Jon Favreau on Where the Democrats Went Right
About this episode
As the federal government shuts down over expiring Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, Klein and former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau assess the Democrats' position. Favreau argues Democrats have finally found a fight the public is on their side of — the subsidy fight — but the party must do more than win a news cycle: it must rebuild its brand, stop losing working-class and Latino voters, and offer a credible governing agenda centered on affordability. They discuss Prop 50 redistricting, the lessons of the 2024 campaign, whether the establishment learned the wrong lessons from the Harris loss, and what a winning 2026 and 2028 coalition looks like. Favreau argues Democrats must become the party of abundance — housing, health care, child care — rather than cultural scolding, and reflects on his Crooked Media and 'Pod Save America' work as a model for engaging disaffected voters.