WATCH: Are 'shiny objects' distracting Democrats?

From the creator

Democrats can often suffer from "shiny object syndrome," focusing too much on long-shot candidates instead of consequential races, says Ben Wikler. "That phenomenon often means that a huge amount of the national kind of energy in Democratic politics gets focused on a candidate running against a particularly heinous Republican, or a particularly charismatic Democratic candidate in a place that's extremely hard to win, and then completely skips an election that would have had huge consequences if it had gotten more attention," he told PBS News' Geoff Bennett. Wikler, who chaired the Democratic Party of Wisconsin for six years, is the author of a new book, "This is the Plan," which details his prescription for "saving" America's democracy. He joined Bennett for the latest episode of PBS News' podcast, Settle In, to discuss his book, the future of the Democratic Party and more. For the full episode, click the link in our bio. Watch PBS News for daily, breaking and live news, plus special coverage. We are home to PBS News Hour, ranked the most credible and objective TV news show. Sign up for Here's The Deal with Lisa Desjardins: https://to.pbs.org/41q6E8i Subscribe for exclusive content in our newsletters: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/subscribe PBS News podcasts: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/podcasts Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS News at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2

Published 2026-07-21 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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