Progressive Hope: Winning Back the Factory Towns That Made Trumpism Possible
Session Type(s): Panel
Starts: Friday, Aug. 19 1:30 PM (Eastern)
Ends: Friday, Aug. 19 2:30 PM (Eastern)
Ever wonder why Wapello County, Iowa made a 20-point swing from Democratic to Republican in a single Presidental cycle? Or why traditional, blue collar or union communities that have been strong Democratic bastions since the 80s went solidly for Trump in 2016 and 2020? Most importantly, do you want to know how to win these voters back? This panel seeks to combine data and research into some tangible solutions for winning back working-class voters in small and mid-sized working-class towns.
Moderator
Mike Lux
Mike Lux is the co-founder of Democracy Partners, a consulting firm whose mission is building the progressive movement. Mike is a frequent blogger on Huffpo, DailyKos, and Crooks and Liars. He is the author of the book, “The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be.”
Mike currently serves on the boards of several organizations, including the Arca Foundation, Netroots Nation, Americans United for Change, and USAction. He also was a co-founder and a former board member of Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, Progressive Majority, Women’s Voices/Women Vote, and the Center for Progressive Leadership. He played a role in the early days of launching the Center for American Progress, Air America, America’s Voice, and MoveOn.org. From January 1993 to mid-1995, Mike served as a Special Assistant to the President in the Clinton White House, and has played a leadership role on five Presidential campaigns
Panelists
Celinda Lake
Celinda Lake was one of two main pollsters for the Biden campaign, is the only Democratic pollster to play a major role in defeating two incumbent presidents, and is a prominent pollster and political strategist for progressives. Celinda currently serves as President of Lake Research Partners. Lake’s polling and strategic advice has helped candidates such as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Senator Jon Tester, Senator Debbie Stabenow, and former Governor Bob Wise to groundbreaking wins, and her expertise guided former Senator Mark Begich to victory, making him the first Senate candidate in Alaska to oust an incumbent in 50 years. Celinda has focused especially on women’s concerns and women candidates, including Speaker Pelosi, former Governor Janet Napolitano, Senator Debbie Stabenow, former Senator Barbara Mikulski, Mayor Carolyn Goodman, former Mayor Annise Parker, and over a dozen women in the House and Senate. Celinda worked on behalf of the largest independent expenditure to take back the House in 2006 and has been a key player in campaigns launched by progressive groups such as the AFL-CIO, SEIU, NRDC, ecoAmerica, Planned Parenthood, Vote Vets, HRC, and EMILY’s List. Lake co-authored the book What Women Really Want with Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway. Celinda works with innovative messaging projects that help redefine language on the economy, inequality, big money in politics, climate change, public schools, teachers, criminal justice reform, and has worked in depth on the Race Class Narrative work with Anat Shenker-Osorio.
Art Reyes
Art Reyes III is the founding Executive Director of We The People Michigan and We The People Action Fund. He was born and raised in Flint, MI and hails from three generations of proud UAW members. Before WTP, Art was the training director at the Center for Popular Democracy, where he led national training programs for organizers, lead staff, and executive directors. He spent much of 2016 working in Flint responding to the water crisis and helped launch Flint Rising. In 2020, Art helped lead a multi-racial united front of organizations and leaders across Michigan to protect the results of the election and the integrity of our democracy. He has a BA from Michigan and MPP from Harvard where he taught a community organizing course with Marshall Ganz. He lives in Michigan with his wife Ashley, their baby Emilio, and a gigantic dog named Kona the Coney Dog.