The Prosperity Gospel didn’t just warp Christianity — it rewired American politics. From televangelists to MLMs to Project 2025, this is how faith became a sales pitch for greed and power. www.bytheballot.com/p/the-regres...?

Skill games. Casinos. Digital betting. Virginia’s gambling industry is expanding faster than our laws can keep up. On this week’s By the Ballot, I break down what’s happening, who’s pushing it, and why vulnerable communities are paying the price.

🚨 NEW: Guest Takeover on By the Ballot 🚨 Andrew Payton—Democratic nominee for HD-34—breaks down how his campaign came within 257 votes of flipping a Trump +7 district that hasn’t sent a Democrat to Richmond since 1985. Read his powerful reflection 👇 🔗

A Virginia candidate just “debated” an AI version of his opponent. Deepfakes are already shaping campaigns, fooling voters, and eroding trust — and we have zero guardrails. I wrote about how AI is breaking our politics in real time, and why states must act. www.bytheballot.com/p/a-fake-deb...

We’re fighting for eyeballs in a world of short attention spans. But persuasion now happens in earbuds, not on TV screens. Why digital audio is the most overlooked weapon in modern campaigning → www.bytheballot.com/p/your-ears-...

JD Vance is the glossy PR version of a Silicon Valley–built Christian Nationalist ideology and that’s exactly why it’s dangerous. Check out our conversation feat Chuck Corra from Appodlachia: www.bytheballot.com/p/the-regres...

Chuck Corra from Appodlachia joined us to talk about a distrubing new movement in Appalachia: Silicon Valley bros are building crypto-based Christian Nationalist towns in Tennessee… with their own “charters” and zero oversight. This is the new far-right project. www.bytheballot.com/p/the-regres...

Just wrote a guest article for Dogwood News on why Dems swept Virginia in 2025 and why governing boldly on affordability is the next step. Dems stayed focused on economic issues and affordability. Voters backed that vision. Now it’s time to deliver. Full piece here ⬇️ vadogwood.com/2025/11/18/c...

We’re trying something new this week: teaming up with Dogwood News. Michael O'Connor breaks down how unions helped Virginia’s 2025 blue wave — and what Dems might actually deliver now that they control Richmond Virginia’s labor future is on the line. Read: www.bytheballot.com/p/workers-tu...

The next Democratic majority won’t come from consultants in D.C.—it’ll come from dirt roads and town halls in Rural America. New By the Ballot episode: Rural Megaphones. 🎙️ Listen now on By the Ballot: www.bytheballot.com/p/rural-mega...

Just bumping this for no particular reason www.bytheballot.com/p/if-liberal...

The man did not lie. #VAElection #VAHouse #DonScott #Democrats #BlueWave

The enthusiasm gap is....palpable.

Matt Royer’s take on Deciding to Win—what it gets right and how it’s way off base—is an important read. @bytheballot.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/bythebal...

Another centrist report telling Democrats to “run to the middle”? Hard pass. If we want to win, we need to fight like we mean it — for working people, for bold change, and for our values. New on By the Ballot: A Welcomed(?) Response →

Evangelical figures like Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell blurred the lines between faith and Republican politics, convincing followers that to be a “good Christian” is to be a conservative. More on this 👇

Once again, the WaPo Editorial Board missing the point. The crux of this has nothing to do with NIMBYISM or the WH changing itself (this has happened many times). It has to do with the fact that this is in the middle of the Gov't shutdown without approval. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

🚨 New piece: The Regressive Evangelism of America, Part 2 How White Christian Nationalists warped history, married Church & State, and weaponized American exceptionalism — from Eisenhower & Billy Graham to Reagan, Falwell, and today’s GOP. 👉 www.bytheballot.com/p/the-regres...

Democrats keep asking how to win rural voters. The answer: show up. New Rural Virginia joins By the Ballot to talk rural campaigns, real issues, and why young rural Dems are building power across Virginia. 🎧 Listen now: www.bytheballot.com/p/rural-rami...

The rural vote isn’t red by default. In this episode, I talk with Larry Wohlers & Parson Brown from New Rural Virginia about how rural candidates can win by focusing on what really matters: jobs, cost of living, & community. 🎙️ Listen now: www.bytheballot.com/p/rural-rami...

Voters don’t cast ballots with their hearts or brains—they vote with their wallets. Democrats: stop chasing GOP culture wars. Focus on housing, healthcare, wages, food on the table. It’s still the economy, stupid. 💸 #ItsTheEconomy

It begs the question: If they’re this against the anti-fascists, what does that make them?

Trump is manufacturing a new enemy — “Antifa” — to justify using the full power of the government against the Left. This isn’t about law and order. It’s about power and punishment. If they’re against the anti-fascists… what does that make them? Read more: www.bytheballot.com/p/the-antifa...

Republicans didn’t just “get lucky.” They built power from the bottom up — stacking statehouses, courts, & school boards while Dems obsessed over D.C. If we want to win long term, state legislatures are where the fight is. 🗳️🏛️ www.bytheballot.com/p/the-bottom...

Anyone from the MAGA Camp when they see the boot coming

How is this acceptable behavior from the Attorney General of the United States?

The Republican laser focus on Trans issues is continuing to backfire as a new Emerson Poll shows that less than a third of voters considering it most important and less than half consider it important at all. But would you look at that: Economy is at the top:

We’re still spending nearly HALF of political ad budgets on broadcast TV — when 82% of Americans are streaming. No wonder we’re losing the media war. 📺➡️📱 #DigitalFirst #Democrats

The shutdown isn’t an accident—it’s a weapon. Trump and his allies brag about the pain, and they want Democrats to take the blame. Don’t let them. ✍️ New post: A Crisis of Their Own Making open.substack.com/pub/bythebal...

The Christian Far Right has had a strange hold on our politics for decades. Read Part 1 of a multi-part series that dives into the world of White Christian Nationalism: Incels. TradWives. Megachurches. Memes. bytheballot.substack.com/p/the-regres...

Conservatives didn’t just build Fox News—they bought the media scaffolding already in place. From Sinclair local stations to CNN, the Right has been reshaping what Americans see and hear for decades. 📖 Read:

Politics isn’t broken—it’s kayfabe. Faces vs. heels. Heroes vs. villains. Trump is the main event, but the violence is real. 🎭💥 Read more: open.substack.com/pub/bythebal...

We don’t need “perfect” candidates. We need candidates who fight for people, lead with integrity, and deliver policy that improves lives. Stop chasing ghosts. 👉 open.substack.com/pub/bythebal...

We debate bathrooms more than we debate guns in schools. That’s not by accident — it’s a distraction. 🚨 I joined @jamesabrenio.bsky.social on the latest #JamesPod, I to call out how Republicans hijack the narrative & how Democrats should fight back. 🎧 open.substack.com/pub/bythebal...

Democrats don’t lose because of words. We lose because we let the Right define our narrative. It’s time to stop chasing “magic words” and start talking like real people. ✊ 📝 New in By the Ballot: It’s All Semantics

When teenage boys mess up, our instinct is to jump down their throats. But I’ve seen how that outrage feeds the pipeline: extremists tell them people will hate you, yell at you, and try to silence you. That anger just proves them right. I talk about it on #JamesPod:

Really awesome to hear from Matt about youth voters. Because clearly we need to have a discussion as a party.

Housing. Clean water. Healthcare. Good schools. A decent commute. These are the basics voters care about. Why aren’t Democrats talking about them? Listen to this episode of JamesPod where I join @jamesabrenio.bsky.social to talk about what we need to improve. open.substack.com/pub/bythebal...

If only we could use this money to do something else instead of paying these influencers to push centrist talking points. Easily can say that this will just create more content for Boomers to share on FB and not bring in any new voters from the next generation. Stop. www.wired.com/story/dark-m...

Trump’s DC takeover proves it: the right thrives on fake crime panic. Don’t take the bait. Read more:

As we wrote a few weeks ago, it’s frustrating to see national Democrats pouring money into influencer campaigns that ring hollow. Our party has to learn: going viral doesn’t make someone an effective messenger or strategist. Wholeheartedly agree with Will Robinson:

Similar to what I said about these spammy tactics: the “400% matches”, the negative doom and gloom rhetoric, and donation shaming tactics that Dems have adopted from these Scam PACS are disrespecting our donors at best and taking advantage of digital-illiterate seniors at worst. bit.ly/45Xg2Tn

College students are literally drawn into districts—but are not always registered to vote there. Want to flip a red district? Start with campus housing. Here’s how it can continue to work in Virginia—and how to copy/paste it nationwide: open.substack.com/pub/bythebal...

Not every convo needs to go viral. Not every take deserves a mic. This is what happens when politics becomes performance. Let’s unplug the outrage machine.

Democrats: “We’re saving democracy!” Also Democrats: [renames bill, sends sternly worded letter, does nothing] It’s time to stop trying so desperately to be liked and time to get back to winning again. Read now:

This isn’t shade. This isn’t about one candidate. It’s about strategy. It’s about optics. We need to build a generation of young candidates who win trust, not just attention. New piece up now: open.substack.com/pub/bythebal...

27% shouldn’t win an election. Ranked Choice Voting ensures candidates have real majority support. It just makes sense. #Democracy #RankedChoiceVoting Read more here:

Right-to-Work wasn’t created to protect workers. It was created to divide them. If Democrats truly want to be the party of working people, there’s only one choice: repeal it. No more excuses. Read why it’s time for action:

🚨 Democrats: You don’t need a $20M study or your own Joe Rogan to reach young men. You need to show up. Real organizing > influencer content. Conversations > content. Trust > trends. 🧵 New with ‪@gurtling.bsky.social‬. Why Dems keep getting this wrong ⬇️ open.substack.com/pub/bythebal...