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For many on the Left, last week’s elections came like a gut punch. But zoom out beyond the high-profile races cable news pundits fixated on, and Tuesday saw many significant victories for left-wing candidates and policies.

Now more than ever, they need to keep their focus and pass their agenda. But is that what they think? Democrats need to change the topic to what they have accomplished while in power. But of course they have to accomplish it first.

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"This should be a wake-up call for Democrats: Give people something to vote for or watch yourselves become the very thing they resoundingly vote against."

Six weeks ago, conventional wisdom said that California Governor Gavin Newsom would either be recalled or narrowly avoid that fate. Instead, anti-recall forces won in a landslide.

Her willingness to learn from her base, while holding fast to principles and being willing to take a public stand even when that stand might cost her, offers a lesson to the party in how to evolve in the years to come.

"A ton of our work is dragging elected officials toward where their voters actually are," says Working Families Party New England Regional Director Georgia Hollister Isman. She shares her take on where the Dems are to kick off new interview series.

The facts are too scarce, and the stakes are too high, to jump to conclusions. We cannot flourish as a society if a single accusation out of the blue upends an election overnight and ruins a 30-year career in politics.