Podcast Episode Summary

The Realignment – Episode 565

Guest: Daniel Squadron (Co-founder, The States Forum; Former NY State Legislator)
Host: Marshall Kosloff
Date: August 5, 2025

Overview: Rebuilding American Liberalism from the States Up

This episode focuses on the challenge facing the U.S. Democratic Party and American liberalism following the 2024 election. Host Marshall Kosloff speaks with Daniel Squadron about the need for an ideas-driven renaissance at the state level, drawing lessons from the past realignment of the Republican Party. The conversation explores why Democrats struggle to articulate a coherent ideological worldview, the hazards of single-issue politics, and how states are central to forging a new liberal consensus.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Democratic Party's "Wilderness" Moment and Lessons from the Right

• The Democratic Party is experiencing a crisis similar to what the GOP underwent after 2012, when it became clear the old "Romney coalition" had run its course.
• The Republican realignment was driven by a coalition of ideologies that eventually crystalized around Trump-era populism.
  • "[After 2012], the Republican Party recognized that the Mitt Romney version of the party had reached its strongest possible position and had no future. That then led to a realignment moment…" – Kosloff (00:48)

2. Introducing the States Forum

• Daniel Squadron discusses his career path and the formation of the States Forum, a project creating space for national conversation about state policy grounded in core American values.
• The emphasis is on ideas — not just electoral messaging or poll-tested slogans — as the way forward for Democrats.
  • “The States Forum is a national conversation on state policy based on core American values… representative democracy, personal freedom, fair markets, and effective government.” – Squadron (03:45)

3. Ideology vs. Single-Issue Politics: The Democratic Challenge

• Republicans tend to identify with broader ideological movements (conservatism), while Democrats gravitate toward coalitions of single-issue groups (e.g., reproductive rights, climate, labor).
• This puts Democrats at a disadvantage when articulating big, resonant narratives or worldviews.
• “You ask a Republican activist... what do you believe in? They start talking about ideology. You ask a traditional Democrat... they start talking about a single issue." – Squadron (11:20)

4. Why States Matter: Testing and Building Ideas Beyond D.C.

• Historically, ideological projects gain momentum and coherence in the wilderness, often at the state level before national breakthroughs.
• State governments have immense power over real policy outcomes—Congress sets broad strokes, but states implement and define how laws are experienced.
• States are both "laboratories of democracy" and engines for shaping political worldviews:
  • "States are the place where ideas actually become engines of action." – Squadron (53:38)

5. The Perils of Messaging-Only Approaches

• A major critique is leveled at focusing politics purely on messaging and branding, rather than root ideas or guiding principles.
• The Democratic focus on refining slogans misses the bigger picture:
  • “Slogans are impossible if you don’t know who you are and why you’re here.” – Squadron (07:37)

6. Policy, Opportunity, and Example Cases

• The conversation uses the example of student debt forgiveness to illustrate the challenge: A policy rooted in 1990s-'00s thinking (everyone should go to college for economic mobility) may not resonate with a growing share of young voters who don’t see college as a viable or appealing path.
  • "The idea that college in a globalized world is the only driver to success... is an inadvertent brand confirmation of something where there’s some real political critique." – Squadron (29:05)
• Another example: Mississippi’s improvement in educational outcomes is a challenge to Democratic talking points about opportunity and social progress.

7. Revamping Public Service and Opportunity

• Squadron and Kosloff discuss the limits of the Aspen/NGO “public service” model and AmeriCorps; more concrete, non-elite, and locally beneficial forms (e.g., conservation corps) are proposed as better models.
• Making public service an admirable, accessible, and properly compensated option for all, not just the privileged.
• "Who do you know who's ever done AmeriCorps who doesn't have some family that can subsidize them?" – Squadron (36:09)

8. Concrete Ideas for Expanding Opportunity

• Highlighting state initiatives like reducing degree requirements for government roles as a tangible, values-driven reform.
• Proposes appointing non-degree-holders to significant public office as a powerful symbolic and real demonstration of opportunity and changing status hierarchies.
• "It’s actually really screwed up… that a huge percentage of my law school class, this is at a top tier Ivy League school. We're all in the administration together. The country shouldn't work this way." – Marshall paraphrasing a source (47:28)

9. The Practical Wisdom of State Legislators

• State-level actors are more focused on solving problems than navigating abstract factional debates that dominate national discourse.
• The "abundance vs. populism" debate is mostly academic at the state level where most legislators are insulated from partisan threat in their districts, and instead seek practical working majorities or intraparty alignment.
  • "More than 70% of…Democrats or Republicans running for office are never going to lose their seat to the other party. They're only going to lose their seat to someone in their own party." – Squadron (53:23)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the Difference Between Democratic and Republican Worldviews

• "On the Democratic side, we know our issues...Reproductive rights, climate, democracy…But that's happened almost by a decision from a few people. The Republican Party is a coalition of ideologies; the Democratic Party is the coalition of basically single issue advocacy."
  — Daniel Squadron (12:16)

On Foundations for a New Liberalism

• “The idea of representative democracy... effective government... personal freedom, it’s not a slogan, but it does define what a slogan would be.”
  — Daniel Squadron (08:44)

On the Limitation of Branding Without Substance

• “You can't build it just on vapors.”
  — Daniel Squadron (28:15)

• "Slogans are impossible if you don’t know who you are and why you’re here."
  — Daniel Squadron (07:37)

On the Power of the States

• "States are the place where ideas actually become engines of action."
  — Daniel Squadron (53:38)

On Elite Capture of Government Position

• "It's actually really screwed up to me that a huge percentage of my law school class... we're all in the administration together. The country shouldn't work this way."
  — Paraphrased by Marshall Kosloff (47:28)

Key Timestamps

• 00:45 — Daniel Squadron introduces the States Forum and its foundational values
• 05:46–09:42 — The challenge of Democratic messaging vs. the Republican ideological framework
• 11:20–16:53 — Why Democrats struggle with coalition ideology; Paul Weyrich, ALEC, and the GOP’s conservative ecosystem
• 19:15–24:06 — Lessons from the post-Goldwater Right and why the “wilderness” is important; state power
• 27:49–34:13 — Policy example: College debt, opportunity, and messaging vs. substance
• 34:13–40:38 — Revamping “public service” beyond NGO models; making state service meaningful and accessible
• 40:38–47:28 — Concrete ideas: Reducing degree requirements; appointing non-elites to high office
• 53:23–58:40 — State politics as distinct from factional D.C. battles; practical wisdom and problem-solving

Tone and Takeaways

The conversation is rooted in realism, history, and a “back to basics” approach centered around core American tenets (representative democracy, personal freedom, fair markets, effective government). It advocates for Democrats to move past ephemeral messaging and poll-tested slogans to focus on substantive ideas that can be tested, proven, and refined at the state level. The tone is pragmatic, occasionally self-critical, and hopeful about rebuilding from the ground up.

Final Thought

Squadron’s project and perspective make a compelling case that for Democrats, the path out of the wilderness runs not through national slogans, but through state-based policy experiments, a focus on root ideas rather than tactics, and a willingness to challenge both old assumptions and elite-driven status hierarchies.

For further reading, see Daniel Squadron’s op-ed and the NYT piece on the States Forum (linked in the show notes).