Cross Tabs Say What You're For, with Anat Shenker-Osorio
In this episode, Farrah Bostic is joined by messaging strategist, author, and Words to Win By host Anat Shenker-Osorio for a wide-ranging and incisive conversation about political communication, campaign strategy, and why so much of what the Democratic Party does feels like a missed opportunity.
Together, they explore:
- How Anat’s early fascination with language and justice led her to a career in cognitive linguistics and progressive messaging.
- Why most political message testing (RCTs, MaxDiff, etc.) fails to reflect how real people encounter campaigns — and what to do instead.
- The danger of focusing on persuasion over mobilization, and why “say what you’re for” is the most important rule in campaign comms.
- How Democrats lost their working-class identity, and why organizing — not polling — is the only way to win it back.
- The power of persuasion windows and how the left can seize — or squander — them.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone working in politics, messaging, organizing, or simply trying to make change in a noisy, distracted, and deeply unequal world.
🔗 Resources & Mentions:
- ASO Communications – Open-source messaging guides and research
- Words to Win By podcast
- Don't Buy It: The Trouble with Talking Nonsense About the Economy
- Follow Anat on BlueSky and Substack
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