this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2026
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DNC’s Local Listeners initiative will target one million ‘infrequent’ voters in battleground districts

Democrats are launching an aggressive campaign to win back voters they lost, not to Donald Trump, but to the proverbial “couch,” as they look to regain support ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

On Wednesday, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) rolled out a new initiative called Local Listeners with the goal of targeting over one million “infrequent” voters in key battleground districts. Seeking to build on the party’s string of off-year election victories, which extended into 2026 with an upset in Texas last weekend, the DNC is betting that early, localized outreach will be crucial in winning back these voters’ trust – and their ballots – this time around.

“If we want to keep earning back the trust and support of voters, we have to listen to them,” DNC chair Ken Martin said in a statement, shared in advance with the Guardian. “This program modernizes the way we are talking to and hearing from the voters that we need to win elections now and for years to come. The Democratic Party is done with waiting until the last minute to engage voters – these conversations need to happen early and often.”

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[–] OshagHennessey@lemmy.world 11 points 7 hours ago

Lol. Lmao.

“If we want to keep earning back the trust and support of voters, we have to listen to them,”

“This program modernizes the way we are talking to and hearing from the voters..."

The problem isn't that democrats don't have a modern way to listen and talk to voters. The problem is, democrats know exactly what the voters want, but refuse to give it to them because it's inconvenient to their donors.

[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 6 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Have they considered actually standing up to MAGA?

And what about actually delivering something of value to their voters, in the places where Dems have a majority such as state and city governments?

[–] OshagHennessey@lemmy.world 5 points 7 hours ago

No, they haven't. They won't go against their donors.

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 2 points 7 hours ago

If you are paying yourself to train to better understand the average person, you have immediately lost.
You are incentivized by the wrong thing now

[–] UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Democrats need to replace First-past-the-post voting in states they control. Then they can be whatever they want.

[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 3 points 8 hours ago

European countries that don't have FPTP are just as fucked up as the ones that do.

The same is true of term limits. US states that have implemented them don't have any better governance than those that didn't.

[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

The last several federal elections have had the highest voter turnout in US history. Our problem isn't laziness or lack of voters, our problem is the people who voted fucking hate democrats. They largely weren't all MAGA turds, in fact if you actually read the exit polling many of the people who voted for Trump in 2024 were Obama voters or Bernie supporters.

They didn't vote for Trump because they're racist monsters, most of them voted for Trump because they're dumb and they don't watch the news and when they do they see Democrats acting like pathetic losers while corporations drive our prices up. Millions of people voted for Trump because bird flu had driven egg prices up, and they associated that with Biden and Harris.

Dems don't want "more voter turnout" they want more of their own idiots and boomers to vote for the status-quo.

If we want to fix this situation with our only actual funded "opposition" party and have a chance of taking the country back for citizens we have to flush ALL incumbent representatives out of the legislative branch. We start this in the States. Each state is a nation, those states have great power. DNC is a container, we pour out the contents, replace it with something new and use that to reform the federal government.

They can't sabotage every election, they can't put fucking ICE agents around your local school board voting in new management, they can't be in every town electing a mayor. This is why Mamdani and other progressives won powerful state positions recently. Don't be apathetic, don't burn out because the dems are weak and awful and fake, make new politics. Get involved in your community, go to progressive victory and volunteer to help actual progressive candidates and ignore the paid DNC shills.

[–] sturmblast@lemmy.world 1 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

This is a campaign that should never stop

[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 2 points 7 hours ago

Depends, will dems use this as a pretense to move to the right or will they convince themselves its a messaging issue, and republican-lite policy is actually tHE Most Progressive eVAr!?, its the voters who are bad and dumb.

[–] JennyLaFae@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 11 hours ago

In the months leading up to the election i had so many Democrats knocking on my door i started going off on them, asking if they talked to each other at all, telling them i was feeling harassed. I literally almost threw away my ballot i was so pissed, when one asked me to send her pictures of me voting, I told her to fuck off.

They don't care about us.

[–] JennyLaFae@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 11 hours ago

In the months leading up to the election i had so many Democrats knocking on my door i started going off on them, asking if they talked to each other at all, telling them i was feeling harassed. I literally almost threw away my ballot i was so pissed, when one asked me to send her pictures of me voting, I told her to fuck off.

They don't care about us.

[–] SippyCup@lemmy.world 22 points 22 hours ago

Democrats will try anything but policy.

[–] Lasherz12@lemmy.world 30 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Being Mamdani without the policies isn't being Mamdani. America's appetite for Obama types is waning.

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[–] in_my_honest_opinion@piefed.social 90 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Shut down ICE. You'll be the party in power. Fix voting access, nationalize mail in voting resources (states run the elections)

Promote down ballot leftists

Repeal citizens united

They'll never lose another national election

They aren't looking for a list of things to DO.

They are just looking for the right lies to tell.

[–] TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 30 points 1 day ago (1 children)

These feel like pipedreams when looking at the current DNC. Or maybe they'll just talk about it then do bupkis when they're in power like last time.

[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 2 points 7 hours ago

They have the power not to fund ice now. They chose to give them money again.

[–] Ryanmiller70@lemmy.zip 3 points 18 hours ago

Guess the one benefit of living in a deep red Midwestern state is they'll never try that crap here. Not gonna waste breath on people that value donations over human lives.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 44 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

No mention of changing any of the policy stances, alliances with far right war criminals, and other substance based reasons for what they pretend to be laziness or apathy.

As usual, they're taking the Aaron Sorkin approach to politics where it's all about giving the right speeches and pretending to listen (while refusing to take action based on what they're told) and what you actually DO is immaterial 🤦

Until they stop acting like the country (and by extension the world) is a ridiculously condescending work of fiction with themselves as the main characters (and thus the only ones that REALLY matter), they will keep losing out on critically needed votes and therefore be accomplices to the ravages of fascism their carelessness enables.

[–] EmpireInDecay@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Then blame everyone under the sun except themselves for their failures.

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's not like anyone told them supporting a genocide would be bad for voter turnout. How were they supposed to know? /s

[–] Zexks@lemmy.world -2 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

How does the genocide go now huh. Trump give you what you were looking for there.

[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 2 points 7 hours ago

I am truly sorry I failed to spin genocide as popular. The only way the dems could have won was by doing what the people they were asking to vote for them wanted, to prove that they would honor their side of the deal.

[–] uberdroog@lemmy.world 52 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Super easy, barely an inconvenience... do the opposite of everything happening in the current administration. Don't court the middle/right. Publicly recognize the lack of accountability and publish plans to do so.

[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 21 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Courting the middle/right doesn't mean diet-fascism or shitty, means-tested versions of policy people actually like. "Free healthcare" is more popular across all demographics than any compromised policy.

[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 1 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

Yah, I keep pounding this wardrum for unity and trying to explain how left and right basically want the same things but one side is made of blubbering toddlers who can't disconnect emotion from policy.

But you can mobilize them, you can push them to be your useful tool. Why does only Steve Fucking Bannon get away with manipulating dumb people? I don't get it.

Push free healthcare, push social safety nets, call it "tax refunded emergency financial care" or something so they nod in agreement instead of spit and rage about socialism. Push for social services and regulations on businesses that are ruining their communities, remind them they pay taxes and deserve something back for it. Stop finger-wagging about race and gender issues, THEY DO NOT CARE.

THEY ARE DUMB. Jesus christ why aren't more people using that fact as a tool for good. Most progressives have succumbed to the feed and the algorithm of rage bait and hate and now just want revenge and vindication, even if it means the world burns. They are the same.

[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 1 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

call it “tax refunded emergency financial care”

Anything that's means-tested or sounds complicated is off the table, because like Obamacare, most people will understand on some level that it won't help them, but they will easily be convinced they will pay for it. "Free healthcare" has such power because you can't add any complications that make it difficult and shameful and complicated to use.

Stop finger-wagging about race and gender issues, THEY DO NOT CARE.

Anyone else you wanna let the right cleave off our coalition? Why not throw women under the bus too? Letting the weirdos who promote checking genitals in women's restrooms have their way with one marginalized group doesn't help us advance in other areas, if anything it energizes them with red meat.

[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (1 children)

It's wild that every time I say that pushing social equality pushes dumb americans away it's INSTANTLY treated in bad-faith and like I want to "throw X under the bus"

Bro, we can have all the equality and social protections if we can just turn the right away from the oligarchy that is worming their tentacles into their discourse, they don't care either way they've just been turned against these people because they're adherent to a "side." Break the "side" break the hate and xenophobia.

Focus on one issue that will wedge the base and the rest will crumble, but every time we try to force people to care about people they don't care about, and make no mistake, they don't just hate people different than themselves, they hate anyone who isn't them or their immediate family, they double down harder because they are children. We have made negative progress trying to butt heads against them, and I'm quite sure that the left broadly doesn't care and just wants to feel righteous for fighting a losing fight and doesn't actually care about actual better outcomes for marginalized people. If they did, they would care a lot more about seizing power instead of being the most smug and inclusive people in line for the showers.

[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Not criminalizing trans people isn't forcing anybody to care about trans people.

We have made negative progress trying to butt heads against them

We have made negative progress because the dems and liberal mainstream media treat trans people existing as a contentious issue worthy of debate. They do dumb shit like this all the time, like when they gave oxygen to young earth creationism or whatever the latest moral panic is. The solution isn't to just let them go around victimizing minorities, it's to shut down any debate on the subject and ridicule the bigots who inject anti-wokeness into everything.

[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

The solution isn’t to just let them go around victimizing minorities, it’s to shut down any debate on the subject

This is literally what I'm saying, it was never an issue before someone jangled the keys in front of them. We have to stop the key jangling on all fronts, this includes stop getting baited to trying to fight something that average fatass midwest white trash don't generally understand or care about. They push us to fight for issues that are over their head when we should be saying "Okay whatever, shut up about trans anything, where is your GODDAMN TAX MONEY GOING?" and teach them to focus, even a little.

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[–] gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world 29 points 1 day ago

Volunteers will undergo a seven-week training program on how to better engage these voters, including sessions on “active listening” and “having difficult conversations about politics”.

Seven weeks of paychecks for the consultants, but the party members they actually want to go out and do the real work of talking to people are just expected to volunteer. Sounds like the Democratic party I know and loathe.

[–] HeadfullofSoup@kbin.earth 24 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It’s seem like an out there idea but have they try doing their job? Might help

[–] AbidanYre@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (3 children)

First you need to explain to Chuck Schumer what his job actually is.

[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 1 points 7 hours ago

Schumer's job is to resign immediately and never involve himself in public life again.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 day ago

It isn't getting aid for Israel?

[–] EmpireInDecay@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 day ago

He told us what his job is, it's not us

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 3 points 21 hours ago
[–] Tylerdurdon@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago

Pfff, yea right. Until they go grass roots, this is all smoke and mirrors. The voters have gotten tired of it and want actual change (which is a big reason why we're in this mess). Get rid of Schumer and the rest of the corpocrats, and look at what the people actually want. That'll never happen.

[–] kandoh@reddthat.com 1 points 16 hours ago

Two words:

President Clooney

Hmm. Opening new offices and hiring people seems more like a way to keep the cycle of donor money moving, rather than a strategy to win…absent any actual messaging or policy changes from Democratic leadership.

When I read the article I expected the regional initiatives to have some sort of mechanism to change messaging and policy. It doesn’t seem to me that “listening” is what’s needed…we know exactly what these potential voters want.

[–] bitjunkie@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago

"Corpodems launch aggressive campaign to get votes by doing literally anything other than what the people want" 🥱

[–] Danarchy@lemmy.nz 5 points 1 day ago

VOTE MORHRRFUKER (punches u in the face)

[–] EmpireInDecay@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 day ago

They are infrequent voters because they listened to what Democrats said then they watched what Democrats did. Democrats can't be trusted.

[–] inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I'm sure that having leadership sanction Democrats voting for ICE funding after they murdered an American citizen, withholding support for the progressives that won the primaries, and stating their job is to ensure funding for Israel is their first step in proving they deserver another chance.

Again, big talk, no actions from these A-holes.

[–] mrdown@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

With jefferies, Schummer, Newsome and Kamala forget about it

[–] yonderbarn@lazysoci.al 5 points 1 day ago

I just threw up in my mouth

[–] mrdown@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

We will listen to you then do whatever we always planed to do anyway

[–] duelistsage@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 day ago

Say they're going to raise taxes on rich people.

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