As election day draws near, progressives are looking anxiously to the polls, trying to gauge whether Congress will really take a huge rightward swing after November 2. 

This morning on Democracy Now!, Nation contributing writer Ari Berman explained the dynamics at work behind the Democratic Party’s loss of momentum since the 2008 election. Berman makes the case that the Democrats aren’t doing enough to address the needs of their core voters—minorities, young people and women—at a time when conservatives are profiting from a newly energized base.

Alongside FiveThirtyEight.com’s Nate Silver, Berman spoke with Amy Goodman about what to expect in the next few weeks, the changing tone of the national political conversation, and how the rent is just too damn high.

Ari Berman is an Investigative Journalism Fellow at The Nation Institute. He is the author of the book Herding Donkeys: The Fight to Rebuild the Democratic Party and Reshape American Politics.

—Braden Goyette