"Bigger names, such as Kamala Harris and Senator Alex Padilla, opted not to run. Newsom is term-limited. Jerry Brown is 88. George Clooney lives in France."

California’s Blue Armageddon One of the most liberal states in the country can’t find a Democrat to lead it.

For all Californians, this is a good one to read b4 June's primary. Who's leading "Team Donkey," as @markleibovich.bsky.social calls it. His description of candidates & "Wizard of Oz wrap party" left me wondering about the 💙 party, but not enough to vote 🟥.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

California’s Blue Armageddon One of the most liberal states in the country can’t find a Democrat to lead it.

"A bottleneck of B-listers": How California Democrats may lose the governorship of America's biggest blue state. "The glaring lack of candidate talent, political skill and personal appeal...has been the defining quality of the race" says @markleibovich.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Thank you Val!

California’s Blue Armageddon One of the most liberal states in the country can’t find a Democrat to lead it.

"I met Swalwell at a Little League field, where he and his wife would be watching their 8-year-old son.
Swalwell had been rising above a Lilliputian cast of candidates and had acquired a scent of momentum.
“Impeccable timing for you,” he’d texted me."
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

California’s Blue Armageddon One of the most liberal states in the country can’t find a Democrat to lead it.

My journey into the bottleneck of b-listers

www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

A 79-Year-Old Freshman Senator? Janet Mills does not have a dicey Reddit history or a recently covered-over Nazi tattoo. But her candidacy is haunted by Joe Biden’s 2024 debacle.

"Mills is haunted by Joe Biden’s 2024 debacle. She is at least confident that nothing disastrous will surface about her.
“I don’t have a tattoo,” she promised.
I took the governor at her word on this. But has she ever been on Reddit?

“No,” she said.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

A 79-Year-Old Freshman Senator? Janet Mills does not have a dicey Reddit history or a recently covered-over Nazi tattoo. But her candidacy is haunted by Joe Biden’s 2024 debacle.

“I’LL SHARE MY lipid profile with anybody!” Janet Mills, the governor of Maine, pledged. These are the kinds of assurances that candidates make when everyone keeps harping on their age.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

The Ruthless Benevolence of a Great Editor Ann Godoff, who died this week, cared passionately about her writers—and much less about her own ego.

I have a similar impairment re: the prose of @FranklinFoer (on the storied Ann Godoff).
"Writers suffer from a cognitive impairment that limits their ability to see flaws in their prose."
www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...

Sherrod Brown Is Grinding It Out The aggressively rumpled former senator from Ohio is back. Will working-class voters follow?

“Few, if any, candidates running this year have as consistent a record of appealing to what’s become a kind of holy-grail constituency for Democrats: the coveted “working-class voter.”

www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

It isn't even just GOP owned media. Like this is the Atlantic and a bunch of centrist think tanks teaming up to create the exact thing you are talking about

bsky.app/profile/mark...

One of several incredible quotes in this @markleibovich.bsky.social story on the state of the Democratic party. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

The Democrats Aren’t Built for This They say they want to save democracy. First they’ll need to get out of their own way.

The challenge for Democrats resisting Trump? They keep playing into their worst stereotype as overly sensitive, out of touch and overindulged, writes @markleibovich.bsky.social. They "are not built for when the fascists come," @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social says. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

The Democrats Aren’t Built for This They say they want to save democracy. First they’ll need to get out of their own way.

The president had recently called for JB Pritzker to be jailed—a status symbol among high-profile Democratic governors who might run for president. (Pritzker and Gavin Newsom could wind up sharing both a jail cell and a debate stage.)
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

The Democrats Aren’t Built for This They say they want to save democracy. First they’ll need to get out of their own way.

A few minutes later, the DNC chair was back talking tough about the importance of not caring whom he antagonizes.
“I don’t give a fuck who I offend,” Martin said.
Except Biden, I noted.
“Listen, that has nothing to do with offending him or not."
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

Trump’s New Method of Humiliation The president doesn’t seem to fire people anymore, but he marginalizes them in other ways.

“For much of this week, Kristi Noem’s deportation from the Trump administration seemed imminent.”
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Democrats’ Epstein Derangement Syndrome Not everything Donald Trump does is a “distraction” from Jeffrey Epstein.

“Democrats have accused the president of creating endless diversions to distract from Epstein – accusing Obama of treason, threatening to revoke Rosie O’Donnell’s citizenship, etc. Name the escapade, some adversary has tried to dub it an Epstein diversion"
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Democrats’ Epstein Derangement Syndrome Not everything Donald Trump does is a “distraction” from Jeffrey Epstein.

"It has become the Democrats’ go-to exhortation: Trump is just doing this to distract you from Epstein. In other words, America’s descent into authoritarianism is a mere deflection."
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Like every word she writes, @SallyJenki is undefeated. And so’s this. Swirling gratitude for and from the Goddess x.com/BenMullin/st...

Even the Obit Writers Are Jumping Ship at The Washington Post RIP for DC’s chroniclers of the dead.

Long live this piece -- and this kicker – and M
“Readers of the Post, though, may not notice immediately: I’m told that there are still roughly 900 pre-written obits in the can, waiting for God to decide on when to lift the embargo.”
www.politico.com/news/magazin...

Another Moderate Republican Opts Out For the likes of Don Bacon, quitting Congress has become a familiar endgame.

“Bacon’s wife, Angie, enjoys having her husband in Nebraska for a number of reasons. One is that if he’s home, she’s less likely to sleep with a gun.”
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Another Moderate Republican Opts Out For the likes of Don Bacon, quitting Congress has become a familiar endgame.

“Right now, what I think America wants is a little bit of normalcy.”
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

The Anniversary That Democrats Would Be Wise to Forget The surest way for the party to end its prolonged slump is to jump straight to 2028.

“Yesterday marked one year since Joe Biden’s debate meltdown against Donald Trump. Happy anniversary to those who observe such things, or are triggered by such things. Please celebrate responsibly.”
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

The Week That Changed Everything for Gavin Newsom “Sunday, I woke up a different guy.”

www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Where Is Barack Obama? The “audacity of hope” presidency has given way to the fierce lethargy of semi-retirement.

“Obama’s detachment feels jarringly incongruous with the desperation of his longtime admirers—even more so given Trump’s assaults on what Obama achieved in office.”
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Where Is Barack Obama? The “audacity of hope” presidency has given way to the fierce lethargy of semi-retirement.

Where Is Barack Obama? The “audacity of hope” presidency has given way to the fierce lethargy of semi-retirement, @markleibovich.bsky.social writes.

Biden’s Age Wasn’t a Cover-Up. It Was Observable Fact. The story about the former president getting old is getting old.

God bless you @markleibovich.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

The Story About Biden Getting Old Is Getting Old It’s not a shocking revelation if it’s an observable fact, one that the American people recognized a long time ago.

“Here is why I think that the ‘cover-up’ of Biden’s ‘true condition’ is beside the point—and why I’m not really vibing with the umbrage-mongering: It’s pretty much impossible to ‘cover up’ for something that is hiding in plain sight,” @markleibovich.bsky.social writes

“You know what else is old? The story about Biden being old.”
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Tim Walz Looks Into the Void Back on the trail with the guy who lost the last election

Tim Walz has been busy traveling from state to state for labor roundtables, townhall meetings, and impromptu roadside stops, reports @markleibovich.bsky.social. At the very least, Walz “feels itchy to help jump-start the second Donald Trump resistance”: