Marshall here. Welcome back to the realignment. Instead of an interview today, I'm going to turn my

first piece of realignment-focused writing into an audio essay. I published this piece,

The Missing Liberal Story, and the States Forum Journal, one of the best new organizations launched

post-20204. If you'd like to learn more about the States Forum Journal, you could have a link to my interview

with its co-founder, former New York State Legislator Daniel Squadron, in the show notes.

My essay is a part of the State Forum's second issue, double security, 14 essays on federalism,

democracy, and the role of states in

safeguarding American governance. My essay really pulls together a lot of my thinking out loud

during the show the past year and my decision to cover the realignment of left liberal ideology

and the Democratic Party. The same way, the show covered the realignment of conservatism

and the GOP that culminated in President Trump's 2024 election victory.

One piece of feedback I've gotten on this essay is basically, no duh.

There's no story. There's no there.

What actually is the story?

It seems like a cop-out to not actually offer that up beyond just sort of

diagnosing the problem. To which I have two responses. A, stories are a group and individual

projects, so my aim was to identify the problem and invite others to contribute, rather than claim

that I, myself, Marshall Kozlov, have the answer.

One of the things I balance on the show is the fact that I have two different audiences I'm trying to serve.

One is basically 1,000 people in D.C. and the states who are trying to directly work to influence

and inform.

The other is the broad popular one that doesn't work in day-to-day

...