When you think about it, pulling out all the stops and “fighting dirty” in the context of electoral democracy is all the more necessary *because* it is one of the last bulwarks against *literal* civil war. There’s no comparison.
My redistricting take is that we have an incredibly narrow path back towards something like a constitutional republic, and it runs through Dems fighting pretty dirty in the short term.
I think war is a pretty good metaphor. All options are bad, we can't win and keep our hands completely clean.
& bc I can’t resist:
If Mamdani is the role model for his faction, Hasan Piker is the anti-role model. Cynical doomerism & snide pettiness are insufferable.
If Spanberger is the role model for her faction, Schumer is the anti-role model. Lethargy, lenience, & wishy-washiness don’t convince anyone.
Leftists be friendly, libs be fighters. This is the way the coalition heals and unites.
So it turns out:
1. The Spanberger wing of the coalition is actually quite tolerant and supportive of the Mamdani wing when it shows up with a sunny, optimistic attitude
2. The Mamdani wing welcomes the Spanberger wing to the fight when it shows steely determination to crush Trump’s GOP into dust
the president is a whiny pathetic loser
his humiliation is going to be long, drawn out, and painful
we’re still in hell as long as he’s in office
but so is he
Saw a friend tonight who is pretty moderate/centrist. Mentioned the VA redistricting vote not sure how he’d feel about it, but he immediately went “yeah we are way past that now. that’s the least we can do.” There is zero appetite for conciliatory bipartisanship among normie dem voters right now.
If I had the ear of any of those 3 candidates right now, I would urge whoever it was to drop out right now as an act of solidarity. Even if it was Porter, my personal preference of the 3
My angle would be that the party will remember you as a hero for sacrificing your ambition for the greater good
In the CA governor’s race, there are a clear top 3 dems now: Steyer, Porter, Becerra.
Every Dem who is not in that top 3 should immediately drop out, and voters should ignore them even if they selfishly stay in.
Ideally one of those 3 should also drop. But hard to say which one is 3rd right now.
We have arrived at the inevitable conclusion: the only possible solution to the problem of gerrymandering is a national solution.
Barring that national solution, it makes no sense to expect individual states to unilaterally disarm.
sucks that it’s come to this, but if congressional Republicans wanted to put up a national gerrymandering ban or multi member districts etc, it would pass *for sure*. until then fight fire with fire
Remember, Democrats have repeatedly advanced measures to ban partisan gerrymandering and Republicans have voted against them time after time.
This is the game Republicans wanted to play. OK, then.
Starting a mid-decade redistricting war only to end up with -1 seats is the same fine strategic genius and subtle grasp of game theory that brough us the Strait of Hormuz.
Congratulations, Virginia! Republicans are trying to tilt the midterm elections in their favor, but they haven’t done it yet. Thanks for showing us what it looks like to stand up for our democracy and fight back.
NYT polling average shows 38% approve of Trump, 58% disapprove
With several atrocious new polls for president today, the NYT polling *average* for Trump approval now reads
38% approve
58% disapprove
That is an all time high disapproval and an all time low approval in this average
Lots of folks really bought into his bluster at the beginning of the term and gave into doomerism.
Incalculable damage has been done to the USA and to the world, will take at least a generation to repair.
But he’s a coward. He always has been. Fascists always are.
We keep fighting.
It’s interesting how we have gone from common wisdom being “elections are over, Trump will torch the constitution and be dictator for life” to “Dems basically a lock to take back the house in 2026, possibly also the senate, 2028 presidential primaries already taking shape in both parties sans Trump”
Is it crazy that one of the main reasons I want AOC to be the nominee is because I don't want to see the Republicans run a younger candidate than us
yeah this is freefall
So quick recap:
1. Trump declares unconstitutional tariffs
2. Trump collects tariff money from US companies
3. Even this extremely trumpy Supreme Court admits tariffs are unconstitutional
4. Companies are now entitled to tariff refunds
5. Trump asks importers to forgo refund as a bribe
Exactly 2 to 1
After seeing the aftermath of Abdul El-Sayed asking Olivia Reingold what she meant by a Jewish state, I became convinced it's a question that should be asked more often. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
So grateful for all the support at the MDP convention. And a reminder to all of us: our movement is led by what we hope for, not what we oppose.
The main Democratic strategy for the next 6 months needs to be to let Trump be the main character. Resist allowing Gavin Newsom or Graham Platner or Hasan Piker or whomever from being placed in that role. The election needs to be a referendum on the least popular president of the century
Trump built his movement as a cult of personality. Some Dems are tempted to imitate that with some Hero Candidate of our own.
We need to do the opposite. Focus on the people, not the candidate. Any nominee is only a servant, a representative, a steward, of a mighty diverse coalition.
“Not me, us”
Is the attitude I hope we can all get to about this entire primary.
I know people are cynical and depressed right now, but our coalition has the chance to come together, debate our differences, and unify behind a winner who will steward the coalition.
Anyone could be that steward.
Pete could absolutely do it! AOC is my candidate for now, but it’s a wide open race. It will be interesting to see how the debates & conversations of the primary play out.
Kevin Warsh just lost me. He argues he's going to be an independent Fed Chair, but refuses to acknowledge that Trump lost the 2020 election. If you can't state simple facts when you're in the political spotlight, you aren't independent. You're a coward.
Of the others listed here, I am extremely skeptical of Shapiro’s chances (and also unlikely to vote for him in a primary). He seems fine on everything but Israel-Palestine, where his views are so out of step with the party I can’t see him being the choice.
I like Ossoff a lot, think he has a shot.
