The Democrats' biggest risk in taking a 10-1 gerrymander to VA voters is that they will wake up a GOP that they trounced in Nov. Republicans, seeing strong turnout in red areas, argue that Dems have overreached. But it may not be enough to win. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
"Nobody wants to do this." My new piece on the Virginia redistricting campaign, where Democrats desperately want voters' permission to gerrymander the state beyond recognition—and for them to know how sorry they are to have to ask. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
A Serious Senate Debate About an Unserious Bill, with @russellberman.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
“I’m far angrier”: Cory Booker says he’s more fed up now than he was during his 2020 presidential run, @russellberman.bsky.social reports. Can he sell himself as a lover and a fighter?
“Why do people preemptively, continually, mistake kindness for weakness?” Booker asked me during one of our interviews. To South Carolina voters, he said: “You could love your neighbor and punch somebody in the face.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Booker is trying to rediscover the feisty, headline-grabbing politician who dazzled national Democrats during his rise in Newark. His 25-hour speech last year gave him the viral moment that eluded him in 2020. But can he capture America's attention again? www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
I've spent the past few months trailing Cory Booker as he contemplates another run for the presidency. The Democrat who preached about love in 2020 wants people to know he's a fighter, too. Now, Booker told me, "I'm far angrier." www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Representative Kevin Kiley is changing parties to become an independent, avoiding a potentially nasty GOP primary this fall, @elainegodfrey.bsky.social and @russellberman.bsky.social report: “The switch represents the latest example of the Republican Party eating its own.”
Representative Andy Ogles, who has said that “Muslims don’t belong in American society,” represents thousands of Muslims in Tennessee, @russellberman.bsky.social writes.
The ever-sunny but perpetually beleaguered Mike Johnson might hold the speaker’s gavel for another year, but the extent of his sway has never seemed more in doubt, write @elainegodfrey.bsky.social and @russellberman.bsky.social.
Indiana GOP redistricting opponents head into today's vote cautiously optimistic. "I don't want to say anything that's going to jeopardize the vote," one told me. Another said the heavy-handed WH pressure had caused senators "to dig in their heels." www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Earlier this week, an Indiana senator opposed to redistricting received a call she thought was from an aide. "No, this is Mike Johnson from Washington," the caller corrected. "And who are you with?" the incredulous senator asked the House speaker. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
"I refuse to be intimidated." Today, Indiana Republicans might do something that few others in the GOP have dared to do this year: Defy Trump. My piece from Indianapolis: www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
An Indiana legislator opposed President Trump’s push for the state to redraw its congressional map to gain GOP seats in next year’s midterms. Harassment followed. “I’d rather my house not get firebombed,” the lawmaker told @russellberman.bsky.social.
Last week, the GOP lawmaker received a pizza delivery he didn't order. Other legislators have been swatted or subject to bomb threats. “The whole idea is, 'We know who you are. We know where you live,'” he told me. “They’re trying to intimidate us.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
On Monday, I spoke with a GOP Indiana legislator who opposes Trump's redistricting push. He asked that I not publish his name. His fear isn't political—he's not running for reelection. It's safety. My piece on the intimidation campaign in Indiana:
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
“Every Democrat, including the squishes, needs to understand that this president is unpopular, becoming more unpopular by the day, and is pushing wildly unpopular proposals. This is not some 800-pound gorilla,” @jamespmanley.bsky.social tells @russellberman.bsky.social.
🎙️ ON AIR:
We're speaking with @sarahdwire.bsky.social, @russellberman.bsky.social, KQED's Adhiti Bandlamudi and Politico's Nicholas Wu about what's at stake if the government shuts down and how it could impact California.
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New Jersey is no one's idea of a swing state. But it's been moving rightward the past few years, and its governor's race in November has become a must-win for Democrats. My look at the clash between Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
“New Jersey is no one’s idea of a swing state,” @russellberman.bsky.social writes. This year, however, operatives in both parties believe New Jersey is an accurate barometer of how voters are reacting to the first year of Trump’s return tour in the White House:
Charlie Kirk’s allies are calling his murder a “turning point,” @elainegodfrey.bsky.social and @russellberman.bsky.social write. Defining the phrase may determine “whether the next few weeks bring confrontation, de-escalation, or something in between”:
Democrats are relying on a familiar strategy for key 2026 Senate races: old candidates. @russellberman.bsky.social on why the party thinks it’s the best option:
When it comes to matching Republican gerrymandering, Democrats’ hands are largely tied—and the party itself provided the rope, Russell Berman argues.
While Missouri health advocates hoped Hawley might hold the line, former Sen. John Danforth—a mentor-turned-critic—told me his vote was never in doubt: “It would just be impossible to be a Republican in good standing in this era & vote against it." www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Hawley's Medicaid contortions were the starkest illustration of how a GOP, under pressure from Trump, ended up slashing a core safety-net program more deeply than most expected—and more than many of them wanted, Trump possibly included www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
“I did believe that he was genuine." I spoke with health-care advocates in Missouri about Sen. Josh Hawley's Medicaid journey—warning the GOP against cuts, voting for the bill that contained them, then immediately trying to reverse them www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, and Thomas Massie are some of the last remaining elected Republicans willing to criticize and vote against Trump. Their stands have left the president's diehard supporters in Kentucky feeling oddly unrepresented in DC: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Kentucky voted for Trump last year by more than 30 points, but it has become an unlikely hotbed of Republican resistance in his second term. I went there to find out what GOP voters think of their rebelling representatives: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
To guard against reprisal from the Trump administration, most honorees at this year's Sammies did not take the stage or deliver an acceptance speech. It was a startling sign of how much fear pervades the federal workforce right now: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...