Why do Democrats keep losing? Heading into the 2026 midterms, the left is wondering how we can march, protest, go viral but still watch our wins get rolled back faster than we can win them. That's why Tara McGowan sat down with longtime movement strategist and activist Rashad Robinson, former head of Color of Change and author of the brand-new book From Presence to Power: How to Take On the Fights That Matter and Win.
Rashad's answer? Democrats have confused presence with power. Presence is the visibility, the retweets, the awareness. Power is being able to force people who don't want to do something to do it anyway. And until the left understands the difference, Democrats will keep getting played by Trump and the Republican Party.
Take Chuck Schumer. Right after Trump won in 2016, Schumer told Rashad and other civil rights leaders not to worry about the Supreme Court filibuster because Orrin Hatch was an "institutionalist." He wasn't worried about Attorney General Jeff Sessions either because he and Sessions "worked out together in the gym." We all know how that turned out. It's a perfect case study in what Rashad calls "magical thinking" — the Democratic fantasy that Republicans will do the right and moral thing when all the evidence says they won't.
So Tara and Rashad get into all of it, including why Democrats celebrate wins the right would never celebrate, why moral clarity alone is a losing strategy, why AIPAC and big tech money still control Congress, how everyday people can build real power and win elections heading into the 2026 midterms and so much more.
Follow Tara McGowan on Instagram: @taramcgowanri
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