Devil's Cut | How To Build A Bigger Tent

Summary

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Truth in the Barrel

Episode: Devil's Cut | How To Build A Bigger Tent
Date: September 2, 2025
Host(s): Amy McGrath, Denver Riggleman
Guest: Lauren Harper Pope, Co-founder of Welcome PAC

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Overview

This episode centers on how the Democratic Party can expand its electoral appeal by building a “bigger tent”—welcoming moderates, independents, and even disgruntled Republicans. Amy McGrath interviews Lauren Harper Pope, co-founder of Welcome PAC, a centrist group focused on fielding competitive Democratic candidates in right-leaning districts where the party has traditionally underperformed. They explore the barriers to entry for moderate candidates, the risks of ideological purity tests, and tangible strategies for winning back the House of Representatives. The conversation is candid, personal, and packed with practical political insights.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Lauren Harper Pope’s Background and Motivation

• Roots & Early Political Journey
  • Lauren grew up in South Carolina, attended the University of South Carolina, and briefly lived in Texas before returning home.

    “Texas was way too hot for me. So we came right back home shortly after we got married.” (02:36)

  • Her political path started unintentionally through public service and government internships.

    “I was like, do I want to just go make some company money or do I want to do something that I think is going to genuinely add value to the world around me? And I thought that public service would be the right way to do it." (03:37)

The Welcome PAC’s Mission & Research Approach

• Not a Third Party; a More Welcoming Democratic Party
  • Lauren stressed that the Welcome Party is not aiming to be a new third party, but rather to reform and broaden the Democratic coalition.

    “We are not Elon Musk trying to make some new party… we are trying to make a more welcoming Democratic Party.” (04:26)

• Data-Driven Candidate Recruitment
  • Welcome PAC prioritizes open primaries and focuses on reaching untapped, less ideological voters.
  • Their Congressional Competitive Index identifies the most winnable districts and neglected races. For example, CA-41 (Ken Calvert) and Lauren Boebert’s district.

    "Democrats are actually conceding democracy to these MAGA Republicans because they're not actually putting up a race against them.” (07:16)

• Aggressively Centrist Democrats
  • The PAC seeks “aggressively centrist” Democrats who can challenge deeply entrenched MAGA incumbents.

    "We're finding places that are opportunities for Democrats to truly compete and running what we call aggressively centrist Democrats against those Republicans." (09:20)

Building a Welcoming, Fun, and Empathetic Brand

• Rebranding the Democratic Party
  • The name ‘Welcome’ reflects their goal: making centrists, moderate Republicans, independents, and moderate Democrats feel at home.

    “Democrats are...the approval ratings in the gutter, and people perceive us as just this elitist, out of touch, unfun paw monitor party...when you think about a brand, you want someone who’s going to be like, I want to go to their tailgate." (10:12)

  • Focus on welcoming Democrats who feel alienated by progressive drift, especially conservative-leaning voters, people of color, and young voters.

Party Infrastructure and the Role of “Partisan Centrists”

• Staying in the Party to Influence It
  • Lauren argues for reforming parties from within rather than defecting to become independents.

    “If you stay within your party infrastructure, you're forcing the mechanisms of this party to take you seriously...” (13:25)

  • Quote from researcher Didi Kuo: Instead of leaving, be “an independent-minded person within a party” to add “flavor” and “robustness.” (12:40)

The Dangers of Ideological Purity Tests

• Purity Tests Alienate Potential Winners
  • Democratic infrastructure has defaulted to a “check a box” mentality, leading to a “Build-a-Bear party” that misses real voter connection.

    “You are checking all these boxes but completely missing the point...not actually able to relate to voters.” (16:59)

  • Welcome PAC does not use questionnaires or pledges, opting for authentic conversations with candidates—focusing on differentiation and genuine policy positions.

The “Depolarizer” Concept

• What Makes a Candidate a Depolarizer?
  • “Depolarizers” are politicians who can win over a spectrum of voters, often by breaking with their party to prioritize local, place-based issues. Example: Marie Gluesenkamp Perez voting with her district over national party lines.

    “Depolarizers are not always rewarded with, you know, fun hugs and kisses on Twitter… but they are rewarded by her getting reelected this past cycle.” (15:45)

Center-Left Faction-Building and Welcome Fest

• Welcome Fest & Building the Centrist Faction

  • Welcome PAC hosts “Welcome Fest,” a growing annual convention for centrist Democrats and their allies (Blue Dogs, New Dems, Third Way, etc.).

    “Welcome Fest was awesome… last year we had about 300 folks. This year we had 600 folks. And it was just incredible.” (22:48)

  • Focus on responsibility to win and sharing best practices for outperforming expectations, especially in swing and red-leaning districts.

• Moderates Overperform

  • Research presented at Welcome Fest shows moderate candidates consistently outperform the party baseline—sometimes more than progressives with higher media profiles.

    “If you look at the explicit data on overperformance, Janelle Stelson is actually a bigger overperformer than AOC… because she’s more moderate.” (23:54)

Reframing Messaging and Voter Perceptions

• Meeting Voters Where They Are
  • Democrats often have a messaging gap, with voter perceptions not matching actual party priorities. There’s a need to talk about what really matters, district by district.

    “Let’s just be genuinely authentic and let’s be with voters on the issues. Let’s care about what they care about.” (24:15)

  • Importance of reframing:

    “If someone doesn’t want to come to your table, tailgate, and associate with you, that’s a big problem.” (27:04)

Actionable Takeaways & Resources

• How to Learn More or Support Welcome PAC
  • Check out their Substack (welcomestack.org) and learn about the ‘Win the Middle’ slate—seven handpicked candidates for 2026 in competitive districts.

    “I always tell people, be the change that you want to see… don’t perpetuate bad habits." (26:32)

  • Drive for authenticity and “winning the middle,” not just running generic Democrats.

Closing: The Stakes for Democracy

• The Urgency of the Moment
  • Amy emphasizes the essential need to provide an electable, values-driven alternative to what she calls the anti-democratic drift of the GOP.
  • Lauren’s parting charge:

    “We must. If we care about this country the way we say we do, we must.” (28:58)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Branding the welcome PAC:

  “We want to be wanted. We want to be welcoming, we want to be empathetic and we want to be fun.” — Lauren Harper Pope (10:12)

• On being a “partisan centrist”:

  “Instead of becoming an independent, why don’t you become just a more independent-minded person within a party?...The party has more flavor, more robustness.” — Lauren Harper Pope referencing Didi Kuo (12:40)

• Why purity tests are harmful:

  “I call it like the Build-a-Bear party. Like, we’re literally just trying to build people who can check all these boxes… and you’re completely missing the point.” — Lauren Harper Pope (16:38)

• On depolarizers:

  “Depolarizers are not always rewarded with… fun hugs and kisses on Twitter… but they are rewarded by her getting reelected this past cycle.” — Lauren Harper Pope on Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (15:45)

• Call to action:

  “Be the change that you want to see…if you’re frustrated about something, don’t perpetuate bad habits.” — Lauren Harper Pope (26:37)

• The mission in a divided America:

  “If we care about this country the way we say we do, we must.” — Lauren Harper Pope (28:58)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Lauren’s political journey: 02:36 – 03:57
• Welcome PAC mission & research: 04:26 – 07:46
• Identifying competitive races & “conceding democracy”: 07:15 – 09:29
• Branding the “welcome” approach: 10:12 – 13:24
• Partisan centrism & party reform from within: 12:40 – 14:43
• Depolarizers explained & examples: 14:43 – 16:00
• Against purity tests & the case for authentic candidacies: 16:18 – 21:14
• Welcome Fest and building a centrist community: 21:32 – 24:15
• Reframing Democratic messaging: 24:33 – 25:14
• How to connect/support welcome PAC: 25:48 – 26:45
• Final call to action for democracy’s sake: 27:14 – 28:58

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Episode Takeaways

• Centrism isn’t a compromise, it’s a strategy for majorities—and requires authentic, locally rooted candidates unafraid to buck their own party.
• Purity tests and rigid checklists are a losing strategy in swing and center-right districts.
• Democrats must rebrand themselves as relatable, fun, welcoming, and genuinely connected to local values and concerns.
• Protecting democracy will require building a bigger tent—one that includes moderates, independents, and even voters disillusioned by the current Republican trajectory.

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For more information or to support the Welcome PAC: Visit welcomestack.org

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Transcript

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[Lauren Harper Pope]

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[Amy (Interviewer)]

Every Home for the Democratic Party to win elections, it needs to reach mainstream voters, not just those who pass all the progressive tests. It's still true that the path to winning back the House of Representatives runs through center right leaning districts and there is a way to put some long time safe Republican districts in play. Joining me to talk about this is Lauren Harper Pope, co founder of the welcome pac, a group of strategists who come from across the political spectrum and from a variety of geographies and partisan backgrounds with the goal of protecting our democracy. Lauren Harper Pope, welcome to Truth in the Barrel.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Thanks Amy, so nice to see you and thanks for having me.

[Amy (Interviewer)]

Yeah, well I want to get we're going to get to politics and to the theory for victory that you have in races around the But I want to start with you and your background, you have roots in, is it South Carolina and Texas, is that right?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Yeah, largely South Carolina. I grew up in South Carolina, actually still live like 20 minutes from my hometown in TK, but went to the University of South Carolina. So proud Gamecock. Big Gamecock football fan. So excited for football season. And yeah, I spent two years with my husband in Texas, just kind of exploring and doing something different. But Texas was way too hot for me. So we came right back home shortly after we got married.

[Amy (Interviewer)]

Yeah. And how did you get into politics?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

To give you a long story short, very accidentally, I say by accidentally and by the grace of God, because I was studying public relations at the University of South Carolina. University of South Carolina is in Columbia, South Carolina, which is the capital of our state. And so I found myself getting opportunities for internships that were government related. So I interned for former mayor Steve Benjamin, who I worked for after college, interned for a state House rep. And then Senator Man McLeod interned in a lobbyist firm and just had like a variety of internships and opportunities before I graduated that were very public service facing. And I was like, this is really cool. And I knew that with my career I could do anything, right? And so I was like, do I want to, you know, just go make some company money or do I want to do something that I think is going to genuinely add value to the world around me? And I thought that public service would be the right way to do it. So that's, that's the route I went.

[Amy (Interviewer)]

And you are the co founder of the welcome Party, the welcome pac. And I know you're going to tell us a little bit about that. But one of the things that I love about your PAC and your party is that you have a strong research arm and you identify races around the country where Democrats can win with the right type of candidate. So can you share some of that analysis or just tell us a little bit about what the welcome Party is all about?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Totally. And I always want to preface everything I say with the welcome Party is not to make a third party. We are not Elon Musk trying to make some new party or even forward party, but say all that to say we are trying to make a more welcoming Democratic party.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

So when we started the welcome Party work, my co founder Liam Kerr and I, again I was in South Carolina and he's based outside of Boston, so he was doing work in New Hampshire. So this is back in 2019, early 2020, pre Covid. And we're saying, hey, what can we do to try to get more people to vote in this Democratic presidential primary. And so we were South Carolina's first in the South, New Hampshire's first in the nation. And so we were saying, let's try to do something where we can get more of a representation of this electorate in this state, particularly in states like ours that don'. Have. That have open primaries, I should say so. And we knew that, you know, if less ideological voters are not getting reached out to, then they're probably not going to participate in this primary. And we did a survey early on with the welcome Party work to voters in these states, and we found that, like, less than one in four of the least ideological voters in the state were getting contact by campaign.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

And this is when everybody and their mom ran for president, right? So you had. I was working for Beto at one point. You had Kamala Harris, you had Joe Biden, Bernie, you had everybody running for president. And these people in South Carolina weren't getting contacted by a campaign like that sounds nuts, right? But they weren't because they were scored differently in ngp. Van so we were saying this effort to say, let's get more people to vote in this primary. And then so Fast forward to 2021. We started our pack 2023. We started the welcome Democracy Institute, which is our 501C3. So your point about the research? And so we do this thing called, we call it the Congressional Competitive Index, where we ask for what are the most competitive and least competitive congressional districts in the country? So we release the support quarterly and we say, is anyone challenging this Democrat that could be challenging this Democrat? Is anybody challenging this Republican that could be challenging this Republican? And our research early on identified in 2022, California's 41st, Ken Calvert. No one had to run a competitive campaign against Calvert basically in 30 years. And then Lauren Boebert, who was one of our favorite villains in Congress, but she actually was in a pretty decently competitive district, right? So that was a cycle. We supported Will Rollins and Adam Frisch in 2022 and then obviously again in 2024. But again, like, when you talk about the research, it's like the numbers are always out there, right? Like the data is always out there. It's just a matter of how do you want to dig into it? How do you want to compete?

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

And our original report was called the Conceding Democracy Report, where we were saying, look, Democrats are actually conceding democracy to these MAGA Republicans because they're not actually putting up a race against them.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

They're running candidates who are raising $30,000 to run against a Republican incumbent, they're not running real races.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right, Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

We were trying to find who could be this centrist Democrat who could run against a MAGA incumbent and actually beat them.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

And so that's, that's how we got all started.

[Amy (Interviewer)]

And it's really important today.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Right.

[Amy (Interviewer)]

Because just in the next cycle, there's not that many seats that Dems need to pick up to win the House.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Amy (Interviewer)]

I mean, in order to hold this administration accountable. So it's, it's, it's doable.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Yeah, it's totally doable. And we could have had a House majority a few cycles now in 2022, 2024, and then, you know, hopefully in 2026. But to your point, like, it's very doable.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

And so when we talk about welcome PAC specifically, our work focuses on what we call, you mentioned in your intro, like conservative leaning or center right districts across the country. So we're not like, you know, specific to any state or even any region necessarily. We're just like, hey, what are the most competitive districts out there and how do we find the most vulnerable Republican incumbents who are just simply out of touch with their districts?

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

So places like last cycle, Pennsylvania's 10th with Scott Perry, when Janelle Stelson ran against him, she had one of the closest races in the country. And if she had won, she would have been one of the huge decision makers for regaining House majority last cycle. But say all that to say like, you know, Pearisburg, that PA10 area, like that was vulnerable.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

It was a place that Scott Perry was very out of touch with his voters and he was voting against protective gear for firefighters. Like, dude, who does that?

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

A firefighter of all people are the most well liked public servants out there.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

So we're finding places that are opportunities for Democrats to truly compete and running what we call aggressively centrist Democrats against those Republicans. Yeah.

[Amy (Interviewer)]

Because Lauren Boebert and Scott Perry are super duper far right, like mega. And they, they, you know, their districts are not R +50. I mean they're, they're, they're not necessarily swing districts, but they're not super duper red. And so if you can get the right candidate in there and really expose all of, of the sort of craziness of the incumbents that are in there to the voters there, you have a really good shot. Why did you name your group the welcome Party or welcome Pack? What is that all about? What's the welcome piece?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Yeah, so we originally named it welcome because if you think about like the welcome party for a wedding, right? It's like the first time everybody's getting together, you're meeting everyone. It's like a fun time, right? So one of the big things about our brand is we want to be welcoming, we want to be empathetic and we want to be fun, right? Democrats are, you know, the approval ratings in the gutter, and people perceive us as just this elitist, out of touch, unfun paw monitor party, right? And I'm saying all these things. Other people have said this. I'm not the only one saying these things. But when you think about a brand, you want someone who's going to be like, I want to go to their tailgate, right? Speaking of football season, that's where I want to hang out. So we want to be wanted to be welcoming and then specifically want it to be welcoming as a Democratic coalition to Republicans who are more moderate, right? So you're like business class, whatever Republicans. They're not like supermaga conservative, Trumpy. They're just Republicans, right? They're regular conservatives. And then also swing voters, right? Independent voters, particularly independent voters, which obviously we're having an increasingly large number of our electorate become, quote, unquote, independent voters or unaffiliated voters, for that matter. So we wanted to be welcoming to these Republicans and independent voters into the Democratic coalition. But now, increasingly, particularly as 2024 cycle has passed, like we're trying to be welcoming to Democrats in our own party, right? And I say this again as a red state Democrat who is a very conservative Democrat, someone who's much more usually to the right of most Democrats on any given issue. And I feel sometimes unwelcome in my own party. And so I'm like, I'm sure there are plenty of other people. I have plenty of friends who feel this way. So what am I doing? What are we going to do to ensure that Democrats who are conservative leaning, even moderate Democrats, still feel welcomed as Democrats in this party? Particularly when you talk about people of color, younger people who are trending independent. I'm not going to get into taking for granted the black vote. Hey, we're usually more moderate than progressives. So say that to say welcome. We wanted to be welcoming. So that was the brand of like, come on in. We're a centrist family. And one thing I do want to hit on is like, you know, we are what we call partisan centrists, right? You can be a centrist. You can, you know, not have a party affiliation. But it's actually a lot more valuable for you to be a partisan centrist. So someone within a certain party who is specifically with that party. We had a conversation on my podcast the Depolarizers last year with Didi Kuo, who's a scientist and researcher at Stanford, and she was talking about how the parties have become so hollow and they just kind of are just for party activity, right? Like, oh, the DNC is doing this and they're having this convention or whatever. Like they're just shells really, right. For just party activity. They don't actually have the robust infrastructure that they were intended or created to have. So say, I could say you should instead of. This is her argument, which I agree with. But she said instead of becoming an independent, why don't you become just a more independent minded person within a party? So if you want to be a conservative, be an independent minded Republican. If you want to be a Democrat, be an independent minded Democrat, right? Just stick with the party so that the party has more flavor, more robustness.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Because even to what I was saying about people leaving the party to become independents, they're leaving the party because they find the party going away from them.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

But if you stay within your party infrastructure, you're forcing the mechanisms of this party to take you seriously, right? To consider you. Because if you're part of the Democratic primary electorate that you're going to have to, people are going to have to listen to what you have to say when they, when it's time to come out to vote.

[Amy (Interviewer)]

Yeah, it makes sense. And we know, like the New York Times reported just recently in the last couple weeks that the Democratic Party is facing a voter registration crisis sort of around the country. Why do you think this is happening?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

I mean, basically everything I just said, right? The party has become more progressive than the median Democratic primary voter.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

And so when that happens, people are like, I don't want to be, I don't want to be with them.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

I'd rather just be my own thing, being independent.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

And that's, you know, if everyone, if anyone wants to do that, that's fine. But again, it forces, when you stay within a party, it forces the party to have to earn your vote. And to have to earn your vote, they're going to have to change policy, messaging, branding, decision making, rhetoric to become the people that are willing to, to become a party that is people, what people want.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

And so one thing that you talk about a lot is depolarizers.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

And so this is the name of my Podcast, but it's more of just like a program within welcome. Because depolarizers are people who are able to win over an array on the spectrum of voters because they are depolarizing in their rhetoric and their action and their behaviors.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

People who are willing to not vote with their party, but prioritize local place based issues.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

So particularly for members of Congress, if you're Marie Goose and Camp Perez and you're voting against student loan debt canceling. Student loan debt cancellation, because it just, it's not something that your district values or prioritizes because for whatever, you know, whatever percent of people who actually go to college in your district, you're going to vote against it because that's not what your district wants.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

And you'll get backlash. You know, she literally had people on Yelp talking, you know, giving bad Yelp reviews to her family's auto body shop.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Because she was trying to be a depolarizer, prioritize her district over the party's priorities, which were again, probably misplaced in that anyway, and she got backlash for it.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

So your depolarizers are not always rewarded with, you know, fun hugs and kisses on Twitter and everything, but they are rewarded by her getting reelected this past cycle, her being able to show her differentiation from the Democratic brand that is so toxic at this point.

[Amy (Interviewer)]

Yeah. And you talk about the fact that Democrats need to sort of reject purity tests to welcome this majority that can actually win. Can you give some examples of what that means to folks?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Totally. So our friends at Third Way actually have a few memos of like throughout the questionnaires and don't take pledges, which I'm like, heck yeah, let's do that.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

But when it comes down to the Democratic infrastructure, you know, over the past several years, it has just become like this, like, check a box party.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

And it's like, you know, do you agree with this? Do you support this? And it's like, what, what even is this? Right. I call it like the Build a Bear party. Like, we're literally just trying to build people who can check all these boxes, have this color skin, be this gender, whatever, Right? And it's just like you are checking all these boxes but completely missing the point.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

And so you're not actually able to relate to voters. You're putting yourself within these confinements that are keeping you from actually relating authentically and genuinely with voters. And so when you think about purity tests and whatever, like one thing that we've been big on is like, we don't have a questionnaire for our pack.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Our campaign, I mean, our campaign, our welcome team has met with like 60 something campaigns in 2020 for the 2026 cycle already this year. At first I was like, what the heck is going on? How are we having all these calls? But it's been really valuable to meet so many people better what the, what the ethos and the thought processes are for the 2026 election cycle. But I say that to say we don't have a questionnaire for welcome pack. So you're not going to see one. If you see one, it's not real, so. Because it's not real.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

But we have conversations, right? And obviously we have an array of questions that we typically ask people. So we say, hey, what is something that you're frustrated with the Democrats about?

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

What frustrates you about our party? Or what are some things that if you had a Democratic president in office that you would probably break with your party on based on past priorities?

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

What would you have broken with Biden on, for that matter?

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Yeah, right, yeah.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Like specifically, like what would be votes that you might be one of like 10 Democrats to vote with Republicans on? Because it matters to your district and it's something that's actually genuinely authentic to who you are as a person.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Don't forget the personhood when you run for Congress, like continue to be you. So say that I'm speaking to someone who knows this already, but, you know.

[Amy (Interviewer)]

Well, I mean, I think about that a lot. I mean, I'm somebody that, for example, national security is kind of my thing and I'm a very strong like person when it comes to we need a strong military, you know, we need to fund it. We need to stand up for Ukraine, for example. You know, in my belief, we could have maintained a modest presence in a place like Afghanistan and not had it fall. But, you know, I mean, you do, you have to look at who you are as a person and also the district that you want to represent.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Totally, totally. But yeah. So, you know, going back to the questionnaire purity test thing. Yeah. So we just have these conversations, right. So we try to understand who people are coming from. And you know, I try to tell people, like, look one, you're in a safe place.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Because when people have conversations with a lot of packs, you know, they're, they're, they're in the DC mindset I call the DC mindset, which again, no offense, I had a lot of friends, lots of people I love in D.C. but they think like D.C. right. And so I'm like, look, this is a safe place. If you got a hot take or a spicy take, lay it on me.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

I'm probably to the right of you anyway.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

So like let's talk about something way that is safe and authentic to you and don't feel like you have to walk on eggshells with us because you don't like. Our team is pretty chill.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

And then say all that to say some of the more questionnaire type thing. I mean, sorry, not questionnaire but more of the conversation things that we have with the candidates that we're talking to is what is a policy that is differentiated from the Democratic brand for you?

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

It doesn't have to be anything specific.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

We're not saying, oh, you must break with the party on this. We don't really care what you break with the party on. It could be something that's not actually a policy, but more of a value space thing.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

But let's have a conversation about where you differentiate with the party because if you're 100% Gung Ho Democrat, then quite frankly, you're probably not going to win in this type of district and you're also probably not going to be anyone who appeals to these types of voters. So we've just been very honest and very frank with people and again, we've had some conversations where we're like, that went nowhere and this person just wants to be. And that's fine, that's what you want to do. Again, be you, honey, be you. But when we're looking for a very specific type of candidate, these are the questions we try to surface and understand better. Again, place based politics with the issues that are specific to your district, that are may not, may not be on the national radar, but something that you, you intend to espouse and support in your campaign.

[Amy (Interviewer)]

What? So you had a, you had like a convention this summer where you brought in folks who have been able to win in, you know, purple red districts even. How did that go? I mean, what was the most impressive piece out of, out of bringing everybody together and talking about these things?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Well, first of all, it was a great time. Again, we like to have a good time. So it was called welcome Fest. So basically a festival where we gather over performers and we cultivate a centrist faction.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

So I don't think I mentioned that yet, but welcome is very into centrist faction. Building progressives. Have their faction, love it, bless it. Centrists, we also have our faction. What are we doing to grow and strengthen A robust centrifaction. And we co hosted and partnered with several organizations to do welcome Fest. So we were like, look, this is not just a welcome thing. We want to make sure that everyone knows that you're a critical piece of this puzzle.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

We can't do it without new Dems. We can't do it without the Blue Dogs. We can't do without Third Way bpi, all of our friends in the center. So we try to ensure that people know that this is a group effort, team project. So sad that to say welcome Fest was awesome. We held the first welcome Fest last year in 2024 with the theme of for the people in the middle. So it's kind of a playoff of the Harris campaign. For the people. Kamala Harris, for the people. So we're like, look, for the people in the middle. This is us, right? And then this year's welcome Fest, we doubled the size of last year. So last year we had about 300 folks. This year we had 600 folks. And it was just incredible. And the theme was responsibility to win.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

So how are we taking responsibility to win in these districts and just generally speaking as Democrats? So we had some awesome speakers. The Blue Dogs, Marie Goose and Camprez, Jared Golden, Adam Gray spoke several New Dems, Kristen McDonald Rivet, Janelle Stelson, Tom Suozzi, Rebecca Cook. I think I'm missing one on there. But, you know, we had Jake Auchincloss, we had Richie Torres, we had Alyssa Slotkin. Like, it was just so fun, right? We had like all the folks, right? And obviously there's several other people that we didn't were able to mention or feature this year that we intend to bring into the loop for next year as well. Confess. So if you weren't there and you didn't speak, don't feel bad. We'll invite you next week. So it was just a really good time, right. And we were able to again, explore over performance.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

So Laksha James from Split Ticket did a presentation on war and over performance and what types of candidates overperform and and found things like, look, if you look at the explicit data on overperformance, Janelle Selson is actually a bigger overperformer than aoc, Right. Because she's more moderate.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Moderate candidates win, particularly in these types of districts. And granted, Janelle didn't win last cycle, hopefully she wins the cycle, but those things matter, right? Your ability to relate to voters, meet voters where they are, not just geographically, but ideologically, it really does matter. And when we coalesce around an agenda that is very people focused, that is taking the 80 on the 8020 issues. Like those are the simple things.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

There's like a lot of things that we could do. We could try to contort ourselves, Twitter, twist ourselves into these boxes and become whatever that people want us to be like. No, let's just be genuinely authentic and let's be with voters on the issues. Let's care about what they care about. Let's prioritize what they prioritize. Let's talk about what they talk about.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

And our friends at More in Common, they have always been putting these things out about like what are, what are voters perceptions of the parties.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

They talk about often, you know, voters perceive Republicans to have priorities like immigration and healthcare and stuff like that. And that's actually what Republicans talk about. And whereas Democrats, they perceive Democrats to prioritize like abortion and LGBTQ and climate. When Democrats, that's not exactly what they prioritize, but that's what voters perceive them to prioritize.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

So how do we reframe our messaging so that we're actually again, meeting voters where they are on the issues and speaking to them about the things that are genuinely of utmost concern to them?

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Amy (Interviewer)]

And those issues depend on your district too. I mean, you know, if you're running in New York City, it is different than running in, what is it, Pennsylvania 10 in Harrisburg area. So if people want to get to know more about the welcome pack, I know you have a substack which is, is really good. You guys do some good research and good writing on some of these topics. But also if they want to support you or learn more about what you do, where should they go?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Well, yes. WelcomeStack.org Please follow us on Substack. Welcome stack is where we put out the majority of our information and we have this thing called the Win the Middle slate.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

So this is much more into like the electoral fundraising piece of things. But we've endorsed seven candidates thus far for the 2026 election cycle, people that we're super, super stoked about. So I've named all of them already, but I'll name them again. Some reason. Jared Golden, Adam Gray, Rebecca Cook, Janelle Stelson, Tom Swazi and Kristen McDonald Rivett. So we have seven so far. We're looking at a few more Democratic challengers for this upcoming cycle, but trying to be very intentional.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

About who we're selecting, who we're supporting. Again, there's been some candidates that have knocked our socks off and there's some other candidates that were like, what just happened.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

So we're trying to encourage people to, you know, I always tell people, like, be the change that you want to see.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Like, if you're frustrated about something, don't perpetuate bad habits.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Don't do stuff that other people are doing that makes you annoyed.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Because then you're just a hypocrite.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

So let's talk about things in a way that, again, are very compelling, very authentic and very genuine. And let's win the middle, right? Let's win people over. Let's win in these conservative leaning districts. Let's regain majority in the House.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

And let's also, again, reframe and reclaim a brand in the Democratic Party that is something that people actually want to be behind, something that actually people want to associate with.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

If someone doesn't, again, if someone doesn't want to come to your table, tailgate and associate with you, that's a big problem.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right?

[Lauren Harper Pope]

So let's talk about things in a way that are actually going to meet voters where they are and, you know, earn their trust again.

[Amy (Interviewer)]

Yeah, that makes total sense. I really appreciate you coming on talking about this. This is such an important issue because we've got to reach out to everybody who is in the pro democracy camp right now, not just Democrats, but independents and Republicans who are sort of fed up. I mean, I've talked to lots of people who voted for Trump and what is happening right now is not what they voted for. And so there has to be an alternative there where they can say, all right, I'm going to vote to check this president now. And that alternative can't be so different from their values in order for them to vote for that person. And I just feel like this is such an important piece in order to, frankly, the goal is to protect our democracy right now. Because in my belief, and I think a lot of other people, the Republican Party is not the party of democracy. What's happening in our country with this bill that was just passed that added a ton of money to our debt, threw people off of health care, they're rising prices, tariffs, the undemocratic things that you're seeing in our country. And I mean, just seriously, the deployment of our National Guard around cities is just appalling. And a lot of people get that. Even if they voted for, for this, you know, or they're longtime Republican voters, they sort of get that. So I feel like there we have to keep working to, to provide a, an alternative that people can believe in.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

We must. If we care about this country the way we say we do, we must.

[Co-host or Interviewer]

Right.

[Amy (Interviewer)]

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for being on the show, Lauren, and really appreciate you and all the work that you do.

[Lauren Harper Pope]

Likewise, Amy. So good to see you. Thanks again.

[Amy (Interviewer)]

All right.

[Dan Harris]

Hey, this is Dan Harris, host of the 10% Happier podcast. I'm here to tell you about a new series we're running this September on 10% happier. The goal is to help you do your life better. The series is called Reset. It's all about hitting the reset button in many of the most crucial areas of your life. Each week we'll tackle a topic like how to reset your nervous system, how to reset your relationships, how to reset your career. We're going to bring on top notch scientists and world class meditation teachers to give you deep insights and actionable advice. It's all delivered with our trademark blend of skepticism, humor, credibility, and practicality. 10% happier is self help for smart people. Come join the party.