The Great Battlefield Politics and Technology for Progressives with Ben Resnik of Social Currant
Feb 23, 2026
Ben Resnick, Chief Strategy Officer at Social Currant and political tech veteran, shares his journey at the intersection of politics and technology. He discusses creator-driven organizing, practical AI uses for campaigns, building long-term partnerships between creators and progressive groups, and why patient, strategic investments matter for democratic organizing.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Why Swing Left Scaled Quickly
- Resnick credits Swing Left's success to district funds and scalable chapter networks that directed suburban volunteer energy to competitive districts.
- District funds pooled donations pre-nomination to rapidly deploy cash once nominees emerged, catching institutional attention.
Restarting Career To Chase Speechwriting
- Resnick left Swing Left to join West Wing Writers after repeatedly advancing through writing tests and interviews for his dream speechwriting job.
- He described the transition as restarting his career to learn professional speechcraft from veteran writers.
Speechwriting Is Craft Not Instant Art
- At West Wing Writers Resnick learned speechwriting is a craft requiring grinding editing rather than pure inspiration.
- He adopted techniques like Monroe's Motivated Sequence and concluded he likely could reach a solid competency but it wasn't his calling.
