From the leading political advisor and best-selling author, a revelatory account of how power is built and a blueprint for Democrats in 2026 and beyond.
Supermajorities used to be the norm in American politics, yet today it seems unimaginable that our nation could break hard for one party or the other. But as Adam Jentleson demonstrates in Supermajority, his follow up to the “truly excellent” (Ezra Klein) Kill Switch, periods of stasis almost always break and give way to dominant one-party rule. For most of the twentieth century, Democrats held overwhelming control of Congress—supermajorities so commanding that Republicans could do little more than mimic Democratic positions. These supermajorities didn’t just enable sweeping legislation, such as Social Security, but also made that legislation stick. Jentleson argues that today’s Democrats let interest groups and activists hold them back from building a supermajority, and that they forget that politicians need to be attentive to public opinion even as they seek to shape it. He shows that the party must learn the correct lessons from the successes of FDR, LBJ, and Barack Obama if they hope to usher in a new liberal realignment and forge lasting change.
Adam Jentleson is the former chief of staff to Senator John Fetterman, a former deputy chief of staff to Senator Harry Reid, and founder and president of the Searchlight Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to sparking a realignment through innovative policy ideas. A frequent contributor to the New York Times and political commentator on MSNBC, he is the author of Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy. He lives in Takoma Park, Maryland.
Jentleson will be in conversation with Jerusalem Demsas, CEO, founder, and editor-in-chief of The Argument, a new magazine revitalizing liberalism through evidence-driven journalism and debate. The Argument covers politics, policy, and culture with original polling, and rigorous analysis. She was previously a staff writer at The Atlantic, a policy journalist at Vox, and author of On the Housing Crisis.