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There’s a difference between performance politics and genuine attempts to move voters. Over the past year, we’ve heard a lot about the so-called “crisis” of the Democratic Party losing Black and Latino men. So I called three friends who are not only some of the sharpest minds in the party, they’re actually putting in the work.
Chuck Rocha, Albert Morales, and Khalil Thompson have spent their careers fighting to make campaigns more inclusive, more effective, and more honest. And they sat down for one of the most necessary conversations At Our Table has ever had.
As Khalil put it when he talked about his work with Win With Black Men last year:
“We know that not all Black men think the same. And if we just box them out, then we’re missing an opportunity to talk about why. We really wanted to make sure we could provide an opportunity to listen, not ram down a message that this is the most important election of your lifetime.”
That line hit me hard. Because too often, campaigns talk at our communities instead of with them.
Chuck broke down one reason why his consulting firm Solidarity Strategies is different:
“The firms that were making the money positioned themselves between the money and the media. I said: I’m not going to do that. I want to do what the rich white people are doing—media, mail, and digital—and I’ll do it in two languages.”
Reflecting on his career and how he’s doing things differently at Statara Solutions, Albert took it a step further:
“It’s great to have people that look like us on presidential campaigns. But we can’t just be brought in during the summer and told, ‘Oh, you’re now the director of Hispanic engagement.’ We need to start those conversations early on.”
And Khalil reminded us that all of this—from messaging to who’s in the room—comes down to leadership:
“If you’re going to be a candidate running on the Democratic ticket, you’re going to have cultural competency… and a diverse group of consultants and staff. That’s the only way this really changes.”
Bottom line: It’s not enough to win elections. We have to win trust. Because power doesn’t shift by accident. It shifts when we decide that inclusion isn’t just good optics, but good strategy.
Pull up a chair for this one. You’ll walk away thinking differently about who’s shaping our politics and who needs to be.
— Jaime
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