Matt Yglesias

Yglesias says Rahm Emanuel's candidacy would relitigate old controversies and he should instead mentor newer politicians.

“I would love for Rahm to take a step back and to mentor somebody else”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 1:10:01

Yglesias says Josh Shapiro's heartfelt moderation often centers on Israel, where public opinion is moving against him.

“You can't win by being moderate on something where everything's going the other way”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 55:44

Yglesias argues Biden's 2020 primary win showed that a focus on beating Trump resonated with Democratic voters.

“his message of like, I'm just going to beat Donald Trump was like pretty compelling actually to Democratic primary voters”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 50:59

Yglesias argues recent Democratic nominees were cautious establishment 'overdogs' rather than risk-taking underdogs like Obama and Trump.

“The last three times, Democrats have kind of had this sort of overdog nominee who was handed down by the weight of the past”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 38:44

Yglesias argues that the 2028 nominee will effectively define what the Democratic Party stands for.

“Somebody is going to win it. That person will be the leader. What Democrats stand for is going to be, you know, largely whatever it is that person stands for”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 3:21

Yglesias argues swing-state winners like Andy Beshear undersell the heterodoxy, such as coal positions, that won them votes.

“Andy Beshear rejected a Sierra Club endorsement and he got the United Mine Workers who have stopped endorsing Democrats in national politics to endorse him”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 1:11:19

Yglesias criticizes moderate Democrats for avoiding national attention and then complaining that AOC and Mamdani dominate.

“a huge frustration that I have with a lot of the more moderate Democrats is that they don't even want to try a lot of the time”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 1:03:39

Yglesias argues that intra-party fights between establishment and progressives mostly concern issues where swing voters do not disagree with Democrats.

“the things that the establishment and the kind of more progressive people have been arguing about are actually mostly not the issues that it seems like swing voters disagree with Democrats about”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 23:03

Yglesias contends the Democratic Party moved significantly left under establishment stewardship since Obama's second term.

“there's been some pretty dramatic leftward moves in the Democratic Party since Barack Obama's second term”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 4:18

Yglesias says polls showed Graham Platner on track to beat Susan Collins before scandals ended his campaign, though via a standard coalition.

“he was going to beat Susan Collins until scandals took him down”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 19:10

Yglesias expresses enthusiasm for younger, media-savvy non-establishment moderates such as Josh Turek and James Talarico.

“this is part of why i'm excited about josh turek and james talarico it's like these are younger politicians”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 1:10:08

Yglesias expresses regret for having been among journalists who demanded detailed policy plans from candidates.

“I was part of a wave of young at the time journalists who were really like, we got to see plans from these presidential candidates”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 46:38

Yglesias argues Democrats should acknowledge that most Americans want biological sex to govern certain sex-segregated spaces.

“there is a set of sex segregated spaces where most Americans want, you know, biology is defined by chromosomes to be the controlling factor there”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 30:50

Yglesias says he is personally left on immigration but that polling shows Democrats must reassure voters on asylum and borders.

“Now, this is not where like I am at personally. I'm like quite left on immigration, but I can see the numbers here”

Pod Save America: The Search for an Exciting Moderate (Jul 26, 2026) · Listen from 31:20