February 25, 2026
How to gain people’s trust involves listening to their challenges, their ambitions, their ideas and their stories.
Kaiser Permanente nurses and healthcare workers on strike in the rain in front of the Anaheim hospital, February 16, 2026.(Mindy Schauer/MediaNewsGroup/Orange County Register via Getty Images) Donald Trump is in free fall in the polls. But this public discontent has not translated into working-class confidence in Democrats to support them.
When it comes to either party’s concerns about grocery bills, rent checks, pay stubs, retirement, their children’s education, those kinds of things keep people awake at night– working class voters still take a “lesser of two evils” approach.
Having spent the last 14 years report onvisiting or defending working-class communities in each region, this status quo does not surprise me. As you travel the country, you will hear a consistent message: “They [politicians] don’t worry about me” or “They only come during elections”.
Above all, earning people’s trust involves sitting down with them and listen— to their challenges, their ambitions, their ideas… their stories. It takes a certain amount of privacy to achieve this.
This is why, following the 2024 election, when a flood of experts and autopsies have called for How can Democrats reconnect with the working class?— a coalition of state and national organizations (including my current employer, EPIC) — launched the #Listen2Workers campaign.
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The campaign is based on a simple principle: bring together local, state and federal workers and elected officials and have authentic conversations. Ask workers about their lives, what is most urgent, their ideas for change. Listenthen discuss (not talk) what the legislator hears – about policy ideas, commitments, outstanding issues, how they can work together.
Then a coalition of organizations can help the legislator show their work— through social media-friendly clips — so audiences can see the commitment to workers in action, rather than just political leaders. talk on their commitment. If the party wants to undermine the working class narrative that it is not engaged, it must show proof. It goes back to the old adage, Show, don’t tell…if you want it to stay.
Recently, Georgia House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley organized a #Listen2Workers campaign. forum in Macon, hosted by Stacey Abrams.
A group of about 25 racially diverse workers, union and, importantly, non-union, from urban and rural communities, spoke about wages that no longer cover rent, even for full-time workers. A retired, non-union law enforcement officer said his salary after 26 years was the same as the entry-level salary of New York City police officers, even though they were both risking their lives. A union leader spoke about the absurdity of a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and the fact that parents have to work multiple jobs and therefore do not have the time they want and need for their children.
Others spoke of the silent devastation of disinvestment. A second generation mason described how professional programs have been removed from secondary schools, draining both opportunities for young people and the skilled workforce that communities need. Many spoke of vacant, abandoned homes and land as evictions increase. One gig worker explained that their “boss is the AI,” with no job protections or recourse, and a constant fear of being deactivated without explanation. One bartender said clearly: “I don’t want three jobs. I want one job. I want to live, not just survive.” Workers explored policy solutions ranging from rent stabilization to local banks giving entrepreneurs access to capital, career pathways for youth, tax revenue, regular attendance by lawmakers, and more.
What linked these stories was not ideology. It was a lived experience – and a shared feeling that too many political conversations happen without the people most affected in the room.
Like Abrams reflected then, “People are hungry for solutions…They are smart. They have smart, actionable ideas. What they desperately need is someone who can listen to those ideas and help them manifest.”
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State legislators in 11 states have now promised to participate in the campaign. In California, more than a dozen people sit down for one-on-one conversations with workers in their district…social workers, gig workers, security guards, trade workersAnd more.
Imagine if Democrats in red, blue, and purple districts across the country committed to doing this and explicitly tied a #Listen2Workers policy agenda to the stories they heard — shaped by the very people who bear the brunt of policy decisions every day. This kind of policy would not only change the polls, it would help rebuild trust.
But it all starts with listening to stories. These are the receipts – of what people want and how Democrats respond to what they hear.
Greg Kaufmann Greg Kaufmann is a contributing writer for The nation.
