How the Democrats Lost America

Scott Ferson has watched and worked in politics for forty years, from the John Anderson for President campaign while in High School, as a press secretary to the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a chief strategist for the insurgent congressional campaign of Seth Moulton (D-MA) and advisor to dozens of candidates for office at the local and state level. He is the President/CEO of the strategic communications shop, the Liberty Square Group, and runs a political incubator, the Blue Lab that trains young people how to run campaigns. He is an adjunct professor of Political Science at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts.

• Prologue:  The Democrats Lost Steve1. The West Des Moines Effect2. The Electoral College has been Re-Accredited3. Democracy is on the Ballot4. The Coalition of the DisconnectedReflection5. Stuck in Place6. Sticking with Place7. Is it the Economy, Stupid?8. Nobody Likes That ShitReflection9. Greed10. House Uncertain11.The Border Giveth and the Border Taketh Away12. Listening for God13. The Very On-lineReflection14. I Think I Can Swing It15. Conspiracy Theories16. Coin Flip17. An Apprentice No More18. They Hate Us19. The Battle Over DemocracyConclusion

"The conversations [Ferson] reports make this book important for readers interested in understanding the current political landscape." —Library Journal“Scott Ferson’s How the Democrats Lost America isn’t just a post-mortem on the 2024 presidential election. For all the hand-wringing about former President Joe Biden or fears of the rise of an autocracy under President Donald J. Trump, Ferson makes clear that the party that was once aligned with the needs and desires of the ‘average’ American forgot to listen and engage that ‘average’ American. If they had, as Ferson has done in thousands of interviews, they would have learned that the path to power is rather simple: it is about connection, about connecting with voters to remind them why government matters. The Democrats lost that capability, but Ferson—in a book that both condemns and tries to uplift the party—provides a practical path forward.” —Juliette Kayyem, former Clinton and Obama Administration National Security Official“Scott Ferson has written flat-out the best book about contemporary electoral politics I’ve ever read. How the Democrats Lost America is so many things: part political analysis, part oral history, part travelogue, part cri du coeur for a different way of thinking—and not just our thinking about Donald Trump’s victory in 2024, or about the Democratic Party’s electoral prospects in 2028, or even about the lost art of personal civility between those on opposite ends of partisan spectrum. By documenting with such grace and wit eight years of coast-to-coast travels through the country’s smallest towns and largest cities, in states blue and red and purple, Ferson wants us to join him in paying homage to the marvelous scale and scope of America—the multitudes it contains, the contradictions it embodies, the hunger for a better life shared absolutely everywhere. A sorely-needed and bracing reminder that politics still and forever happens one person at a time.” —Scott W. Berg, author of The Burning of the World and 38 Nooses“With his book, Scott Ferson delivers an intimate ethnography that will be the envy of political reporters and social scientists alike. In an age of caricatures and tribal polarization, Ferson sets aside his own ideology and does what many Americans won’t: He steps out of his comfort zone, listens, and learns.” —Tim Alberta, New York Times best-selling author of The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory and American Carnage“Scott Ferson is a modern-day political Kerouac, who takes readers on the road across America in search of what it will take to save our democracy. Ferson’s keen political eye and quick wit make for a great read. From the football bars of Independence, Missouri, to the gun shops of Kennesaw, Georgia, and the coffee shops of Cathlamet, Washington, Ferson takes his readers on a listening tour like no other. Along the way, Ferson captures the voices of ordinary people from the forgotten main streets of America, and challenges us to build a democracy that works for everyone.” —Carol Rose, Executive Director, ACLU of MA“Anybody who wants Democrats to win in 2028—or anyone still wondering why they lost in 2024—should read this book. Ferson treats the last election as a culmination, not a fluke. Drawing on a series of conversations around the country, he offers an unvarnished account of why Democrats struggle between the coasts and why those voters will be hard to win back.” —Jonathan Martin, Politico columnist and co-author of the New York Times best-seller This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America's Future