"Democrats should be asking themselves every day: With as crazy as the Republican Party is, and as Trumpified as it is, why can’t you beat them? As opposed to just squeezing through.”

The Times recently called him "a liberal heretic"; but these are the important questions Ruy Teixeira—who many consider to have written the manual on the future of the Democratic Party 20 years ago—intends to ask of his party today.

Back in 2002, Democrats were in despair. President George W. Bush had an approval rating of 84% as he led the United States in its war against terrorism in the midst of a flourishing economy.

Then, Ruy Teixeira published his book, The Emerging Democratic Majority, which Democrats read as prophesizing that the future held permanent Democratic dominance in elections based on an irresistible tidal wave of demographic change. Teixeira rallied Democrats and became an intellectual hero on America’s left.

Today he has something very different to say. Listen now and as always, let me know your views and recommend guests to be on the podcast at Wally@ThePoliticalConversation.org.