David Shor: An Interview With Today's Most Provocative Democratic Political Expert [re-release]

Beyond Politics

In recent weeks, there's been one person driving the discussion in Democratic circles: David Shor. Big profiles in the New York Times and Politico have further elevated this rising political star, along with his stark warning that if Democrats think they're sitting pretty for the coming years having beaten back the forces of Trump in 2020, they're deluding themselves. Three months ago, we interviewed David on this show, and today, we bring you a re-release of that terrific episode, in which David explained his argument, his evidence, and his interpretation of what we're seeing around us.

The discussion included this summary from David of his outlook: "We actually aren't winning the war of ideas as much as we think...and the Republican Party is more popular relative to the Democratic Party than people think. The Democratic Party brand and agenda has shifted a lot in the last four to five years, and it's gone in a direction that a lot of voters aren't comfortable with. People can easily overestimate how much support there is for the Democratic Party."

Check out the whole show for more from this fascinating interview. Shor is a data scientist who consults with progressive groups around the country and is one of the most trusted and widely respected voices on what’s actually happening with the American electorate. He's the Head of Data Science at OpenLabs R&D, and previously was the director of Political Data Science at Civis Analytics, overseeing a research and development program that interviewed millions of people for hundreds of individual campaigns and electoral organizations.