With the 2026 midterms just weeks away and President Trump’s approval ratings at historic lows, the D/democratic opposition is coming into focus. Bruising and at times surprising primary elections have exposed fractures in the Democratic party but also demonstrated potent momentum and opportunities, including important victories and defeats for candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialist wing. This event will focus on key House and Senate races and consequential debates within the Democratic Party coalition, while also taking a closer look at public opinion and the top issues motivating voters.
We are delighted to welcome two speakers from the United States to discuss the state of the Democrats and public opinion, as well as the outlook for the midterm elections:
Georgia Parke is the director of audience engagement for More Perfect Union, an advocacy journalism nonprofit with 8 million followers that is focused on building power for working people. In her role, she leads multiple teams that produce daily social media and video content. Previously, she spent several years as a communications and digital advisor to US Senator Bernie Sanders, including as social media director on his historic 2020 presidential campaign. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
Bruce Stokes is a veteran of US foreign policy and public opinion analysis. He is visiting senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), where he was senior editor of the 2022 Transatlantic Trends survey. Stokes was a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations between 2017 and 2020 and remains a member. From 2012 to 2019, he was the director of Pew Research Center's Global Economic Attitudes and coauthored numerous public opinion surveys. Before that, he spent 23 years as the international economics correspondent for National Journal, a Washington, DC-based public policy magazine.
Moderator: Rachel Tausendfreund, Senior Research Fellow for USA/Transatlantic Relations, DGAP
This event is part of the series Remaking America? Contesting Visions from Trump and Beyond, a cooperation between DGAP and the Cluster of Excellence “Contestations of the Liberal Script” (SCRIPTS) at Freie Universität Berlin. The series features leading thinkers, scholars, and policy voices from the United States who assess the emerging ideas and factions reshaping American democracy and foreign policy and their consequences for Germany and Europe.
If you would like to join online, please use this link to register.
For in-person attendance, please send your request to events@dgap.org.