How the Democrats Lost Steve - by Scott Ferson

About the Book

In this critical examination of the events leading up to and following the 2024 American presidential election, political advisor Scott Ferson illuminates what went wrong for the Democrats and a potential path forward to reconnect with voters and the promise of democracy.

Book Synopsis

When Donald Trump won the 2024 American Presidential Election, the nation--and world--was shocked. In this critical examination of the events leading up to and following the election, political advisor Scott Ferson goes straight to the source--the American people--to understand how this happened.

In November 2024, the Democrats lost Steve--a lot of Steves, too many Steves, enough Steves to swing an election and tilt history's trajectory. Steve is the voter who's never chosen a party, who works full-time or overtime just to make ends meet, and who simply wants to be able to live the American dream that they were promised. A generation ago, Steve would have been a Democrat, by tradition or community or through union organizing. Now, Steve is lost to the Democrats, and, for those in disbelief over the 2024 election, the hard lesson is the Democrats never even tried to win over Steve.

How the Democrats Lost Steve explains not only why Kamala Harris and the Democrats lost the 2024 election but the larger disconnect the party has with voters in general, particularly those who don't hug both coasts or live in select big cities in between.

Through thousands of interviews over the past eight years, Scott Ferson exposes a larger problem facing our democracy: A profound disconnect with the people. By listening to people and understanding their real concerns, Democrats can find the way forward and take the steps to reconnect the people with the American promise of democracy. Democrats have a choice. Steve can be lost and forgotten, or lost and found.

About the Author

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.