Outrage Overload

A Connors Institute podcast

Outrage 92 – Breaking the Duopoly Loop – Nathan Smolensky

Aired July 15, 2026

We often talk about how hyper-partisan outrage is fueled by a structural system designed to keep us divided. Between safe, gerrymandered districts and a political duopoly that has optimized the game for a zero-sum, two-player matchup, it is incredibly easy to fall into a mindset of defeatism. It feels like we are trapped in a permanent political doom loop until some massive, far-off structural reform happens.

But what if the duopoly’s aggressive over-optimization is actually its biggest vulnerability right now?

In this episode, David sits down with Nathan Smolensky, a campaign consultant at Unifire Consulting and author of Common Ground from the Ground Up, to look at the practical, immediate pathways to breaking this cycle. Instead of offering idealistic, “how-to-be-nice” bridge-building stories, Nathan breaks down the raw mechanics of election data. He explains exactly how independent candidates can flip the “spoiler effect” on its head, and he shows how scalable new campaign technologies are dismantling the fundraising barrier to entry.

Nathan Smolensky is a campaign consultant, speaker, and author of Common Ground from the Ground Up. As the founder of Unifire Consulting, he provides data-driven strategies to help independent candidates and coalition builders achieve electoral success.