Ben Rhodes, an Obama Administration insider, is a person whose ideas about politics can be taken seriously. That's my judgment, at least.
In the August 14, 2026, edition of The New York Times, Rhodes outlines what he calls "The Winning Formula For Democrats In "Red States." This is the hardcopy headline on his August 14th opinion column. When you click either that link, or the following link, and read Rhodes' column online, you'll run into a different headline: "He’s Young and Thoughtful, With Kennedyesque Good Looks. Can He Break the Republican Grip on His State?" The state at issue, incidentally, is Iowa.
If you pay close attention, you will immediately note that the two headlines are incompatible - unless, that is, the "winning formula" for Democrats, in the upcoming midterm elections, is for all Democratic candidates to be "young," and "thoughtful," and to possess "Kennedyesque Good Looks." That doesn't, really, seem like a "formula," does it?
In fact, Rhodes isn't really betting on "good looks." Here is the "formula" he is advocating (emphasis added):
For all our obsession with national politics and policies, the path out of corrupt, one-party government starts at the local level. That’s where you can take advantage of a party that has become lazy in power, build organizing muscle and test approaches that can be repurposed for other states or scaled up nationally.
As a former local government official (in a "non-partisan" office, by the way), I think the "formula" just highlighted is, in fact, a very real way forward towards political achievement and success, in a time in which our "partisan" politics is both perceived as, and actually is, "corrupt."
Of course, while it is a lot easier to get people engaged in the thrilling adventure of "self-government" when they are operating at the "local" level, in the communities in which they live, the "formula" identified by Rhodes won't work at the "local" level any more than at the state or national level, if ordinary men and women don't get involved in politics themselves.
I'm telling you (and I know about this), getting together with your friends, forming some kind of political "club," and working at the local level for political change (the kind of change that can transform our "political world" to achieve what we decide we want) is not only the high road to effective political power, it's a lot of fun!
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