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WBUR Podcasts, Boston.

It's hard to describe it as anything other than a race away from the party.

It's a big change.

The Democratic Party is hemorrhaging voters,

and there's no shortage of explanations for why.

The trick for party leaders is figuring out which one of those explanations is right.

It's Thursday, August 21st, and this is here and now anytime from NPR and WBWR.

I'm Chris Bentley.

Today on the show, why is the Democratic Party losing voters? And what can they do to get them back?

In a few minutes, we'll hear from some strategists with different views.

But first, if you look at recent voter registration data, you might get the sense that no one wants to be a Democrat anymore.

In the 30 states and one district of Columbia that allow partisan voter registration, the number of people choosing to identify as Democrats is down,

and Republicans have gained ground in every single one. That's between 2020 and 2024, by the way.

Shane Goldmacher called it a stampede of voters away from the party in his story for the New York

Times. And he told Scott Tong, there's really no sugar-coting

it for the Democrats. All told in the four years between November 2020 and November

2024, 2.1 million fewer people are registered with the Democratic Party. And at the same

time, 2.4 million more people are registered with the

Republican Party. And that's a 4.5 million voter swing. And what was so interesting is this isn't

isolated in one state. It's not redder state. It's not red states becoming redder or blue states

...