Democrats' listening problem

Swing Left, a progressive group, has spent a year trying to fix Democrats' image as out-of-touch elites who don't listen to voters. The group is using AI to help.

Kim Allen's mission

Kim Allen, a sixty-four-year-old middle school Spanish teacher from New York City, volunteers with Ground Truth. She canvasses voters at East Stroudsburg University in northeast Pennsylvania on Saturdays.

Why Democrats lost here

Allen's mission is to help Democrats reclaim a crucial House seat they lost in twenty twenty-four. She travels to East Stroudsburg to talk with voters about their concerns.

Talking to Republicans

Allen speaks with a student who ranks herself seven on voting likelihood and eight on supporting Republicans. Ordinarily Democrats would skip Republican voters, but Allen's approach is different.

Listen, don't sell

Allen's script tells her to help Democrats do a better job of listening to everyone, whether they always agree or not. She never gives the hard sell to voters.

“do a better job of listening to everyone, whether we always agree or not”

Eight minutes of listening

Allen listens as the student discusses her concerns about immigration. She shares her own perspective and discusses the candidates: Scranton's Democratic mayor Paige Cognetti and Republican incumbent Rob Bresnahan.

The sticker says it all

A sticker on Allen's phone reads she is only here to listen. This reflects the campaign's core message: Democrats want to understand voters' concerns, not just win their votes.

“here to listen”