Dorian Warren

Senator Chuck Schumer conducts a news conference in the U.S. Capitol in May 2025. Image: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images FORUM How Not to Defeat Authoritarianism Moderation used to help Democrats win, but its advantages now have been greatly exaggerated. Adam Bonica, Jake Grumbach With responses from → Cori Bush, Amanda Litman, Matthew Yglesias, G. Elliott Morris, Julia Serano, Eric Rauchway, Suzanne Mettler & Trevor E. Brown, Thomas Ferguson, Timothy Shenk, Jared Abbott & Milan Loewer, Jenifer Fernandez Ancona, Lily Geismer, Danielle Wiggins, William A. Galston, and Henry Burke

We have a Boston Review Forum out today on the Democratic Party in a time of authoritarianism

www.bostonreview.net/forum/how-no...

Matthew Yglesias & @mattyglesias X.com 1-2 percentage points is a small number but it's a very big deal. bostonreview.net/forum/how-not-... Adam Bonica and Jake Grumbach claim to find only "small" electoral benefits of moderation, on the order of one to two percentage points. Their subtext is, who could possibly care about an effect of this size? In fact, campaign professionals emphasize to me that this is an enormous effect compared to what you get from spending on campaign ads or mounting field programs to mobilize and turn out voters. A swing of one to two percentage points would have been enough for Hillary Clinton to win in 2016 or for Kamala Harris to win in 2024. Two is a small number, but I don't think that's small change for the world. It's a little bit hard for me to understand what this debate is even supposed to be about given that the skeptics of moderation are willing to concede that both of Trump's election wins were within the bounds of what they say can be plausibly achieved by moderating. To underscore the point: since 2012 there have been seventeen Senate races decided by less than the Bonica-Grumbach margin of moderation. 7:29 AM • 2/3/26 • 14K Views

To begin with, Yglesias is way off in claiming that moderation increases a candidate's vote share by "one to two percentage points.' We don't know where he got these numbers, but they aren't in our essay; as our cited graphic shows, the best estimate is less than half a percentage point. He also need not speculate that moderating would have flipped important congressional races — we ran the numbers ourselves and found that moderation would have flipped none of the close House races in 2024. But we're used to seeing incorrect numbers on this subject. In any case, Yglesias's incorrect numbers are not as important as missing the central failures of popularism in recent years. Consider how it has hindered Democrats' leadership on public opinion. G. Elliott Morris is exactly right that trajectories are far more important than what polls say at any given moment. Throughout 2025, as Yglesias was arguing that Democrats shouldn't talk about immigration, the public turned dramatically against Trump on the issue in part due to the leadership of some Democratic leaders like Senator Chris Van Hollen. Now even Trump himself is reportedly "looking to change the subject to his economic agenda as his administration faces growing backlash over his

We have no idea where Yglesias got his numbers but they’re wrong. This debate has for so long been plagued by numbers basically pulled out of thin air

Right pic is from my and @adambonica.bsky.social’s response essay: www.bostonreview.net/forum/how-no...

Chris Rufo is so upset about the Minneapolis protests that he is resorting to anti-Nordic racism christopherrufo.com/p/the-curse-...

200 protestors shut down Pike outside of target in downtown Seattle. The iconic Pike Place Market sign is in the background

Out here with @troublemakers.bsky.social @mlklabor.bsky.social and a few hundred of our friends in solidarity with Minnesota and immigrant communities everywhere to tell Target "ICE OUT NOW!"

"In 2023, the “Minnesota Miracle” secured one of the strongest social safety nets in the country...None of it would have been possible without years of organizing that built a multiracial constituency prepared to stand together" - @hahrie.bsky.social for @hammerandhope.bsky.social, 2024

The War of Southern Aggression The MAGA reconstruction of the North is well underway

New post:

The brutal invasion of Minnesota is the most recent maneuver in the MAGA military "reconstruction" of the North—a coordinated assault on not just the idea of liberal democracy, but on those living in states who still strive for it.

We are thrilled to announce Dr. @dorianwarren.bsky.social, Co-President of Community Change & Co-Founder of @economicsecurityproject.org, as our Winter Meeting Keynote speaker!

Mayors, you won't want to miss it! Make your plan to join us in DC today: bit.ly/MIPW26

Sign at the Weiners Circle: "F k T mp we can redact too."

Chicago is having none of this administration's BS.

Latosha Brown: “ This Thanksgiving, I’m taking power back…I invite all Americans who are fed up to do the same.”

I don’t know about you, but “I’m Not Buyin’ It!”

www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
@blackvotersmatterfund.org

Still wondering what you can do? Here’s your answer for Black Friday Week: don’t support companies that don’t support you. Stop financing your own oppression. We ain’t buying it.

Cook County becomes the first county in the US to establish permanent funding for guaranteed income  • The TRiiBE On Thursday, the Cook County Board of Commissioners approved the FY 2026 budget, which includes $7.5 million to fund the county’s guaranteed basic income program.

NEW — Today, Cook County became the first county in the U.S. to establish permanent funding for guaranteed income at the county level.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners approved $7.5 million for the program through its FY 2026 budget, which totals $10.12 billion.

thetriibe.com/2025/11/cook...

Picture of "The Price of Democracy" From the framing of the constitution to the decades-long backlash to the Civil Rights movement, the battles most pivotal in defining our democracy have hinged on one issue: taxes. "Taxes are not just the lifeblood of government. They are the wellspring of democracy. That is the revelatory message of Vanessa Williamson's propulsive, panoramic history." -- Jacob S. Hacker "I love this book... The Price of Democracy makes a convincing case that we must take back the power of taxation to restore our democracy." -- Heather Cox Richardson

Ok but GUYS MY BOOK IS ACTUALLY OUT TODAY

YOU CAN GO AND GET A COPY AND READ IT AND EVERYTHING

www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/vanes...

www.newyorker.com/cartoons/daily-cartoon/tuesday-november-11th-we-cave

I spoke with Community Change co-president @dorianwarren.bsky.social last week about current political perils and how to create the world we want. www.roosevelthouse.hunter.cuny.edu/events/democ...

Forging a Path to Democracy with Labor and Solidarity at the Center - Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly To build the democracy we never had, activating people power—animated by an inclusive vision for our economy, especially through labor unions—is essential.

Why is labor power essential to democracy?

For week 2 of our @npquarterly.bsky.social Third Reconstruction series, @darrickhamilton.bsky.social & @dorianwarren.bsky.social look at U.S. history.

Read why the path out of authoritarianism runs through a multiracial labor movement: demos.nyc/43lmRwx

Image reading "Politics and Prose presents The Price of Democracy. Vanessa Williamson with Dorian Warren. Monday November 17. Connecticut Ave.

DC FRIENDS: I'll be at Politics and Prose on Nov. 17th to talk about my new book, The Price of Democracy! Thrilled to be joined by @dorianwarren.bsky.social for the conversation.

5015 Conn Ave
Monday, Nov 17th
7pm
politics-prose.com/vanessa-will...

Come talk 😍taxation and democracy😍!

Elites collapsed and capitulated. Regular people never did. #NoKings

An astonishingly large crowd!
Chicago

(around an image of the No Kings logo) IT’S OFFICIAL Nearly 7 million people have attended today's peaceful protests, which makes No Kings Day the biggest single-day protest against tyranny in American history! With more than 2,700 lawful and peaceful protests across all 50 states, No Kings Day was 14 times larger than both of Trump's presidential inaugurations (combined).

After a week of ridiculous Republican smears and Trump claiming that “very few people are going to be there,” you just made history. #NoKings

The harm is real: Black workers pushed out of jobs, HBCUs stripped of resources, Black mothers and fathers denied healthcare, and neighborhoods left without protection from floods, asthma, or poisoned water.

📖 Read the full Blackout Report now.
#BlackoutReport #OnyxImpact

The Role of Race in Trump’s Authoritarianism Black people have a rich tradition of collective organizing and action. We’re good at this. I wish we didn’t have to be.

The Role of Race in Trump’s Authoritarianism:
'Black people have a rich tradition of collective organizing and action. We’re good at this. I wish we didn’t have to be.'

Read the Op-Ed by @dorianwarren.bsky.social on The Progressive.

progressive.org/op-eds/the-r...

#authoritarianism #resistance

DC DEMANDS FEDERAL FORCES OUT NOW PRESS CONFERENCE + RALLY TODAY AUG 18 @ 3 PM 14th ST NW & U ST NW FREE DC

DC — Press Conference & Rally TODAY

The Trump regime has escalated their occupation of DC—Federal agents are now violently profiling, harassing, and arresting Black and Brown DC community members.

Join DC community leaders to demand FEDERAL FORCES OUT NOW:

📍 14th St NW & U St NW
⏰ 3 PM

FREE DC.

As he unleashes troops to combat "crime," Trump is simultaneously gutting the cops on the beat that stop corporations from harming us — the EPA, IRS, SEC, Labor Department, FTC, CFPB, Consumer Product Safety Commission, FDA, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Hello?

Sure, narrative control is side benefit, but seems wrong to claim Trump's motive in taking over DC is to distract from his failures & crimes. That's the calculus of a politician trying to win elections. His agenda is to seize ultimate power so he need not have to bother with courting votes.

Opinion | Republicans are trying to turn their attacks on Obamacare into self-fulfilling prophecies For those who buy insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act, premiums are about to get much more expensive.

My MSNBC debut, on the rising ACA premiums. The Trump Admin is letting the Biden Admin's enhanced subsidies expire, making marketplace ins prohibitively expensive (so younger/healthier people will drop out, leaving the rest costlier to insure), & tariffs aren't helping. www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

This point — in a very insightful post by @adambonica.bsky.social — is so obvious that only bad faith actors can deny or ignore it.

Parents and providers know what they need in a childcare system: something simple & safe where all kids have a high quality spot. We worked with Community Change on a new paper w/ research rooted in conversations with stakeholders about these simple demands.

Trouble with having focused on Medicaid alone, instead of naming horror show #MAGAMurderBill, attacking it as financing fascist assault to abduct our neighbors, steal our healthcare, seize more power, is that Medicaid provisions go into effect AFTER midterms.

Black leaders are on through the night to rally our community. You can join.

www.youtube.com/live/uax8jmJ...