Lauren Williams: What made you decide to write Party Crashing?

Keli Goff: The book Party Crashing actually came from conversations with my friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. Actually, the was one conversation in particular that sparked the initial light bulb that led to the book. I ran into an acquaintance that I hadn't seen in close to two years, here in New York. We were catching up, and I asked her about an upcoming event. I asked her, "Are you going to that event? You know, that Democratic fundraiser for that candidate." And she said, "I'm not sure I'm going to attend. I'm not sure I'm supporting him." And I thought, oh my gosh. That was such a faux pas. That was so presumptuous of me! I just assumed she was supporting that Democratic candidate, and she's probably supporting the other one. And what I didn't presume was what she said next, which was, "Actually, I'm not sure I'm supporting a Democrat. I'm a registered independent."

And the reason that was interesting is because not only is she, like myself, a young African American woman, and in my head African Americans are Democrats — because that's what most of us are — but also what made it interesting was that we met when we were both volunteering in Democratic politics at the start of our careers. At that time, she was a Democrat. I wasn't sure what had transpired that precipitated this significant change. I specifically went back to interview her when I started writing Party Crashing, and she said to me, "I know that water hoses happened, I know that attack dogs happened, but that is not my experience in this country. And you have to adjust your message to reflect the experiences of the audience you're trying to reach. I don't think the Democratic Party has done that."

There were other people I ended up speaking with. The story of my first conversation with her was repeated over several months. I ran into young black people who were no longer Democrats. I had a conversation with a relative in my home state of Texas who was a registered independent. I said to myself, I'm not sure what officially constitutes a trend, but that's a handful of people. And I hadn't really heard about this or read about this, and that's where the inspiration for the book came from.