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How to Eat an Elephant: One Voter at a Time
The playbook for consigning MAGA-style politics to the ash heap of history (where it belongs). Featuring a foreword by Jonathan V. Last.
After Donald Trump won the 2024 election, Sarah Longwell did what she's done nearly every week for the past eight years: She sat down with voters. She conducted hundreds of focus groups, listening to thousands of ordinary Americans—Republicans, Democrats, and the politically homeless—with the goal of understanding politics through the eyes of the people who will decide our country’s future.
American voters, and what they want for their country, are at the heart of How to Eat an Elephant. Longwell, the founder of The Bulwark and one of the sharpest political communicators of her generation, lays out the playbook for building a coalition big enough, bold enough, and tough enough to defeat authoritarian populism for good. Not with a single election. Not by doing another poll or debating the benefits of being more progressive or more moderate, but by building something new: A modern pro-democracy movement that can create its own communications infrastructure—just like the right has done for decades—achieve narrative dominance, elevate more compelling leaders, and talk to voters like adults.
Drawing on her own unlikely political journey from a lesbian Republican operative to the vanguard of the anti-MAGA movement, Longwell delivers a book that is equal parts war manual and pep talk—with her personal and professional story woven throughout. With her trademark bluntness and humor, she explains exactly how we got here and, more importantly, what we must build next—all while directly quoting the most important but overlooked people in the country: the voters themselves.
She answers the question: How do you eat an elephant? One voter at a time.
After Donald Trump won the 2024 election, Sarah Longwell did what she's done nearly every week for the past eight years: She sat down with voters. She conducted hundreds of focus groups, listening to thousands of ordinary Americans—Republicans, Democrats, and the politically homeless—with the goal of understanding politics through the eyes of the people who will decide our country’s future.
American voters, and what they want for their country, are at the heart of How to Eat an Elephant. Longwell, the founder of The Bulwark and one of the sharpest political communicators of her generation, lays out the playbook for building a coalition big enough, bold enough, and tough enough to defeat authoritarian populism for good. Not with a single election. Not by doing another poll or debating the benefits of being more progressive or more moderate, but by building something new: A modern pro-democracy movement that can create its own communications infrastructure—just like the right has done for decades—achieve narrative dominance, elevate more compelling leaders, and talk to voters like adults.
Drawing on her own unlikely political journey from a lesbian Republican operative to the vanguard of the anti-MAGA movement, Longwell delivers a book that is equal parts war manual and pep talk—with her personal and professional story woven throughout. With her trademark bluntness and humor, she explains exactly how we got here and, more importantly, what we must build next—all while directly quoting the most important but overlooked people in the country: the voters themselves.
She answers the question: How do you eat an elephant? One voter at a time.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published September 8, 2026
About the author
Sarah Longwell
1 book88 followersSarah Longwell is CEO and Publisher of The Bulwark, one of the largest and fastest-growing independent media companies in the country, with millions of subscribers across all platforms. She is also the host of The Focus Group podcast, in which listeners hear directly from voters in Sarah’s focus groups. She has decades of experience leading some of the nation’s highest-visibility targeted persuasion campaigns, and is a nationally recognized leader in qualitative research into how voters are feeling about the state of the country.
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October 23, 2026
A Roadmap for Winning America Back – And a Reason to Hope!
“Is America finished? Can it be saved? How can we save it? My answers are, in order: Not yet. Yes. That’s a big question, and I’ve written this book to answer it.”
Thank goodness for Sarah Longwell.
I felt a sense of urgency as I read this book and quickly turned its pages. With the mid-terms upon us, I hoped this openly gay, conservative, “Never Trump” Republican could reach voters disenchanted and disillusioned by Donald Trump and his indifference to basic factual reality.
As publisher of “The Bulwark,” an independent media organization, and a long-time pollster who listens to voters, Longwell had a lot to say. And, it was time for
swing voters, Democratic leaders and those running for office to listen, too.
For voters like me, the stakes feel enormous: our democracy, the rule of law, checks and balances, voting rights, freedom of speech, and what it means to be American.
“America is a place. For Americans, it’s home. It’s shared identity. It’s our tribe.”
To be honest, I devoured this book. My sticky-note arrows were sticking out from the pages at such a rate, that I wondered whether I would be writing a review, or simply reiterating Longwell’s words. I was entranced, and I felt every emotion she stirred in me.
More than anything, I wanted to believe we could get through this moment and emerge a stronger country, even when that hope was difficult to hold onto.
Gratefully, Longwell gave me reason to hope. She believes there is a way to reach Trump voters and “coax them off the authoritarian ledge.”
How could I not be hopeful and want to listen?
Especially when she told me to “…buckle up, buttercup.”
And, I did. I was truly listening.
It is heartbreaking to watch our country tethered to a man who, despite promising to protect the American people, has shown such disregard for them. Under Trump, our government has been corrupted and dismantled, undermining the very institutions meant to serve us.
Longwell explains why she could never support him:
“…so when Trump showed up, bereft of character, devoid of principle, hostile to American values, contemptuous of service, and eager to divide Americans against each other, there was nothing about him that reflected my values.”
Hear, hear!
But this book is not simply a condemnation of Trump. Longwell offers a roadmap for taking our country back. She makes the case that we must first understand what voters care about, listen to what they are telling leaders, and then demonstrate that they are prepared to act.
We don’t need to become Trump or adopt his brazen lies and divisiveness to be heard.
Longwell argues that Democratic leaders can communicate with conviction while remaining true to their values – by being “familiar, authentic, and direct,” and by demonstrating through their actions, that they are listening to their constituents.
“We see what you see, we feel what you feel, and here’s how we’re going to fix it.”
That means addressing what matters in people’s everyday lives: affordable housing, groceries, healthcare, childcare, good jobs, higher wages, lower prices, education, and safe communities. Voters want to feel secure, have opportunities, and believe the economy is working for them. They need to see an affirmative vision backed by plans that make a tangible difference.
Longwell argues that the Democratic Party cannot afford to keep bringing a “pillow to a gunfight.” As she points out, many Democrats don’t want to become what they hate – but they are tired of losing to it.
Her answer is not to abandon our values, but to fight more effectively for them.
Democrats must offer voters credible, affirmative plans for healthcare they can afford, better education, an economy that delivers for working people, and immigration policies that balance compassion with enforcement while helping people feel safe.
And what can the rest of us do?
Longwell reminds voters, activists, leaders alike that we cannot afford to be silent, or indifferent. We must speak our courage, because courage is contagious.
This is a powerful, timely read that offers far more than a warning about the threat of Trump and authoritarianism. It provides a practical path for reaching voters, rebuilding trust, and giving Americans a reason to believe in what our country can still become.
While this review may go beyond the usual spoiler-free approach, it offers only a glimpse into Longwell’s talking points. The substance of her arguments – and the depth of her roadmap – deserve to be discovered firsthand.
If we want to save America, we must do more than oppose what is wrong. We must listen, offer a better way forward, and have the courage to fight for it. Longwell has given us a place to begin.
“Is America finished? Can it be saved? How can we save it? My answers are, in order: Not yet. Yes. That’s a big question, and I’ve written this book to answer it.”
Thank goodness for Sarah Longwell.
I felt a sense of urgency as I read this book and quickly turned its pages. With the mid-terms upon us, I hoped this openly gay, conservative, “Never Trump” Republican could reach voters disenchanted and disillusioned by Donald Trump and his indifference to basic factual reality.
As publisher of “The Bulwark,” an independent media organization, and a long-time pollster who listens to voters, Longwell had a lot to say. And, it was time for
swing voters, Democratic leaders and those running for office to listen, too.
For voters like me, the stakes feel enormous: our democracy, the rule of law, checks and balances, voting rights, freedom of speech, and what it means to be American.
“America is a place. For Americans, it’s home. It’s shared identity. It’s our tribe.”
To be honest, I devoured this book. My sticky-note arrows were sticking out from the pages at such a rate, that I wondered whether I would be writing a review, or simply reiterating Longwell’s words. I was entranced, and I felt every emotion she stirred in me.
More than anything, I wanted to believe we could get through this moment and emerge a stronger country, even when that hope was difficult to hold onto.
Gratefully, Longwell gave me reason to hope. She believes there is a way to reach Trump voters and “coax them off the authoritarian ledge.”
How could I not be hopeful and want to listen?
Especially when she told me to “…buckle up, buttercup.”
And, I did. I was truly listening.
It is heartbreaking to watch our country tethered to a man who, despite promising to protect the American people, has shown such disregard for them. Under Trump, our government has been corrupted and dismantled, undermining the very institutions meant to serve us.
Longwell explains why she could never support him:
“…so when Trump showed up, bereft of character, devoid of principle, hostile to American values, contemptuous of service, and eager to divide Americans against each other, there was nothing about him that reflected my values.”
Hear, hear!
But this book is not simply a condemnation of Trump. Longwell offers a roadmap for taking our country back. She makes the case that we must first understand what voters care about, listen to what they are telling leaders, and then demonstrate that they are prepared to act.
We don’t need to become Trump or adopt his brazen lies and divisiveness to be heard.
Longwell argues that Democratic leaders can communicate with conviction while remaining true to their values – by being “familiar, authentic, and direct,” and by demonstrating through their actions, that they are listening to their constituents.
“We see what you see, we feel what you feel, and here’s how we’re going to fix it.”
That means addressing what matters in people’s everyday lives: affordable housing, groceries, healthcare, childcare, good jobs, higher wages, lower prices, education, and safe communities. Voters want to feel secure, have opportunities, and believe the economy is working for them. They need to see an affirmative vision backed by plans that make a tangible difference.
Longwell argues that the Democratic Party cannot afford to keep bringing a “pillow to a gunfight.” As she points out, many Democrats don’t want to become what they hate – but they are tired of losing to it.
Her answer is not to abandon our values, but to fight more effectively for them.
Democrats must offer voters credible, affirmative plans for healthcare they can afford, better education, an economy that delivers for working people, and immigration policies that balance compassion with enforcement while helping people feel safe.
And what can the rest of us do?
Longwell reminds voters, activists, leaders alike that we cannot afford to be silent, or indifferent. We must speak our courage, because courage is contagious.
This is a powerful, timely read that offers far more than a warning about the threat of Trump and authoritarianism. It provides a practical path for reaching voters, rebuilding trust, and giving Americans a reason to believe in what our country can still become.
While this review may go beyond the usual spoiler-free approach, it offers only a glimpse into Longwell’s talking points. The substance of her arguments – and the depth of her roadmap – deserve to be discovered firsthand.
If we want to save America, we must do more than oppose what is wrong. We must listen, offer a better way forward, and have the courage to fight for it. Longwell has given us a place to begin.
September 10, 2026
As a fan of Sarah and The Bulwark for years, I've been waiting for this one. If you found this book on a bestseller list and are not sure who Sarah is or what this book is about, this book is still for you. If you are a political junkie and looking to understand how our politics got to this point, this book is for you. If you are still waking up everyday in a post 2024 haze wondering what went wrong, you need to read this book. Or if you are just beginning to broaden your understanding of politics, or maybe just want to impress the political junkies with how politically aware you are. Either way, if you plan to vote someday, start with this book.
Sarah doesn't just understand and articulate what has gone wrong, she also lays out how to fix it. There only so much analysis of the last ten years that I can take without getting depressed. But thank god for Sarah because when I finished this book, I had this new feeling mixed with my constant political anxiety--hope.
#hopecore
Sarah doesn't just understand and articulate what has gone wrong, she also lays out how to fix it. There only so much analysis of the last ten years that I can take without getting depressed. But thank god for Sarah because when I finished this book, I had this new feeling mixed with my constant political anxiety--hope.
#hopecore
September 14, 2026
There’s a scene in A Clockwork Orange where Alex is strapped into a chair with his eyelids literally clamped open and he is forced to watch what’s playing in front of him.
At times, that is exactly how I felt reading How to Eat an Elephant: One Voter at a Time.
And I mean that as a very, very good thing.
As someone who is left-leaning and deeply concerned about the MAGA movement, I have to admit that I am not always good at listening to Trump voters. I get frustrated. I get angry. I can be dismissive. Sometimes I think I already know what they’re going to say before they say it.
Sarah Longwell essentially forced my eyes open and made me listen.
Longwell comes at this from a fascinating perspective. She spent much of her life as a Republican, came out of the John McCain wing of the party, and opposed Donald Trump from the beginning. She has also spent years conducting focus groups with voters, including Republicans, Trump voters, former Trump voters, independents, and people who no longer feel at home in either political party.
And she has listened to them. Really listened.
That makes this book incredibly valuable for people on the left who want to understand voters who may be growing disillusioned with MAGA—and, more importantly, who want to communicate with them rather than simply yell past them.
Some of the most interesting parts of the book deal with language. Longwell demonstrates how two people can use the same political vocabulary and hear completely different things. Words and arguments that sound perfectly reasonable to someone on the left may immediately put another voter on the defensive.
One observation that particularly fascinated me was the difference between how Democrats and Republicans often describe their political affiliation: Democrats tend to begin with what they believe, while Republicans are more likely to describe what they are. Politics can become part of identity, and understanding that changes how you approach persuasion.
The sections about faith also gave me a lot to think about personally. People on the left can sometimes be hesitant to talk openly about religion because they want to make sure people of every faith—and no faith—feel included. But that can inadvertently create the impression that Christianity belongs exclusively to the political right. As a Christian who is also left-leaning, this book challenged me to think about whether being more open about my own faith could actually create points of connection rather than division.
That is what I appreciated most about this book: it made me examine my own communication.
Longwell isn’t arguing that everyone can be persuaded or that one election will magically move American politics back toward the center. Her argument is much more focused on understanding voters, building a broader coalition, and figuring out how to communicate with people who may be open to moving away from MAGA.
And you cannot persuade someone you refuse to listen to.
That was probably the lesson I most needed.
This book didn’t make me less concerned about American politics. But strangely, it made me more hopeful. There are people whose political identities are more complicated than a red or blue box can capture. There are people whose opinions are changing. And there are ways to talk across those divides that don’t require abandoning your own values.
If you’re left-leaning and concerned about the direction of the country, I think this is an absolute must-read—especially if, like me, you sometimes find yourself thinking, How can these people possibly think this way?
Open your eyes. Listen.
Apparently, that’s how you eat an elephant: one voter at a time.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
How to Eat an Elephant: One Voter at a Time was published September 8, 2026.
Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press for sending me a finished copy.
At times, that is exactly how I felt reading How to Eat an Elephant: One Voter at a Time.
And I mean that as a very, very good thing.
As someone who is left-leaning and deeply concerned about the MAGA movement, I have to admit that I am not always good at listening to Trump voters. I get frustrated. I get angry. I can be dismissive. Sometimes I think I already know what they’re going to say before they say it.
Sarah Longwell essentially forced my eyes open and made me listen.
Longwell comes at this from a fascinating perspective. She spent much of her life as a Republican, came out of the John McCain wing of the party, and opposed Donald Trump from the beginning. She has also spent years conducting focus groups with voters, including Republicans, Trump voters, former Trump voters, independents, and people who no longer feel at home in either political party.
And she has listened to them. Really listened.
That makes this book incredibly valuable for people on the left who want to understand voters who may be growing disillusioned with MAGA—and, more importantly, who want to communicate with them rather than simply yell past them.
Some of the most interesting parts of the book deal with language. Longwell demonstrates how two people can use the same political vocabulary and hear completely different things. Words and arguments that sound perfectly reasonable to someone on the left may immediately put another voter on the defensive.
One observation that particularly fascinated me was the difference between how Democrats and Republicans often describe their political affiliation: Democrats tend to begin with what they believe, while Republicans are more likely to describe what they are. Politics can become part of identity, and understanding that changes how you approach persuasion.
The sections about faith also gave me a lot to think about personally. People on the left can sometimes be hesitant to talk openly about religion because they want to make sure people of every faith—and no faith—feel included. But that can inadvertently create the impression that Christianity belongs exclusively to the political right. As a Christian who is also left-leaning, this book challenged me to think about whether being more open about my own faith could actually create points of connection rather than division.
That is what I appreciated most about this book: it made me examine my own communication.
Longwell isn’t arguing that everyone can be persuaded or that one election will magically move American politics back toward the center. Her argument is much more focused on understanding voters, building a broader coalition, and figuring out how to communicate with people who may be open to moving away from MAGA.
And you cannot persuade someone you refuse to listen to.
That was probably the lesson I most needed.
This book didn’t make me less concerned about American politics. But strangely, it made me more hopeful. There are people whose political identities are more complicated than a red or blue box can capture. There are people whose opinions are changing. And there are ways to talk across those divides that don’t require abandoning your own values.
If you’re left-leaning and concerned about the direction of the country, I think this is an absolute must-read—especially if, like me, you sometimes find yourself thinking, How can these people possibly think this way?
Open your eyes. Listen.
Apparently, that’s how you eat an elephant: one voter at a time.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
How to Eat an Elephant: One Voter at a Time was published September 8, 2026.
Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press for sending me a finished copy.
October 13, 2026
Outstanding! Highly recommend!
Author Sarah Longwell is a political consultant and publisher/founder of the news and opinion website, The Bulwark. She is also a co-host of The Secret Podcast. Longwell was originally a Republican and worked for Republican organizations. Then she became a Democrat. She has conducted over 400 focus groups of Republicans and Democrats over the past eight years.
In How to Eat an Elephant: One Voter at a Time, Longwell shares her insights from the focus groups as well as specific, actionable steps Democrats can take to win elections. She has deep insights into what and how voters think. Right now is the type of moment when new leaders emerge and create a new vision and narrative.
Author Sarah Longwell is a political consultant and publisher/founder of the news and opinion website, The Bulwark. She is also a co-host of The Secret Podcast. Longwell was originally a Republican and worked for Republican organizations. Then she became a Democrat. She has conducted over 400 focus groups of Republicans and Democrats over the past eight years.
In How to Eat an Elephant: One Voter at a Time, Longwell shares her insights from the focus groups as well as specific, actionable steps Democrats can take to win elections. She has deep insights into what and how voters think. Right now is the type of moment when new leaders emerge and create a new vision and narrative.
October 22, 2026
The fact that I listened to it twice probably says a lot about what I think of this book. It is, on my opinion, one of the most important and insightful books about our political landscape today that is available. I can't say enough about how eye-opening it was for me. And for my wife and daughter.
Longwell is publisher of The Bulwark and a lifelong conservative Republican. Or at least she was a Republican until the party went off the rails. She is smart as hell, articulate, cheeky, and frustrated by our current situation. To learn about voters she didn't rely on polls and statistics. Instead she went to the source: She has made a career speaking directly with voters -- conducting hundreds of focus groups around the country and listening to thousands of people talk unfiltered about what they think, how they view politics and politicians, how they see the country, what they believe, how they get their news, and what matters to them. She listens without judgement, probes a bit to get a deeper upstanding when necessary, and never argues, disputes, or presents "the facts" -- even if her head dies feel like it's about to explode.
For people (like me, I suppose) who follow the news closely and think of themselves as politically moderate and reasonably knowledgeable about this or that aspect of our country, reading "How to Eat an Elephant" is like suddenly realizing that you've been looking at the world in a very misinformed and biased way. The things we (again, me) believe about how other voters think and what they know are way off base. Longwell's focus group participants come from a wide range of political and social positions. Some voted for Obama twice, then Trump. Or for Biden and then Trump. Some voted by party affiliation. Others saw no point in voting at all. Some believe the most outlandish conspiracies. Some -- many -- are largely unaware of what's going on in the world because they don't follow the news. Or they understand things very differently than one would think: there are, for example, voters who are unmoved by warnings about "the threat to our democracy" because for them, the word "democracy" is somehow related not to a form of government but to "Democrats," the political party. (Because the words are so similar.)
Longwell is particularly struck by how drastically the political information system has changed. More and more people get their news not from newspapers, magazines, or television, but from podcasts and short-form media like TikTok, Instagram, etc. What they're seeing -- what's placed before their eyes -- is driven by algorithms. No effort is made to be accurate and impartial. As "Elephant" demonstrates again and again, voters are motivated by emotion and immediate needs. The GOP -- and Trump especially -- recognized this a long time ago. Their messaging was concise and straightforward and they repeated the same message again and again, using what is widely known about how our minds work: fear and anger are the two most powerful means of capturing and keeping attention. Democrats, on the other hand, have offered abstractions, position papers, and run every utterance by political consultants before speaking. As a result, Republicans came off as authentic and tuned in to "our" problems, and Democrats came off as elitist, judgmental, condescending, and detached from the real world. (I have encountered this time and again in my own social networks.)
I'm aware that my description risks making Longwell's book sound like an angry, self-righteous polemic. It's not, not even a little. (Well, she is angry, but it's not polemical.) The chapters are short -- but not superficial -- and direct, the tone conversational. I'd give examples but I listened to the book rather than reading it. Which leads me to say this: If you can, I urge you to "read" "Elephant" this way. Longwell narrates it herself, and the wit, snark, and urgency come through very powerfully.*
The whole book can be read in a single sitting. Longwell introduces an idea, draws examples from her focus groups to show where the idea comes from, and then gets to the point. Opponents of Trump and the GOP's turn to authoritarianism -- which is to say, in the real world, Democrats because they're really the only other game in town -- have a real opportunity to reach swing voters and recover voters who have dropped out. But to do so they're going to have to learn to show they care about what voters care about, even if they don't have all the answers; that they can talk like ordinary people rather than academics; that they be authentic, which is to say, speak in their own words about what they really believe and stop using consultant-tested messaging. And most important, that they recognize how different the media environment is from what it has been: If they really want to reach voters they're going to have to go where the voters are -- the podcasts and so on.
I'll stop. Read "How to Eat an Elephant" if you want a better understanding of where we are today politically and culturally, what the voters most of us don't personally know and will likely never speak to actually think rather than what polls tell us. Read it especially if you want to get insight on how to push back against the very real threats to American democracy (or, if you prefer, our Democratic Republic).
Wait: I can give one example. Voters care deeply about immigration, It is to them both an economic and safety issue. Intuiting this fact, Trump spoke endlessly about closing the border and getting rid of "the worst of the worst" and infestation. As Longwell shows, what came through to voters as they listened to Trump was not about policy or strategy but evidence, however oddly phrased, that Trump cared about something they cared about. A lot of these voters still care about the issue but now they're troubled by what they're seeing: masked, heavily armed, nameless federal officers throwing people to the ground, shooting American citizens, violently breaking up families, taking away the hard-working neighbors they've known for years. For Longwell, this is an opportunity for Democrats that must be taken. They need to show that they care even more about safety and jobs, etc., than Republicans do. “Most voters aren’t looking for cruelty,” she writes. “They’re looking for control. Give them a way to feel safe that doesn’t require them to be cruel, and they’ll take it.”
Longwell is publisher of The Bulwark and a lifelong conservative Republican. Or at least she was a Republican until the party went off the rails. She is smart as hell, articulate, cheeky, and frustrated by our current situation. To learn about voters she didn't rely on polls and statistics. Instead she went to the source: She has made a career speaking directly with voters -- conducting hundreds of focus groups around the country and listening to thousands of people talk unfiltered about what they think, how they view politics and politicians, how they see the country, what they believe, how they get their news, and what matters to them. She listens without judgement, probes a bit to get a deeper upstanding when necessary, and never argues, disputes, or presents "the facts" -- even if her head dies feel like it's about to explode.
For people (like me, I suppose) who follow the news closely and think of themselves as politically moderate and reasonably knowledgeable about this or that aspect of our country, reading "How to Eat an Elephant" is like suddenly realizing that you've been looking at the world in a very misinformed and biased way. The things we (again, me) believe about how other voters think and what they know are way off base. Longwell's focus group participants come from a wide range of political and social positions. Some voted for Obama twice, then Trump. Or for Biden and then Trump. Some voted by party affiliation. Others saw no point in voting at all. Some believe the most outlandish conspiracies. Some -- many -- are largely unaware of what's going on in the world because they don't follow the news. Or they understand things very differently than one would think: there are, for example, voters who are unmoved by warnings about "the threat to our democracy" because for them, the word "democracy" is somehow related not to a form of government but to "Democrats," the political party. (Because the words are so similar.)
Longwell is particularly struck by how drastically the political information system has changed. More and more people get their news not from newspapers, magazines, or television, but from podcasts and short-form media like TikTok, Instagram, etc. What they're seeing -- what's placed before their eyes -- is driven by algorithms. No effort is made to be accurate and impartial. As "Elephant" demonstrates again and again, voters are motivated by emotion and immediate needs. The GOP -- and Trump especially -- recognized this a long time ago. Their messaging was concise and straightforward and they repeated the same message again and again, using what is widely known about how our minds work: fear and anger are the two most powerful means of capturing and keeping attention. Democrats, on the other hand, have offered abstractions, position papers, and run every utterance by political consultants before speaking. As a result, Republicans came off as authentic and tuned in to "our" problems, and Democrats came off as elitist, judgmental, condescending, and detached from the real world. (I have encountered this time and again in my own social networks.)
I'm aware that my description risks making Longwell's book sound like an angry, self-righteous polemic. It's not, not even a little. (Well, she is angry, but it's not polemical.) The chapters are short -- but not superficial -- and direct, the tone conversational. I'd give examples but I listened to the book rather than reading it. Which leads me to say this: If you can, I urge you to "read" "Elephant" this way. Longwell narrates it herself, and the wit, snark, and urgency come through very powerfully.*
The whole book can be read in a single sitting. Longwell introduces an idea, draws examples from her focus groups to show where the idea comes from, and then gets to the point. Opponents of Trump and the GOP's turn to authoritarianism -- which is to say, in the real world, Democrats because they're really the only other game in town -- have a real opportunity to reach swing voters and recover voters who have dropped out. But to do so they're going to have to learn to show they care about what voters care about, even if they don't have all the answers; that they can talk like ordinary people rather than academics; that they be authentic, which is to say, speak in their own words about what they really believe and stop using consultant-tested messaging. And most important, that they recognize how different the media environment is from what it has been: If they really want to reach voters they're going to have to go where the voters are -- the podcasts and so on.
I'll stop. Read "How to Eat an Elephant" if you want a better understanding of where we are today politically and culturally, what the voters most of us don't personally know and will likely never speak to actually think rather than what polls tell us. Read it especially if you want to get insight on how to push back against the very real threats to American democracy (or, if you prefer, our Democratic Republic).
Wait: I can give one example. Voters care deeply about immigration, It is to them both an economic and safety issue. Intuiting this fact, Trump spoke endlessly about closing the border and getting rid of "the worst of the worst" and infestation. As Longwell shows, what came through to voters as they listened to Trump was not about policy or strategy but evidence, however oddly phrased, that Trump cared about something they cared about. A lot of these voters still care about the issue but now they're troubled by what they're seeing: masked, heavily armed, nameless federal officers throwing people to the ground, shooting American citizens, violently breaking up families, taking away the hard-working neighbors they've known for years. For Longwell, this is an opportunity for Democrats that must be taken. They need to show that they care even more about safety and jobs, etc., than Republicans do. “Most voters aren’t looking for cruelty,” she writes. “They’re looking for control. Give them a way to feel safe that doesn’t require them to be cruel, and they’ll take it.”
September 10, 2026
Loved this book. Loved it so much that I purchased it on Bookshop.org so I could have a physical copy and support the author.
Even though this book has many depressing themes and opinions about current US politics, I found it to be hopeful. I believe that one day we’ll get to a point where I don’t think all Republicans are insane MAGA cultists, and more Republicans will be like Sarah Longwell. Every time I’ve tried to hear out a Republican (whether from a podcast, a book, or someone in my own life), they’ve expressed an opinion that I quickly respond in my head with, “Well, they lost me.” Sarah never lost me during this book. She’s clearly smart and genuinely cares about our country. She has great ideas for how to fix not only the Republican Party, but the Democratic Party as well. Her view on Democrats in power taking the offensive is something I 100% agree with, and something I’ve been disappointed with the party about for years.
And the way Sarah explained why people are MAGA was spot-on, and also an incredibly important topic. I consider myself liberal but have a few family members who are MAGA. I hate the rhetoric online from liberals who say they would “immediately cut off” their MAGA family members. At the start of COVID, I was with them. Now, that seems wrong to me. My family members are not bad people. They are misguided people. The media and politicians they support have lied to them, and things have become so muddled that Trump can stand up there and say the craziest shit imaginable and it’s seen as totally fine because “at least he’s honest” or “he’s not like the other shady politicians.” (Even though he absolutely is)
MAGA supporters are vulnerable and, like I said, misguided. Many liberals are misguided too. But hating the other side because they’re “crazy” won’t get us anywhere. And I totally understand liberals who say they can’t be friends with someone who supports Trump. Because he’s a fascist, racist, misogynist, all the -ists. But where does it get us if we just dismiss the people who support him? No one wants to listen to someone who calls them stupid.
We can’t leave these people behind, especially when they’re our parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, etc. Like I said, they’re misguided. And they will continue to be if we don’t do something.
And the people who need to do something about it are the Democrats in power.
For the love of god, democrats in power, please do something!!!!!
Even though this book has many depressing themes and opinions about current US politics, I found it to be hopeful. I believe that one day we’ll get to a point where I don’t think all Republicans are insane MAGA cultists, and more Republicans will be like Sarah Longwell. Every time I’ve tried to hear out a Republican (whether from a podcast, a book, or someone in my own life), they’ve expressed an opinion that I quickly respond in my head with, “Well, they lost me.” Sarah never lost me during this book. She’s clearly smart and genuinely cares about our country. She has great ideas for how to fix not only the Republican Party, but the Democratic Party as well. Her view on Democrats in power taking the offensive is something I 100% agree with, and something I’ve been disappointed with the party about for years.
And the way Sarah explained why people are MAGA was spot-on, and also an incredibly important topic. I consider myself liberal but have a few family members who are MAGA. I hate the rhetoric online from liberals who say they would “immediately cut off” their MAGA family members. At the start of COVID, I was with them. Now, that seems wrong to me. My family members are not bad people. They are misguided people. The media and politicians they support have lied to them, and things have become so muddled that Trump can stand up there and say the craziest shit imaginable and it’s seen as totally fine because “at least he’s honest” or “he’s not like the other shady politicians.” (Even though he absolutely is)
MAGA supporters are vulnerable and, like I said, misguided. Many liberals are misguided too. But hating the other side because they’re “crazy” won’t get us anywhere. And I totally understand liberals who say they can’t be friends with someone who supports Trump. Because he’s a fascist, racist, misogynist, all the -ists. But where does it get us if we just dismiss the people who support him? No one wants to listen to someone who calls them stupid.
We can’t leave these people behind, especially when they’re our parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, etc. Like I said, they’re misguided. And they will continue to be if we don’t do something.
And the people who need to do something about it are the Democrats in power.
For the love of god, democrats in power, please do something!!!!!
September 15, 2026
To put this book in military terms: this is a tactical and operational handbook, not a strategic plan. This book, which I liked overall, is about how to adjust communications, rhetoric, campaigning, and other "how-to-win" issues, most of which are designed to win over swing voters, independents, and disillusioned Trump voters. The source base, if you will, is the hundreds of focus groups that Longwell and her firm have conducted with different sets of voters.
This body of evidence can tell you a lot, but not everything. Still, there are some great insights in here for Democrats. Here are a few:
1. Talking about democracy doesn't really work. It fires up liberals, but not the kinds of voters Democrats need to reach. Most people don't really feel like democracy is in jeopardy; after all, they voted Trump in, and they voted Trump out. I disagree, but at this point they probably aren't going to Instead, talk less about democracy and more about American values and welfare.
2. You can't go wrong fixating on the economy and affordability. It is what matters most to . You have to not only have policies but genuine empathy (even for people you don't like) about how Americans are struggling. Throwing economic facts (the economy is good, actually! GDP is up!) at voters doesn't change the fact that it's hard to fill up the gas tank and buy groceries. Longwell is not a big fan of Zohran's actual policies, but she holds him up as a model for how to communicate on
3. Speaking of communications, Longwell blasts Democrats for being behind the 8-ball on modern comms. Democrats are way too focused on fact-based, think-tanky reports and traditional campaigning, and they are not getting into the spaces where voters (esp young ones) spend most of their time: podcasting, social media, and other non-traditional spaces.
4. Finally, Longwell advocates a new relationship between Democratic politicians and the activist class on the left. Activist groups (or many of them) from the left approach Democrats as their vector of influence, and they often seek to hold Democrats "accountable" for not taking the maximal position on trans issues, immigration, Gaza, etc. This is not really how activism works on the right; most right-wing activist groups are far more slavishly supportive of Republicans, for both ideological and financial reasons. This puts Democratic politicians in the constant dilemma of threading the needle between an activist base that is trying to get them to take manifestly unpopular positions (on trans people in sports, for example) that tar the Democrats as radical and a larger voter base that wants more "common sense" approaches. The answer, Longwell suggests, is that activists should focus less on pressing Democrats into taking these positions and more on what the gay marriage movement did: combining assertive legal strategies wtih broad efforts to move the needle on public opinion so that it is easier for politicians to take more progressive stances.
Longwell also has some nice insights into what makes Trump so maliciously effective as a politicians. Trump achieves "narrative dominance" through constant reinforcement of the same themes and claims, even when most of what he says isn't true. He sets the agenda, and Democrats react. He even did this while out of office because of the Biden team's ineffective media strategy. Trump also is a master of "schema activation," in which he links immigration, for instance, to everything else bad happening in the country: crime, opioid abuse, overloaded public services, etc. When he says "America First," he immediately activates resentment against elites from both parties who are perceived as serving interests other than what is best for AMerica. The fact that this slogan has a dark history doesn't matter to most people, so Democrats hammering that point isn't effective.
Still, this is very much the book of a political operative, and a former Republican operative at that. As such, it has significant blind spots. First, Longwell is much more trusting and forgiving of Trump voters than I am. She tends to believe that most of them come from a good place: from justified resentment of the establishment, from a sense of betrayal by Democrats, from an overall sense of bewilderment, or from everyday experiences of life in America as not-so-great. She profiles their frustration that, in Trump 2.0, Trump "isn't doing what he said he would do!" and she sees this as a big opportunity for Democrats.
However, we have now had 3 straight elections where the vast majority of this coalition chose Trump 3 times in spite of, well, everything. There's just no excuse in 2024 to not realize that Trump doesn't actually give a crap about ordinary people, that he's not for peace, that he revels in cruelty and enacts cruelty through policy, and that his whole strategy is to make the AMerican people hate each other as much as possible. I'm much more on the side of Jonathan van Last, Longwell's colleague, who puts much more blame on the voters for simply being irresponsible and stupid, for believing things like "Trump is a good businessman" even though there's not a shred of evidence that that's the case, or for pooh-poohing or conspiracizing about January 6.
I suppose I am intellectually and emotionally with JVL and strategically with Longwell on this; I'm not sure what choice Democrats have than to compete for low-information, distrustful voters, because there's a lot of them. Still, I think that the focus group evidence base is flawed; focus groups allow people to project themselves at their most reasonable (oh, I don't hate trans people or Mexicans at all) whereas when you look at behavior (how you vote, what media you consume) it becomes clear that there is much more of an appetite for conspiracy, authoritarianism, and unadulterated cruelty than you could learn from a focus group (or, at least an apathy toward Trump's bigotry and cruelty).
But a big source of dissonance for me in this book is that Longwell's view of the pre-Trump GOP is overly rosy. This makes sense; she was a GOP operative. Her breaking from the GOP over Trump and gay rights issues was admirable, but as a historian her claims that Trump is a radical discontinuity from the earlier GOP does not hold water. This was not a party "defined by ideology," as she asserts; the party intelligenstia and operative class may have been ideologically charged, but the majority of the party's voters and probably the majority of elected Republicans were driven much more by identity/cultural politics than fealty to Burke and Hayek. Moreover, she portrays the Democrats as way more dovish on foreign affairs than they really were, and Republicans as way more devoted to a rules-based world order than they ever were. I get it; she's an operative, she's trying to devise ways to win, she's looking forward. But as a historian, that selective representation of the past rubbed me the wrong way.
So this is a worthwhile, thoughtful, and pithy book from someone I respect and see as a political ally. This is a playbook, not a strategic vision. If you take it at that level, it's quite good. But that's also a limited argument, much more about form than content, leaving me a bit unsatisfied.
This body of evidence can tell you a lot, but not everything. Still, there are some great insights in here for Democrats. Here are a few:
1. Talking about democracy doesn't really work. It fires up liberals, but not the kinds of voters Democrats need to reach. Most people don't really feel like democracy is in jeopardy; after all, they voted Trump in, and they voted Trump out. I disagree, but at this point they probably aren't going to Instead, talk less about democracy and more about American values and welfare.
2. You can't go wrong fixating on the economy and affordability. It is what matters most to . You have to not only have policies but genuine empathy (even for people you don't like) about how Americans are struggling. Throwing economic facts (the economy is good, actually! GDP is up!) at voters doesn't change the fact that it's hard to fill up the gas tank and buy groceries. Longwell is not a big fan of Zohran's actual policies, but she holds him up as a model for how to communicate on
3. Speaking of communications, Longwell blasts Democrats for being behind the 8-ball on modern comms. Democrats are way too focused on fact-based, think-tanky reports and traditional campaigning, and they are not getting into the spaces where voters (esp young ones) spend most of their time: podcasting, social media, and other non-traditional spaces.
4. Finally, Longwell advocates a new relationship between Democratic politicians and the activist class on the left. Activist groups (or many of them) from the left approach Democrats as their vector of influence, and they often seek to hold Democrats "accountable" for not taking the maximal position on trans issues, immigration, Gaza, etc. This is not really how activism works on the right; most right-wing activist groups are far more slavishly supportive of Republicans, for both ideological and financial reasons. This puts Democratic politicians in the constant dilemma of threading the needle between an activist base that is trying to get them to take manifestly unpopular positions (on trans people in sports, for example) that tar the Democrats as radical and a larger voter base that wants more "common sense" approaches. The answer, Longwell suggests, is that activists should focus less on pressing Democrats into taking these positions and more on what the gay marriage movement did: combining assertive legal strategies wtih broad efforts to move the needle on public opinion so that it is easier for politicians to take more progressive stances.
Longwell also has some nice insights into what makes Trump so maliciously effective as a politicians. Trump achieves "narrative dominance" through constant reinforcement of the same themes and claims, even when most of what he says isn't true. He sets the agenda, and Democrats react. He even did this while out of office because of the Biden team's ineffective media strategy. Trump also is a master of "schema activation," in which he links immigration, for instance, to everything else bad happening in the country: crime, opioid abuse, overloaded public services, etc. When he says "America First," he immediately activates resentment against elites from both parties who are perceived as serving interests other than what is best for AMerica. The fact that this slogan has a dark history doesn't matter to most people, so Democrats hammering that point isn't effective.
Still, this is very much the book of a political operative, and a former Republican operative at that. As such, it has significant blind spots. First, Longwell is much more trusting and forgiving of Trump voters than I am. She tends to believe that most of them come from a good place: from justified resentment of the establishment, from a sense of betrayal by Democrats, from an overall sense of bewilderment, or from everyday experiences of life in America as not-so-great. She profiles their frustration that, in Trump 2.0, Trump "isn't doing what he said he would do!" and she sees this as a big opportunity for Democrats.
However, we have now had 3 straight elections where the vast majority of this coalition chose Trump 3 times in spite of, well, everything. There's just no excuse in 2024 to not realize that Trump doesn't actually give a crap about ordinary people, that he's not for peace, that he revels in cruelty and enacts cruelty through policy, and that his whole strategy is to make the AMerican people hate each other as much as possible. I'm much more on the side of Jonathan van Last, Longwell's colleague, who puts much more blame on the voters for simply being irresponsible and stupid, for believing things like "Trump is a good businessman" even though there's not a shred of evidence that that's the case, or for pooh-poohing or conspiracizing about January 6.
I suppose I am intellectually and emotionally with JVL and strategically with Longwell on this; I'm not sure what choice Democrats have than to compete for low-information, distrustful voters, because there's a lot of them. Still, I think that the focus group evidence base is flawed; focus groups allow people to project themselves at their most reasonable (oh, I don't hate trans people or Mexicans at all) whereas when you look at behavior (how you vote, what media you consume) it becomes clear that there is much more of an appetite for conspiracy, authoritarianism, and unadulterated cruelty than you could learn from a focus group (or, at least an apathy toward Trump's bigotry and cruelty).
But a big source of dissonance for me in this book is that Longwell's view of the pre-Trump GOP is overly rosy. This makes sense; she was a GOP operative. Her breaking from the GOP over Trump and gay rights issues was admirable, but as a historian her claims that Trump is a radical discontinuity from the earlier GOP does not hold water. This was not a party "defined by ideology," as she asserts; the party intelligenstia and operative class may have been ideologically charged, but the majority of the party's voters and probably the majority of elected Republicans were driven much more by identity/cultural politics than fealty to Burke and Hayek. Moreover, she portrays the Democrats as way more dovish on foreign affairs than they really were, and Republicans as way more devoted to a rules-based world order than they ever were. I get it; she's an operative, she's trying to devise ways to win, she's looking forward. But as a historian, that selective representation of the past rubbed me the wrong way.
So this is a worthwhile, thoughtful, and pithy book from someone I respect and see as a political ally. This is a playbook, not a strategic vision. If you take it at that level, it's quite good. But that's also a limited argument, much more about form than content, leaving me a bit unsatisfied.
October 19, 2026
Publisher of The Bulwark, Sarah Longwell is always listenable and insightful…particularly when conveying the views of voters in the focus groups she analyzes.
September 18, 2026
Longwell has somehow endured hundreds of focus groups with thousands of American voters over the past eight years and has distilled those experiences into a highly readable and eminently practical field guide to upending Trump's hold on politics. The writing is conversational and practical. There are no grand political theories or war stories, just straight up directives based on the answers and comments provided by the focus group participants. The groups are from all over the country and include independents and members of both major parties, as well as voters who've crossed over in presidential elections. Longwell is also refreshingly uncritical of the participants quoted throughout the book. She believes many voters are reachable with the right messaging and she provides many useful methods to achieve the messaging goal.
I'm a paid subscriber to The Bulwark and particularly like the author's podcast and written contributions and I was delighted she maintained her high standards with this book.
I'm a paid subscriber to The Bulwark and particularly like the author's podcast and written contributions and I was delighted she maintained her high standards with this book.
September 16, 2026
This is not my kind of book, when I glanced at the cover I thought it was some wretched animal abuse book and just ignored it. Kept seeing good reviews so read the synopsis and thought I would get the audio for my husband. He started with me in the car and I was instantly hooked. We spent so much time discussing it we must have stopped every ten minutes. Disheartening to say the least, at one point I wanted to cry, exposed me to things I hadn't considered.
currently-requesting
July 5, 2026I have put myself on the waitlist for the audio at Pima. I hope that MORE or OKC gets it and it's avl while I'm there because I think/hope paper will be more useful.
I hope it starts with Talk with your Neighbors. Especially: *Respectfully Listen* to the ones with whom you disagree! And that it goes from there about how to do that, and what else to do.
I'm afraid it may turn out to be more hostility or intolerance.
I hope it starts with Talk with your Neighbors. Especially: *Respectfully Listen* to the ones with whom you disagree! And that it goes from there about how to do that, and what else to do.
I'm afraid it may turn out to be more hostility or intolerance.
September 20, 2026
Excellent. Full disclosure I am a subscribed member to the Bulwark, even drove 3 hours to see their live podcast so i was predisposed to like this book. With that said, its excellent. Forward thinking, problem solving, clever, and abscent of the hostility and rhetoric that got us here. I imagine in some future world it will be required reading for political science and communication majors.
October 22, 2026
I love The Bulwark. However, this book made me want to throw up my hands. I got pretty tired hearing the stupid stuff coming from the voter’s in the focus groups. I’m usually pro-people voting, but seeing what some people thought made me reconsider.
Sarah does provide a nice roadmap for where to go, but something left me unsatisfied at the end of this book. Maybe it’s the asshole-ification of our politics and how it’s not going back to “the before times.”
Sarah does provide a nice roadmap for where to go, but something left me unsatisfied at the end of this book. Maybe it’s the asshole-ification of our politics and how it’s not going back to “the before times.”
September 16, 2026
Excellent explanation of how we got here, the real risks to our democracy and what we can do to address from the co-founder of The Bulwark. Listened to this as an audio book, which Sarah herself narrates—she has been holding focus groups with voters for a decade and has real insights from them. Recommend.
September 16, 2026
There is a lot of essential advice in here but Sarah is still blinded by her Republican goggles and bungles some things. Below are a couple.
1) Democrats are more secular because they are more secular. It's not that Democrats are afraid to talk about or reference religion, it's just that religion isn't that important to us anymore. We are a diverse coalition and we threaten coalition unity with it. There is no reason to try and appeal to religious right-wingers who believe the Bible says abortion is murder and gay marriage is from the devil himself. You will not convince them by quoting the Sermon on the Mount. You will turn off a lot of people in the coalition that is about 40% non-religious, a share which is growing all the time.
2) Non-binary people are transgender. Non-binary identity is not something separate from transgender identity. It is explicitly a transgender identity. She, in the book, declares that non-binary people are different from trans people in the section about Trump's famously successful "Kamala cares for they/them, Trump cares about you" ad. Sarah, for all her good intentions, is totally unqualified to pontificate breathlessly on this subject. She worked with the anti-gay forces, including Rick Santorum, whose whole thing was being anti-gay. Whatever else you can say for her, you simply cannot trust her here.
These types of complaints aside, this book was a short read, which I am thankful for.
I've been chipping away at a behemoth of a book on LBJ and it has taken about a month so far. I took care of this book over the course of about two days. (Two days I really wish I had spent on the LBJ book instead, honestly.)
If you are interested in activism or building something related to politics, this is the book for you.
Just be aware that it is very much the kind of book a conservative would write about how to fix liberalism.
1) Democrats are more secular because they are more secular. It's not that Democrats are afraid to talk about or reference religion, it's just that religion isn't that important to us anymore. We are a diverse coalition and we threaten coalition unity with it. There is no reason to try and appeal to religious right-wingers who believe the Bible says abortion is murder and gay marriage is from the devil himself. You will not convince them by quoting the Sermon on the Mount. You will turn off a lot of people in the coalition that is about 40% non-religious, a share which is growing all the time.
2) Non-binary people are transgender. Non-binary identity is not something separate from transgender identity. It is explicitly a transgender identity. She, in the book, declares that non-binary people are different from trans people in the section about Trump's famously successful "Kamala cares for they/them, Trump cares about you" ad. Sarah, for all her good intentions, is totally unqualified to pontificate breathlessly on this subject. She worked with the anti-gay forces, including Rick Santorum, whose whole thing was being anti-gay. Whatever else you can say for her, you simply cannot trust her here.
These types of complaints aside, this book was a short read, which I am thankful for.
I've been chipping away at a behemoth of a book on LBJ and it has taken about a month so far. I took care of this book over the course of about two days. (Two days I really wish I had spent on the LBJ book instead, honestly.)
If you are interested in activism or building something related to politics, this is the book for you.
Just be aware that it is very much the kind of book a conservative would write about how to fix liberalism.
October 6, 2026
I am rewriting this review because the book angered me so much, I reflected more on that than I wanted to.
First, 1 star. It was an audio book so I can’t judge the writing. This is mostly an emotional choice.
Second, I know who Sarah Longwell is and I have problems with her from The Bulwark, which is why I watch the show seldom and generally stick to the parts I’m interested in possibly knowing their position. For this book, I was distracted by the title, actually believing it would be about how to carve up the GOP. I was wrong. From the start.
FYI, I will admit that I was a mostly republican-voting Independent when I first was able to vote 45 years ago. It took me nearly 2 decades to completely shed that and when I did so, I did it with a vengeance. Independent to Democrat and never looked back. I wasn’t married to policies and didn’t understand what “fiscally conservative” meant, especially when it didn’t seem to apply to military. But I did know what it meant to be a woman in a world without representation. I also knew I would never have that with the “right.” I tell this story to point out it was a long time ago and long before Trumpers. My experience with these folks is they may leave the party because they disagree with the Orange Felon, but they are still Republicans at heart. They still love buzz words like “fiscally conservative”, and they still have the hubris of the “right” to believe that they alone are the smart ones and they will happily let the left know what they’re doing wrong. And they ignore the very real obstacles of the patriarchy. Sarah included.
Much of her book is based on focus groups. She seems to have two sets – one that is still a Trump voter, and the other that voted for Trump in ‘16, for Biden in “20, and then returned to Trump in ‘24. And it is that movement she bases this book on. Again, based on focus groups asked leading questions and providing answers that she treats as gospel when they are purely opinion, and biased. But Sarah believes that gives her an authority on “correcting” Democrats that she does not have.
I tried taking a few notes here and there but stopped because I was shouting too much. I’m sure it would have been slightly different had it been in book form but it’s also likely I would have DNF’d it. You could argue that I sort of DNF’d it anyway because I got to the point where I was talking over her, LOL.
Statistics show that voters turned out in high numbers for Obama, retreated for Clinton, returned for Biden, then retreated again for Harris. Apparently, “voters” found the WOMEN unlikable, fake, too manly, too giggly, not giggly enough, etc., none of which matters or is even true. Not once did Sarah entertain the idea that the people in her focus group could be biased, that they could be misogynistic, that they left because they could not bring themselves to vote for a woman, any woman, especially a black woman that MAGA and “right” networks had demeaned her entire 4 years as VP. She treated these people as if they were political experts, educated, knowledgeable and worthy of writing a book for her.
IMO, anyone who didn’t vote for Harris in 2024, was not truly a Democrat, not in the sense that Democrats don’t vote just for themselves, they vote for those who need protection and a hand up. If someone chose not to vote for Harris on the basis of untrue and non-verifiable BS, they did so knowing full well their vote was for Trump, whom they already knew as the ignorant, narcissistic, cheating, lying, stealing, Epstein pedo, adjudicated raper... If you chose that over a false belief that you didn’t know where Harris stood on issues, that you fictitiously were worse off under Biden, that the president who sent more people “home” and confiscated more drugs (Biden) was somehow soft on immigration, or that immigrants were eating cats and dogs...ad nauseam… it wasn’t actually because of those issues. It was because you were/are a misogynist. Sarah never gave that any space whatsoever in her book.
So, through to the end, Sarah was quoting members of her focus groups, people who had been Trumpers and either still were, or were flopping as their own inner feelings and prejudices directed them. She was clear in telling Democrats they were wrong, talked about elites and how the working class was left behind – again without any understanding that in these times, the working class are the ones who ARE “America First”, that they are the most likely to believe the nonsense that women and non-whites are trying to take their jobs, and are more willing to see these people as less than human. Their claim to Christianity falls apart when they expose their willingness to ignore the teachings of Christ, the Ten Commandments, and human decency. We see videos of their preachers saying that unmarried women shouldn’t be helped, but left to die. These folks bemoan that slavery no longer exists. These people didn’t leave the Democrat party for any reason other than their own bigoted mindset and the jealousy of people bettering themselves. They left because the Mostly Dead Anti-American Frump-Boy hated the people they hated. Yeah, I got political but this is a political book.
In short, there was never any parsing of the elephant and no one grabbed a plate and silverware.
First, 1 star. It was an audio book so I can’t judge the writing. This is mostly an emotional choice.
Second, I know who Sarah Longwell is and I have problems with her from The Bulwark, which is why I watch the show seldom and generally stick to the parts I’m interested in possibly knowing their position. For this book, I was distracted by the title, actually believing it would be about how to carve up the GOP. I was wrong. From the start.
FYI, I will admit that I was a mostly republican-voting Independent when I first was able to vote 45 years ago. It took me nearly 2 decades to completely shed that and when I did so, I did it with a vengeance. Independent to Democrat and never looked back. I wasn’t married to policies and didn’t understand what “fiscally conservative” meant, especially when it didn’t seem to apply to military. But I did know what it meant to be a woman in a world without representation. I also knew I would never have that with the “right.” I tell this story to point out it was a long time ago and long before Trumpers. My experience with these folks is they may leave the party because they disagree with the Orange Felon, but they are still Republicans at heart. They still love buzz words like “fiscally conservative”, and they still have the hubris of the “right” to believe that they alone are the smart ones and they will happily let the left know what they’re doing wrong. And they ignore the very real obstacles of the patriarchy. Sarah included.
Much of her book is based on focus groups. She seems to have two sets – one that is still a Trump voter, and the other that voted for Trump in ‘16, for Biden in “20, and then returned to Trump in ‘24. And it is that movement she bases this book on. Again, based on focus groups asked leading questions and providing answers that she treats as gospel when they are purely opinion, and biased. But Sarah believes that gives her an authority on “correcting” Democrats that she does not have.
I tried taking a few notes here and there but stopped because I was shouting too much. I’m sure it would have been slightly different had it been in book form but it’s also likely I would have DNF’d it. You could argue that I sort of DNF’d it anyway because I got to the point where I was talking over her, LOL.
Statistics show that voters turned out in high numbers for Obama, retreated for Clinton, returned for Biden, then retreated again for Harris. Apparently, “voters” found the WOMEN unlikable, fake, too manly, too giggly, not giggly enough, etc., none of which matters or is even true. Not once did Sarah entertain the idea that the people in her focus group could be biased, that they could be misogynistic, that they left because they could not bring themselves to vote for a woman, any woman, especially a black woman that MAGA and “right” networks had demeaned her entire 4 years as VP. She treated these people as if they were political experts, educated, knowledgeable and worthy of writing a book for her.
IMO, anyone who didn’t vote for Harris in 2024, was not truly a Democrat, not in the sense that Democrats don’t vote just for themselves, they vote for those who need protection and a hand up. If someone chose not to vote for Harris on the basis of untrue and non-verifiable BS, they did so knowing full well their vote was for Trump, whom they already knew as the ignorant, narcissistic, cheating, lying, stealing, Epstein pedo, adjudicated raper... If you chose that over a false belief that you didn’t know where Harris stood on issues, that you fictitiously were worse off under Biden, that the president who sent more people “home” and confiscated more drugs (Biden) was somehow soft on immigration, or that immigrants were eating cats and dogs...ad nauseam… it wasn’t actually because of those issues. It was because you were/are a misogynist. Sarah never gave that any space whatsoever in her book.
So, through to the end, Sarah was quoting members of her focus groups, people who had been Trumpers and either still were, or were flopping as their own inner feelings and prejudices directed them. She was clear in telling Democrats they were wrong, talked about elites and how the working class was left behind – again without any understanding that in these times, the working class are the ones who ARE “America First”, that they are the most likely to believe the nonsense that women and non-whites are trying to take their jobs, and are more willing to see these people as less than human. Their claim to Christianity falls apart when they expose their willingness to ignore the teachings of Christ, the Ten Commandments, and human decency. We see videos of their preachers saying that unmarried women shouldn’t be helped, but left to die. These folks bemoan that slavery no longer exists. These people didn’t leave the Democrat party for any reason other than their own bigoted mindset and the jealousy of people bettering themselves. They left because the Mostly Dead Anti-American Frump-Boy hated the people they hated. Yeah, I got political but this is a political book.
In short, there was never any parsing of the elephant and no one grabbed a plate and silverware.
October 12, 2026
Sarah Longwell provides a fascinating and illuminating view of the political and social polarization experienced by many Americans today. Fortunately, she infuses heavy, weighty topics with wit and humor making it a quick but thoughtful and inspiring read. She doesn’t pull her criticisms for either side of the political spectrum. Her recommendations backed by research offer a clear and thoughtful plan to promote civil discussion and refocus citizens on reuniting the country. More importantly, her goals would transform government into institutions that problem solve and serve the citizens, rather than consisting of factions trying to score points just to defeat the other side. How refreshing to know that others refuse to accept the current status as normal or even acceptable. However, her message and goals depend upon all of us to demand more for ourselves and the future. After all, the Founding Fathers emphasized, in the first three words of the U.S. Constitution, the most vital part of the country consists of We the People. If the government and its representatives fail to provide the services thus outlined, they have failed us, the people.
October 25, 2026
My grandmother would have loved this book: it has answers AND the right questions
It might be a weird way to start a review, but it's the highest compliment I can give in this sphere. Sarah Longwell, if you ever read this, she was that savvy political operator in the body of a sweet grandmother you mentioned early on.
For everyone else, if you're tired, despairing, and sick to death of feeling like there's nothing you can do about it, this is the book you've been looking for. That is, as long as you can take a few punches. Everything I've been seeing and had no explanations for, the voters and Longwell's ability to take us seriously, even when we're wrong gave me a framework for. And whaddya know, it's the one my common sense has been whispering all along.
I'm ready to build like my life depends on it. Hopefully, I'll see you all out there doing the same.
It might be a weird way to start a review, but it's the highest compliment I can give in this sphere. Sarah Longwell, if you ever read this, she was that savvy political operator in the body of a sweet grandmother you mentioned early on.
For everyone else, if you're tired, despairing, and sick to death of feeling like there's nothing you can do about it, this is the book you've been looking for. That is, as long as you can take a few punches. Everything I've been seeing and had no explanations for, the voters and Longwell's ability to take us seriously, even when we're wrong gave me a framework for. And whaddya know, it's the one my common sense has been whispering all along.
I'm ready to build like my life depends on it. Hopefully, I'll see you all out there doing the same.
September 23, 2026
I like Sarah Longwell. It was a good book explaining how stupid and easily manipulated the voting public is.
September 9, 2026
STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND BUY THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW. YOU’LL GET YOUR MONEY’S WORTH IN THE FIRST TEN MINUTES. Also you can maybe help knock Ted Cruz off the top of the bestseller list (which is honestly the main reason I bought it).
The foreword is hilarious, cut-throat, and endearingly warm and hopeful all at once. Will report back after I’ve listened to the book proper.
The foreword is hilarious, cut-throat, and endearingly warm and hopeful all at once. Will report back after I’ve listened to the book proper.
September 19, 2026
I struggled to identify with the writer. I guess I was misguided by her title and the overview of the book prior to starting it. For someone who has been conducting polling and focus groups for so long, she very briefly describes the thoughts of each voter under each of her type of voter subcategories and why they voted for him; nothing more than a sentence or two per voter.
Maybe I just can’t get behind doomers because of one politician.
I was very intrigued to get an in-depth overview of the voters in her focus groups. But as mentioned above, it feels like nobody else’s opinion is coming across the pages but her’s.
If you read the news frequently, none of this will be new information. We’re fully aware of where people’s sources of information come from over the last decade, the anything but Hillary voters, that Kamala failed to convince young men and detach herself from the Biden administration, and voter’s blindfolds of Trump’s vices.
This book will be good for people who need affirmation of what they already know about why people voted for Donald Trump, or if you’re wondering who started the Republicans against Trump Twitter account.
Maybe I just can’t get behind doomers because of one politician.
I was very intrigued to get an in-depth overview of the voters in her focus groups. But as mentioned above, it feels like nobody else’s opinion is coming across the pages but her’s.
If you read the news frequently, none of this will be new information. We’re fully aware of where people’s sources of information come from over the last decade, the anything but Hillary voters, that Kamala failed to convince young men and detach herself from the Biden administration, and voter’s blindfolds of Trump’s vices.
This book will be good for people who need affirmation of what they already know about why people voted for Donald Trump, or if you’re wondering who started the Republicans against Trump Twitter account.
Read
September 28, 2026If you're trying to understand American voters, let Sarah Longwell be your guide.
September 29, 2026
America licked the toad in 2016, and we may finally be woozing back to reality.
The sui generis Trump presidency has almost spanned ten years, and we are finally at a moment when the electorate is starting to imagine the country after his presidency. Despite a remarkable bending of reality, democracy, norms, and decency, DJT has succeeded in changing the American presidency in his image. The fibers of our grand experiment have been altered by the puerile narcissism of his mental illness and the reality-TV grandstanding of his relentless need for approval. All things, good and bad, must end, and the electorate, in five weeks, will cast a vote to sanction or refute Republican-held governance. Despite having all the cards, Trump has managed to stifle a growing economy and submerge the country in a thoughtless war of choice, and he remains remarkably untethered from the financial perils of the MAGA base, at a time when he is raking in billions in fraudulent crypto scams. What I see is a con artist, a grifter, and a wannabe king, but what the Republican faithful see is something like authenticity.
How to Eat an Elephant is the gripping nonfiction book by Bulwark founder and former Republican strategist Sarah Longwell. Longwell grew up culturally conservative, and her ascension to Republican strategy seems obvious, given that she had an interest in the party's intellectual heft, with writers like Hayek, Kristol, and Buckley. Longwell helps explain how voters pulled the lever for Biden in 2020 and came to Trump just four years later. She dives into the motivations of voters: the distrust of traditional politicians, the uneasy fears around immigration and the perception of lawlessness, and the cultural minefield of progressive identity politics. The cynicism around politics can stem from the intractable feeling that people are tribal and that genuine dialogue is impossible. Unrooted here are the conversations from Americans that also wrestle with competing values from their faith, their family backgrounds, their fears, and their information diets and sources. It's an exercise in understanding and empathy (though not agreement) to understand how President Trump can be a figure of authenticity. The labels of "cult" and "fascism" feel less easy to apply when you come to understand why people voted for Trump, sometimes while holding their nose.
Tapping into the inner psychology of the voters she panels, Longwell gets to some of the uncomfortable and vulnerable feelings that many voters feel. The cynical trap, that both parties gamify politics and that it's rigged for elites, makes it a lot easier for a reality-TV star to seem like a plucky outsider. The entrenched loneliness and fear unleashed by the COVID pandemic in 2020, along with the unleashing of conspiracy theories about the virus's origin, give evidence that we are a country that deeply lacks trust in the establishment. These cartoonish peddlers of misinformation and vice (RFK, Elon, Miller, Vance) have an animating energy, tapping into those caricatures of the outsider mavericks. I don't think any other political commentator has so brilliantly identified Trump's takeover as an anti-Republican crusade, too: despite aligning with the party, he managed to play the brilliant outsider. Throw in some tasteless memes and some racist memes to pump up your base. How else could a silver-spooned billionaire look like James Dean?
The political landscape has changed so much even since Longwell wrote the book. The progressive challenge to build a vision to compete with MAGA is at hand. The labels of democratic socialism, affordability, and neighborism are increasingly acceptable because they are coming from candidates refusing the prior generation's norms. When progressive Democratic challenger Abdul El-Sayed deftly describes the hypocrisy of corporate welfare and cronyism of the Trump administration, the red-baiting doesn't hold so easily. When "America First" leaders like Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene excoriate Trump for protecting the predators associated with Epstein and recklessly spinning our country into debt and war, the cracks are showing. Bleeding support, Trump continues to lose the coalition of young voters and Latinos, who see the racialized violence and murders from ICE on noncriminal immigrants, and inept leadership in the era of AI. As Longwell points out, there really is no going back; we didn't just go through a minor deviation. The MAGA base has no interest in the Reagan vision and democrats no longer want the genial compromises of the Obama/Biden administrations.
The American empire , the land of the free, constituted in the enlightment, and the brave firewall against the authoritarian forces of the twentieth century appear to be in retreat, unable to fulfill the promises of its founding document. And yet people of good conscious remain, with new and more perfect visions of the America to come.
The sui generis Trump presidency has almost spanned ten years, and we are finally at a moment when the electorate is starting to imagine the country after his presidency. Despite a remarkable bending of reality, democracy, norms, and decency, DJT has succeeded in changing the American presidency in his image. The fibers of our grand experiment have been altered by the puerile narcissism of his mental illness and the reality-TV grandstanding of his relentless need for approval. All things, good and bad, must end, and the electorate, in five weeks, will cast a vote to sanction or refute Republican-held governance. Despite having all the cards, Trump has managed to stifle a growing economy and submerge the country in a thoughtless war of choice, and he remains remarkably untethered from the financial perils of the MAGA base, at a time when he is raking in billions in fraudulent crypto scams. What I see is a con artist, a grifter, and a wannabe king, but what the Republican faithful see is something like authenticity.
How to Eat an Elephant is the gripping nonfiction book by Bulwark founder and former Republican strategist Sarah Longwell. Longwell grew up culturally conservative, and her ascension to Republican strategy seems obvious, given that she had an interest in the party's intellectual heft, with writers like Hayek, Kristol, and Buckley. Longwell helps explain how voters pulled the lever for Biden in 2020 and came to Trump just four years later. She dives into the motivations of voters: the distrust of traditional politicians, the uneasy fears around immigration and the perception of lawlessness, and the cultural minefield of progressive identity politics. The cynicism around politics can stem from the intractable feeling that people are tribal and that genuine dialogue is impossible. Unrooted here are the conversations from Americans that also wrestle with competing values from their faith, their family backgrounds, their fears, and their information diets and sources. It's an exercise in understanding and empathy (though not agreement) to understand how President Trump can be a figure of authenticity. The labels of "cult" and "fascism" feel less easy to apply when you come to understand why people voted for Trump, sometimes while holding their nose.
Tapping into the inner psychology of the voters she panels, Longwell gets to some of the uncomfortable and vulnerable feelings that many voters feel. The cynical trap, that both parties gamify politics and that it's rigged for elites, makes it a lot easier for a reality-TV star to seem like a plucky outsider. The entrenched loneliness and fear unleashed by the COVID pandemic in 2020, along with the unleashing of conspiracy theories about the virus's origin, give evidence that we are a country that deeply lacks trust in the establishment. These cartoonish peddlers of misinformation and vice (RFK, Elon, Miller, Vance) have an animating energy, tapping into those caricatures of the outsider mavericks. I don't think any other political commentator has so brilliantly identified Trump's takeover as an anti-Republican crusade, too: despite aligning with the party, he managed to play the brilliant outsider. Throw in some tasteless memes and some racist memes to pump up your base. How else could a silver-spooned billionaire look like James Dean?
The political landscape has changed so much even since Longwell wrote the book. The progressive challenge to build a vision to compete with MAGA is at hand. The labels of democratic socialism, affordability, and neighborism are increasingly acceptable because they are coming from candidates refusing the prior generation's norms. When progressive Democratic challenger Abdul El-Sayed deftly describes the hypocrisy of corporate welfare and cronyism of the Trump administration, the red-baiting doesn't hold so easily. When "America First" leaders like Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene excoriate Trump for protecting the predators associated with Epstein and recklessly spinning our country into debt and war, the cracks are showing. Bleeding support, Trump continues to lose the coalition of young voters and Latinos, who see the racialized violence and murders from ICE on noncriminal immigrants, and inept leadership in the era of AI. As Longwell points out, there really is no going back; we didn't just go through a minor deviation. The MAGA base has no interest in the Reagan vision and democrats no longer want the genial compromises of the Obama/Biden administrations.
The American empire , the land of the free, constituted in the enlightment, and the brave firewall against the authoritarian forces of the twentieth century appear to be in retreat, unable to fulfill the promises of its founding document. And yet people of good conscious remain, with new and more perfect visions of the America to come.
October 25, 2026
How to Eat an Elephant: One Voter at a Time (2026) by Sarah Longwell looks at what is wrong with the Republican Party and what the Democrats can do to win back office. It’s a good read just before the US mid-terms where the Democrats are strongly favoured to do well. The book will also be relevant heading into the 2027 presidential campaign.
Longwell is a college-educated lesbian who was a Republican Party activist. She became disillusioned with the party during Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. Longwell did focus groups first for the Republicans and now for the Democrats. She also founded The Bulwark, which is a publication for never-Trump people on the centre right.
The book has four main parts and a conclusion. The first part covers Longwell’s life and the way media has changed since 2020. The second part is all about what voters in focus groups say they want from politicians. The third part describes where Longwell sees the two parties going. The fourth part lays out Longwell’s plans for the Democrats. Finally, she ends the book with a call to action.
In the book there is substantial focus on people in focus groups who changed their vote from the Democrats to the Republicans. These kinds of swing voters and their rationalisations are interesting to read about. Disappointment with their initial choice is a frequent theme. Longwell makes the point that there really are voters who are persuadable.
Longwell states that voters in focus groups repeatedly say that the Democrats have these problems:
Failure to focus on the economy, jobs, and cost of living
A perceived inability and lack of desire to curb illegal immigration
Too much focus on social issues, identity politics, and the niche concerns of interest groups
She follows that up with:
“I can see you rolling your eyes right now. I bet you’re thinking, ‘Sure, Longwell, that’s exactly what a former Republican who just wants the Democratic Party to be more moderate would say.'”
It’s good that she acknowledges this. She states that it’s not about being more moderate but focusing on these issues and being fierce. It’s not far from doing what Barack Obama did as president. However, this clearly isn’t what quite a few people in the Democratic Party want. Identity politics is still influential in the Democratic Party. It’s far from clear that a Democratic president would try to curb illegal immigration.
Longwell believes the Republicans have constructed their own media landscape and no longer interact much with mainstream media. She also thinks that Trump has completely changed the Republican Party. Longwell also writes about how after George W Bush the Republicans were open to Trump because Bush’s administration was so unpopular at the end. She also acknowledges that this may be the case after Trump.
How to Eat an Elephant is most valuable for its focus group material. Longwell’s perspective on the Republicans as someone who has worked for right-wing groups but has now changed is unusual. Her hopes for the Democratic Party reflect her own concerns and may well not be what, say, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would focus on if she becomes the Democratic presidential nominee.
Longwell is a college-educated lesbian who was a Republican Party activist. She became disillusioned with the party during Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. Longwell did focus groups first for the Republicans and now for the Democrats. She also founded The Bulwark, which is a publication for never-Trump people on the centre right.
The book has four main parts and a conclusion. The first part covers Longwell’s life and the way media has changed since 2020. The second part is all about what voters in focus groups say they want from politicians. The third part describes where Longwell sees the two parties going. The fourth part lays out Longwell’s plans for the Democrats. Finally, she ends the book with a call to action.
In the book there is substantial focus on people in focus groups who changed their vote from the Democrats to the Republicans. These kinds of swing voters and their rationalisations are interesting to read about. Disappointment with their initial choice is a frequent theme. Longwell makes the point that there really are voters who are persuadable.
Longwell states that voters in focus groups repeatedly say that the Democrats have these problems:
Failure to focus on the economy, jobs, and cost of living
A perceived inability and lack of desire to curb illegal immigration
Too much focus on social issues, identity politics, and the niche concerns of interest groups
She follows that up with:
“I can see you rolling your eyes right now. I bet you’re thinking, ‘Sure, Longwell, that’s exactly what a former Republican who just wants the Democratic Party to be more moderate would say.'”
It’s good that she acknowledges this. She states that it’s not about being more moderate but focusing on these issues and being fierce. It’s not far from doing what Barack Obama did as president. However, this clearly isn’t what quite a few people in the Democratic Party want. Identity politics is still influential in the Democratic Party. It’s far from clear that a Democratic president would try to curb illegal immigration.
Longwell believes the Republicans have constructed their own media landscape and no longer interact much with mainstream media. She also thinks that Trump has completely changed the Republican Party. Longwell also writes about how after George W Bush the Republicans were open to Trump because Bush’s administration was so unpopular at the end. She also acknowledges that this may be the case after Trump.
How to Eat an Elephant is most valuable for its focus group material. Longwell’s perspective on the Republicans as someone who has worked for right-wing groups but has now changed is unusual. Her hopes for the Democratic Party reflect her own concerns and may well not be what, say, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would focus on if she becomes the Democratic presidential nominee.
October 11, 2026
I have to start by saying this the most I've ever hated reading a book I gave 5 stars. It has taken a year or two off my life. This is CURATED exposure to the absolute abyss that is the information diet of the American voter. How Sarah Longwell has spent years shooting the pure stuff is beyond me.
I am a subscriber to the Bulwark and got this book predominantly to support Sarah and their whole Enterprise because I feel like one of the most important things we can do for our democracy is establish an alternative media that is actually reporting the truth and not completely captured by the impotent view from nowhere that leads the NYT to happily launder modern Nazism.
Going by purely ideological terms, Sarah is one of the more right-wing voices that I can stand listening to because I think she's well intentioned, a fierce fighter for democracy, and smart as hell. While some may find it absurd this is as close as I can get to hearing from the "other side" without immediately having an aneurysm, because Sarah's old school Republican takes (crime talk in politics IS a dogwhistle Sarah, just cause it's annoying doesn't make it untrue) bely a deep thoughtfulness and her superheroic ability to tolerate the voters' profound ignorance. I am the "east coast liberal elite" they hate and this book unintentionally disabused me of any notion that is a bad thing. The normies are NOT okay, guys.
So let's get to it, the voters. The American voting public. Jesus fucking Christ. In some ways Sarah is genuinely able to explain to me in pretty simple terms why we are where we are. That she remains hopeful is amazing because God these people, reading their thoughts, hearing their completely broken and misinformed worldviews... Leaving Hunter-gatherer society was a mistake.
It's a good thing I am not in a position of persuasion. I know I'm not the right messenger for it and I know what Sarah is saying is right. She is taking a sober approach to how to get through to people. They're just people that I feel like have failed on such a deep level in their responsibility to become informed citizens that the idea of outreach to them is like needles to the eyes for me.
In short, Sarah is right and I am wrong. I am unyielding and overly judgmental and she is flexible and able to hear the "why" underneath a sea of plainly false, idiotic statements from the depths of some primally awful part of the human brain. I hope every single Democratic operative is reading the book. Sarah truly gets it. This is existential and either act like it or get out of the way. Just don't ask me to change minds. We need Sarah for that.
Anyways, hated it- 5 stars
I am a subscriber to the Bulwark and got this book predominantly to support Sarah and their whole Enterprise because I feel like one of the most important things we can do for our democracy is establish an alternative media that is actually reporting the truth and not completely captured by the impotent view from nowhere that leads the NYT to happily launder modern Nazism.
Going by purely ideological terms, Sarah is one of the more right-wing voices that I can stand listening to because I think she's well intentioned, a fierce fighter for democracy, and smart as hell. While some may find it absurd this is as close as I can get to hearing from the "other side" without immediately having an aneurysm, because Sarah's old school Republican takes (crime talk in politics IS a dogwhistle Sarah, just cause it's annoying doesn't make it untrue) bely a deep thoughtfulness and her superheroic ability to tolerate the voters' profound ignorance. I am the "east coast liberal elite" they hate and this book unintentionally disabused me of any notion that is a bad thing. The normies are NOT okay, guys.
So let's get to it, the voters. The American voting public. Jesus fucking Christ. In some ways Sarah is genuinely able to explain to me in pretty simple terms why we are where we are. That she remains hopeful is amazing because God these people, reading their thoughts, hearing their completely broken and misinformed worldviews... Leaving Hunter-gatherer society was a mistake.
It's a good thing I am not in a position of persuasion. I know I'm not the right messenger for it and I know what Sarah is saying is right. She is taking a sober approach to how to get through to people. They're just people that I feel like have failed on such a deep level in their responsibility to become informed citizens that the idea of outreach to them is like needles to the eyes for me.
In short, Sarah is right and I am wrong. I am unyielding and overly judgmental and she is flexible and able to hear the "why" underneath a sea of plainly false, idiotic statements from the depths of some primally awful part of the human brain. I hope every single Democratic operative is reading the book. Sarah truly gets it. This is existential and either act like it or get out of the way. Just don't ask me to change minds. We need Sarah for that.
Anyways, hated it- 5 stars
September 21, 2026
If you need a book to really break down how Trump won again in 2024 (or how we got into all of this in the first place), this book is a great place to start. Sarah Longwell does a great job making complex issues very accessible to newbies and explains things throughout. I found so many of the political strategies employed by the Trump campaign to be fascinating (in interesting and horrifying ways) while also going "Yeah, Democrats really fumbled the ball at the goal line on a ton of issues." I really enjoyed hearing from actual voters for Trump and why they did what they did. Was it often based on ignorance and one-issue politics? Absolutely. Did it make me wanna scream? You bet it did. But it makes sense on a certain level why they did it. I still hate it, thought.
I also really enjoyed the playbook on how we can rescue ourselves from this situation and not fall even deeper into this wannabe authoritarianism we seem to be flirting with. And while as of this writing Midterms are two months away and not looking good for the Republicans, I'm not getting my hopes up that everything is gonna work itself out. But still, the advice and strategies advised do seem like good starting points.
I'd highly recommend this book if you have been wondering how we are still in this mess and need an alternative to just screaming into the void.
I also really enjoyed the playbook on how we can rescue ourselves from this situation and not fall even deeper into this wannabe authoritarianism we seem to be flirting with. And while as of this writing Midterms are two months away and not looking good for the Republicans, I'm not getting my hopes up that everything is gonna work itself out. But still, the advice and strategies advised do seem like good starting points.
I'd highly recommend this book if you have been wondering how we are still in this mess and need an alternative to just screaming into the void.
October 17, 2026
I think Sarah Longwell is one of the smartest thinkers we have today, and if the world doesn't burn, I hope we will look back on her words and ideas with admiration and gratitude. This book was immensely satisfying to read; I breezed through it and found it deeply pleasurable and validating. Its thorough, rigorous, and intellectually honest evaluation of how we've reached the teetering point of democracy we find ourselves in was sorely lacking in the discourse. Sarah's work ethic, commitment to empirically and emotionally understanding the story of America, and the chapter we are in shine brightly. I am grateful that she and her colleagues at the Bulwark have created a lane of thought through which I can engage with the brokenness that I experience on both the right and the left. Isn't it refreshing to engage in thinking that is motivated purely by a desire to understand truth, and people, and the collective state of play? Sarah offers no confirmation bias, no attempt to leverage narrative, or fear or anger; there is simply an overwhelming desire for truth, and her stubbornness is uncovering it. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand how disconnected Democrats have become from the body politic and how any politics must be done moving forward.
September 20, 2026
I’m a Bulwark gal and have been looking forward to this for months. Was even lucky enough to see Sarah Longwell live on her book tour this past week. Sometimes it’s hard for me to listen to the focus group podcast because it’s painfully frustrating at times, but I recognize that’s also why it’s important. I’m pretty secure in my bubble and not very understanding or empathetic to Trxmp voters, but she has a way of laying out different perspectives that are important to be aware of, because we’re in it now and we got to this point for a reason.
I like how she sprinkled in some of her personal history and the Bulwark’s history with the political/comms strategy, which kept it relatable and fast paced.
Listened on audio which she narrates (and JVL did the foreword). Also picked up a signed copy at the book event to keep in my little library.
Think Andrew Weisman’s book is up next as I work my way through the Bulwark-affiliated authors.
I like how she sprinkled in some of her personal history and the Bulwark’s history with the political/comms strategy, which kept it relatable and fast paced.
Listened on audio which she narrates (and JVL did the foreword). Also picked up a signed copy at the book event to keep in my little library.
Think Andrew Weisman’s book is up next as I work my way through the Bulwark-affiliated authors.
October 28, 2026
This was both an entertaining and maddening read. Using her years of focus group experience, listening to God only knows how many different kinds of voters … Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Cross-overs from both sides … she lays out what is a relatively straightforward and simple strategy for freeing the country from Trump’s dominance of our political system. But there’s a problem … isn’t there always a problem?
I have a difficult time believing that the Democrats truly grasp and appreciate the messages Longwell so clearly lays out in this book. I sincerely doubt that her advice will be accepted and implemented by a party that in my opinion has lost its way and touch with the American voter over the past decade or so. Time will tell & I pray that I’m wrong and someone within the party takes the lead and forces some action along the lines that she recommends.
🤞🤞🤞
I have a difficult time believing that the Democrats truly grasp and appreciate the messages Longwell so clearly lays out in this book. I sincerely doubt that her advice will be accepted and implemented by a party that in my opinion has lost its way and touch with the American voter over the past decade or so. Time will tell & I pray that I’m wrong and someone within the party takes the lead and forces some action along the lines that she recommends.
🤞🤞🤞
October 25, 2026
This book promised a lot. Although I follow the author, Sarah Longwell, everywhere, I didn't think she could deliver on everything, but she did. Her readable prose shared her backstory, explained how we got where we are, how DJT came to be, and what we can do to turn the page going forward.
The book is based on experience and really listening to voters. I found it eye-opening how she dissected the differences between the political parties. By the end, you realize exactly what it will take to save the Republic and why it's essential. At times, you may find this book depressing, but it's essential that we open our eyes.
By the conclusion, I think, like me, you'll be inspired and know what to do: Feed the good wolf!
The book is based on experience and really listening to voters. I found it eye-opening how she dissected the differences between the political parties. By the end, you realize exactly what it will take to save the Republic and why it's essential. At times, you may find this book depressing, but it's essential that we open our eyes.
By the conclusion, I think, like me, you'll be inspired and know what to do: Feed the good wolf!
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