He's just Ken.....

Stop Pretending We Don’t Know Why We Lost

Like many other Democrats, I too listened to Pod Save America’s Postcast with DNC Chairman Ken Martin.

And I’ll be honest—I didn’t just disagree. I wanted to reach through my laptop and shake him.

It was one of the most frustrating political interviews I’ve heard in years. And that’s saying something. (Apologies to Terry Gross and Gene Simmons, but you’ve officially been dethroned.)

By the end of it, whatever remaining confidence I had in the DNC? Gone.

So let’s just say the quiet part out loud.

Here’s the deal, Ken.

We all know why we lost in 2024.

It wasn’t one thing. It was everything.

And if the DNC still isn’t willing to say that out loud—and more importantly, explain how they’re fixing it—then we’re headed straight for a sequel no one wants.

Because from where many of us were sitting?
The DNC didn’t just miss the message.

They were MIA on on what we were really hearing on the ground.

The Issues We Pretended Would Go Away

1. Israel–Gaza: The Conversation We Avoided

This didn’t start in 2024. This was years of tension building—and then exploding.

Democrats tried to thread a needle without acknowledging reality:

• You can support Jewish communities

• You can oppose Netanyahu’s actions

• You can condemn Hamas

All at the same time.

But instead of leading that conversation, we avoided it.
We sanitized it.
We acted like voters wouldn’t notice.

They noticed.

And what people felt was simple:
“We’re not being heard.”

That’s a dangerous place for any party to be.

2. The Border: Republicans Defined Us… and We Let Them

Greg Abbott started framing “open borders” before Biden even took office.

And what did we do?

We let him.

There was no clear, consistent, confident message from:

• The White House

• The Harris campaign

• Even Texas Democrats

And that vacuum? Republicans filled it.

I will die on this hill: weak messaging on the border cost us elections—Beto in 2022, and it absolutely hurt us again in 2024.

You don’t get to ignore an issue voters are living with every day and hope it disappears.

Spoiler: it doesn’t.

3. The Economy: Are We Kidding Right Now?

Let me say this plainly: I would love to have the Biden-era economy back right now.

So why? WHY are Democrats still struggling to talk about the economy like adults?

We had real wins.
We had real data.
We had real improvements.

And instead of owning it, we mumbled through it.

Meanwhile, Republicans told a simple story:
“Everything is broken.”

Guess which one voters remembered?

4. Trans Issues: We Got Defined

Republicans didn’t just attack on trans issues—they defined Democrats on them.

And we never effectively responded.

We should have:

• Protected our LGBTQ communities

• Protected our candidates

• And framed it around freedom, dignity, and government overreach

Instead, we hesitated.

And when you hesitate in politics, someone else writes your story.

What We Should Be Doing

We need to get back to something very basic:

1. Tell people what we stand for.

2. Tell them why we fight.

3. Tell them who we’re fighting for.

All Americans. All Texans. We are fighting for YOU!

Not in a slogan. In a way people can feel.

So Why Won’t the DNC Say This?

Let’s not dance around it.

Donors.

When you can’t have hard conversations, you can’t fix hard problems.

And if we don’t fix them?
We repeat them.

He said he didn’t lay off staff. It’s funny because I personally know staff that was laid off after Kamala lost.

And One More Thing…

Ken Martin gave the DNC credit for Taylor Rehmet’s win in Texas.

That was news to me.

Because I didn’t see the DNC knocking doors. I didn’t see the DNC funding that race in any meaningful, traceable way. And I looked and the finance reports.

Maybe I missed it. I’m open to being wrong.

But here’s what I did see:

• Taylor’s hard work

• Jake, his campaign manager

• Rehmet campaign staff

• Alison Campolo Tarrant County Party Chair and the Tarrant County Democratic Party

• Dozens of volunteers knocking on doors for him

• The Unions

• Sabrina B and Buddy L from Indivisible.

• Laura L and all the other Moms who showed up and helped

• Roland Gutierrez, Nathan Johnson, Carol Alvarado, Gina Hinojosa, Julie Johnson, Wendy Davis, Liza Hameline, Terri Crouch,

• Powered by People, Beto O’Rourke, Texas Blue Action, Progress Texas, and Conor Rice

That win wasn’t top-down.

It was bottom-up. It was people-powered, and it was earned.

And every single person on the ground deserves more credit than the DNC.

Sorry. Not sorry.

What Happens Next

We have a real opportunity in Texas right now.

• The energy is there.

• The momentum is there.

• The anger is definitely there.

But none of that matters without work.

This is going to take:

• Sweat

• Discipline

• Organization

• And a whole lot of people who refuse to sit this one out

And yes, when we win, someone else will try to take credit. But we’ll know the truth. It was never about them. It was about us.

Yours in resistance,

Nancy