable?
I don't want anyone to be depressed. I want us to face reality and work together to figure out how to solve the problem. 13% of Biden '20 voters that stayed home in '24 cited LIz Cheney specifically. But many more mentioned a general sense Harris wasn't trying to get their vote in FGs.
February 6, 2026 at 10:12 PM
I don't want anyone to be depressed. I want us to face reality and work together to figure out how to solve the problem. 13% of Biden '20 voters that stayed home in '24 cited LIz Cheney specifically. But many more mentioned a general sense Harris wasn't trying to get their vote in FGs.
Sure: this graf is from the TV congress memo. That Siena poll coming out on the SAME DAY elevates this to Shakespearean-level tragedy. There are SO MANY ways she could have answered this though. Like, "Joe Biden and I were out there fighting for change every day, but our system is very broken...
February 6, 2026 at 9:27 PM
Sure: this graf is from the TV congress memo. That Siena poll coming out on the SAME DAY elevates this to Shakespearean-level tragedy. There are SO MANY ways she could have answered this though. Like, "Joe Biden and I were out there fighting for change every day, but our system is very broken...
I'm not arguing the campaign approach backfired or anything. It just wasn't enough. This is a focus group clip that's a bit long but I think gets at how the argument the campaign made failed pretty well, and why people were grumpy about the economy even with the macro indicators going positive.
February 6, 2026 at 9:17 PM
I'm not arguing the campaign approach backfired or anything. It just wasn't enough. This is a focus group clip that's a bit long but I think gets at how the argument the campaign made failed pretty well, and why people were grumpy about the economy even with the macro indicators going positive.
You are entirely correct. Both the inside and outside Dem campaigns combined spent *zero* on LGBTQ ads. Nothing positive, nothing to inoculate against the trans attacks, nothing responding to the trans attacks. Data here.
americaforward.us/tvcongress/2...
americaforward.us/tvcongress/2...
February 6, 2026 at 8:50 PM
You are entirely correct. Both the inside and outside Dem campaigns combined spent *zero* on LGBTQ ads. Nothing positive, nothing to inoculate against the trans attacks, nothing responding to the trans attacks. Data here.
americaforward.us/tvcongress/2...
americaforward.us/tvcongress/2...
to some degree indicative of this mindset. Bottom line, voters wanted change and didn't think Harris/Dems would deliver. Her Oct 8th appearance on the view is an example of how Trump/MAGA used earned, social and paid media in combination in a far more sophisticated way than team Dem.
February 6, 2026 at 7:11 PM
to some degree indicative of this mindset. Bottom line, voters wanted change and didn't think Harris/Dems would deliver. Her Oct 8th appearance on the view is an example of how Trump/MAGA used earned, social and paid media in combination in a far more sophisticated way than team Dem.
... that the strategy to appeal to those voters was by signaling moving right. Ergo, the Liz Cheney appearances, zero trans people or Palestinians featured at the DNC, the positioning of her speech, the top spending outside ad featuring a lifelong Republican talking about tax cuts, etc etc.
February 6, 2026 at 7:11 PM
... that the strategy to appeal to those voters was by signaling moving right. Ergo, the Liz Cheney appearances, zero trans people or Palestinians featured at the DNC, the positioning of her speech, the top spending outside ad featuring a lifelong Republican talking about tax cuts, etc etc.
As to how it was winnable, it's helpful to look back at the RCP battleground poll average. The race was very dynamic: voters were paying attention and listening. Harris got a solid boost out of the gate, was ahead post convention, and then starting around early Oct lost ground and never made it up.
February 6, 2026 at 7:11 PM
As to how it was winnable, it's helpful to look back at the RCP battleground poll average. The race was very dynamic: voters were paying attention and listening. Harris got a solid boost out of the gate, was ahead post convention, and then starting around early Oct lost ground and never made it up.
I like Will and he's a pal but this is the wrongest he has ever been about anything. Out of the gate she had a big bump with everyone relative to Biden. Her campaign got fully outmaneuvered. The speeches, TV ads and interviews all matter. Nothing is baked in. Voters hear what campaigns say.
February 5, 2026 at 11:37 PM
I like Will and he's a pal but this is the wrongest he has ever been about anything. Out of the gate she had a big bump with everyone relative to Biden. Her campaign got fully outmaneuvered. The speeches, TV ads and interviews all matter. Nothing is baked in. Voters hear what campaigns say.
And yet this argument persists, even in the face of 1000 counterarguments. Just today:
February 4, 2026 at 6:13 PM
And yet this argument persists, even in the face of 1000 counterarguments. Just today:
literal nightmare fuel
February 3, 2026 at 8:12 PM
literal nightmare fuel
weird that a strategy of aggressive moderation led to a loss of 21% of the 2020 coalition
February 3, 2026 at 6:02 PM
weird that a strategy of aggressive moderation led to a loss of 21% of the 2020 coalition
everything in their power doing the EXACT STRATEGY THE MODS (like the Bulwarkers! ad infinitum!) wanted them to do, which was run hard for the center. Which now they will say she didn't actually do or had the stench of woke or whatever the fuck, but come on. This. Strategy. Failed.
January 31, 2026 at 8:21 PM
everything in their power doing the EXACT STRATEGY THE MODS (like the Bulwarkers! ad infinitum!) wanted them to do, which was run hard for the center. Which now they will say she didn't actually do or had the stench of woke or whatever the fuck, but come on. This. Strategy. Failed.
Did everyone else already know nonmonogamy was at 54 with 18-44 men and 41 with women. 🤯
January 31, 2026 at 6:13 PM
Did everyone else already know nonmonogamy was at 54 with 18-44 men and 41 with women. 🤯
1984 and 1980. American history is just some seriously crazy shit.
January 29, 2026 at 5:34 PM
1984 and 1980. American history is just some seriously crazy shit.
You too can become a badass boss bitch, just 5 easy steps! These are killing me and Jenifer's the most hilarious -
www.instagram.com/p/DUEpVvwkpy...
www.instagram.com/p/DUEpVvwkpy...
January 29, 2026 at 1:55 AM
You too can become a badass boss bitch, just 5 easy steps! These are killing me and Jenifer's the most hilarious -
www.instagram.com/p/DUEpVvwkpy...
www.instagram.com/p/DUEpVvwkpy...
"But Trump has clarified an inconvenient fact—the culture war is an actual war."
This is what the anti-woke right and anti-idpol left wings of the party refuse to get. This is real and it is really happening. It really is theater with live ammunition.
www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...
This is what the anti-woke right and anti-idpol left wings of the party refuse to get. This is real and it is really happening. It really is theater with live ammunition.
www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...
January 27, 2026 at 10:05 PM
"But Trump has clarified an inconvenient fact—the culture war is an actual war."
This is what the anti-woke right and anti-idpol left wings of the party refuse to get. This is real and it is really happening. It really is theater with live ammunition.
www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...
This is what the anti-woke right and anti-idpol left wings of the party refuse to get. This is real and it is really happening. It really is theater with live ammunition.
www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...
Minyard's famous geographic visualization of the ICE gestapo's attempt to invade Minneapolis and the losses they incurred
January 27, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Minyard's famous geographic visualization of the ICE gestapo's attempt to invade Minneapolis and the losses they incurred
This interview was last year but Mayor Pete's answers to what should Biden have done differently were 1, open schools earlier 2, crack down harder on immigrants and 3, something prices something. This is red meat for Bulwarker/reactionary centrist group chats but awful electoral strategy.
January 26, 2026 at 8:49 PM
This interview was last year but Mayor Pete's answers to what should Biden have done differently were 1, open schools earlier 2, crack down harder on immigrants and 3, something prices something. This is red meat for Bulwarker/reactionary centrist group chats but awful electoral strategy.
Only 27% of voters, and only 8% of Dems, thought schools needed to open more quickly. This is the reactionary centrist theory about what went wrong with Biden. It's not based on reality.
January 26, 2026 at 6:26 PM
Only 27% of voters, and only 8% of Dems, thought schools needed to open more quickly. This is the reactionary centrist theory about what went wrong with Biden. It's not based on reality.
bitch I made a TV ad about it
January 26, 2026 at 3:54 PM
bitch I made a TV ad about it