Campaigns spend millions to influence voters. This works better | Katie Paris

Sep 16, 2026 · Summarized Sep 18, 2026

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Key takeaways

Authentic, local conversations between friends can significantly increase voter turnout—by 5 to 7 percentage points—more effectively than millions spent on campaign ads.
Building trust and genuine relationships in communities is more powerful for political change than top-down messaging and superficial tactics.
Community organizing and grassroots efforts, based on existing networks, foster ongoing civic engagement beyond elections.
Anyone can make a difference—starting small and connecting with the people around you can create ripple effects of impact.
Revitalizing politics involves making it feel less exhausting and more about caring connections among neighbors and friends.

Summary

The Exhaustion of Politics and the Power of Community

The podcast begins by acknowledging the collective fatigue many feel towards politics, with only 2% of Americans describing politics positively. Katie Paris shares her journey from Washington, DC, to understanding a different approach—community-based organizing. She emphasizes that genuine, local conversations are more impactful than costly campaign ads, with research showing that friends talking to friends can increase voter turnout significantly. This section underscores the importance of reconnecting with community as a means of revitalizing political engagement.

Unlearning Conventional Political Strategies

Katie Paris reflects on her background working in DC political think tanks, emphasizing her initial belief in message testing and top-down messaging. However, after observing the 2018 suburban women’s organizing surge, she realized that authentic networks and trust among real people are essential. This part discusses her shift from traditional campaign tactics to grassroots, friendship-driven efforts that prioritize genuine relationships over superficial messaging.

The Red Wine and Blue Model: Organizing Through Friendships

Paris describes how her organization, Red Wine and Blue, encourages women to leverage their existing personal networks—friends, neighbors, and co-workers—to promote civic engagement and voting. The approach involves social gatherings like happy hours and trivia nights to build trust and community, which makes political conversations less awkward and more natural. Their data shows that when women reach out to known contacts, voter turnout increases by 5 to 7 percentage points—far more than expensive campaign ads—and these relationships foster ongoing community activism beyond elections.

The Impact and Future of Community-Based Politics

The episode concludes with a message of hope, emphasizing that real political power resides in neighborhoods and living rooms, not Washington. Small, local efforts—founded on friendship and trust—can create meaningful change on issues like education, immigration, and local governance. Paris encourages listeners to find their people, start conversations, and participate in community organizing, because collective action rooted in relationships is more effective and fulfilling than traditional political campaigning.

Show notes

Katie Paris quit her career in Washington, DC, to figure out how to make politics feel less like strangers shouting at each other and more like friends looking out for each other. In this practical talk, she reveals why conversations between real people can have a bigger impact on elections than anything millions of campaign dollars can buy.

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