Opinion Today: This is how Democrats can win elections
Here’s what we’re focusing on.
Opinion Today
October 20, 2025
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Alejandro Macias

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Notable

I’m guilty of speaking Spanish. “Whose demeanor would not change if armed, masked agents descended upon their city, their workplace, their school, their street, their yard? Mine certainly would, no matter that I became a U.S. citizen more than a decade ago.”

— Carlos Lozada, Opinion columnist

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What JD Vance, Kash Patel and a throw pillow have in common. “Trump, you see, is ‘brave.’ Trump, you must understand, is ‘incredible.’ How do I know? Kash Patel said so.”

— Frank Bruni, contributing Opinion writer

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A fix for homelessness is being abandoned. “In a plotline worthy of an O. Henry short story, the administration is proposing new support services that would support homeless people in housing while planning a severe cutback in resources that would deprive them of that housing.”

— Philip Mangano, the executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness under President George W. Bush

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Spotlight

ICYMI

The Democrats’ main problem isn’t their message. “It almost seems ludicrous to state this explicitly, but if you’re going to compete in this new environment, you need candidates with a natural aptitude for attracting attention and then holding it.”

— Christopher Hayes, the host of “All In With Chris Hayes”

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Watch (or Listen)

The Opinions

Three Words to Help Democrats Win

Senator Ruben Gallego won in Arizona in 2024 by emphasizing prosperity over equity. Now he wants the rest of the Democratic Party to follow suit.

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More in Opinion

Large crowd of people at the No Kings march in Chicago, with an inflatable Trump in the middle

Guest Essay

The Rise of the Inflatable Chicken Resistance

While what is happening to us is as serious as a guillotine, we must harness our best humorous selves in order to keep it from falling.

By Gary Shteyngart

A photo of a room with two bookshelves filled with books and a rolling chair positioned in front of them, facing the wall.

Guest Essay

My Trouble With Robots, Part 2

Telling stories is how we make sense of life and what it means to be human.

By Margaret Renkl

A photograph of a black change purse, which is open and full of gold coins, sitting on a black surface. Smoke rises from the purse’s opening.

Guest Essay

Gambling. Investing. Gaming. There’s No Difference Anymore.

Smartphones are becoming casinos. Trump, whose son is invested in the industry, is only goosing the business.

By Jonathan D. Cohen and Isaac Rose-Berman

An illustration of a book whose cover features expiration dates ranging from the 1950s to a date in the future.

Guest Essay

The Dogged, Irrational Persistence of Literary Fiction

Literature is fragile. It serves no obvious purpose. But it is also as close to immortal as any cultural endeavor has ever been.

By Gerald Howard

An illustration of four soup cans of “slop” in the style of an Andy Warhol painting.

Guest Essay

What Is Sora Slop For, Exactly?

Trying to find purpose in an endless scroll of A.I.-generated videos.

By Bobbie Johnson

A photo illustration, in stark black and white and red, of the lead characters from HBO’s “Task,” including a bearded F.B.I. agent played by Mark Ruffalo.

Guest Essay

This HBO Miniseries Gets Rural America Right

Since the first election of President Trump, Hollywood has fretted about portraying rural and red state Americans. Some new TV series show how to get it right.

By Alan Sepinwall

In Your Words

Re: “Thanks a Lot, Boomers

What you are describing in this video is late stage capitalism. It may well be just a coincidence that it happened during the boomer period. What we are guilty of is not understanding how capitalism works to suck all money from the bottom to the top, and not acting forcefully to prevent it. — A comment posted by Kris, in Maine

Read more comments on the story here and check out our Letters to the Editor.

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