Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.Karen Bass is the latest in a line of last-minute contenders to be Joe Biden’s running mate, but longtime front-runner may not have too much to worry about. I chatted vice-presidential intrigue with political columnists Jonathan Chait and Ed Kilgore.Ben: We’ve covered and in previous chats (you both possess warm feelings toward both). What do you make of Karen Bass, who, by many accounts, has — but who now faces scrutiny over her apparent enthusiasm for Scientology and ?Ed: Like a lot of the bouts of buzz we’ve seen recently, I...…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.Karen Bass is the latest in a line of last-minute contenders to be Joe Biden’s running mate, but longtime front-runner may not have too much to worry about. I chatted vice-presidential intrigue with political columnists Jonathan Chait and Ed Kilgore.Ben: We’ve covered and in previous chats (you both possess warm feelings toward both). What do you make of Karen Bass, who, by many accounts, has — but who now faces scrutiny over her apparent enthusiasm for Scientology and ?Ed: Like a lot of the bouts of buzz we’ve seen recently, I...WW…

Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.There are many explanations on offer for the bitter, “uncivil war” tone of contemporary politics and government, and at least some share of blame to go around. But I’m not going to indulge in false equivalence here: The radicalization of the Republican Party and its dominant conservative ideological faction has been — and for the foreseeable future will continue to be — the prime engine of polarization and gridlock. I’ve felt that way since the George W. Bush administration, and it’s a big reason why a like me has abandoned all...…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.There are many explanations on offer for the bitter, “uncivil war” tone of contemporary politics and government, and at least some share of blame to go around. But I’m not going to indulge in false equivalence here: The radicalization of the Republican Party and its dominant conservative ideological faction has been — and for the foreseeable future will continue to be — the prime engine of polarization and gridlock. I’ve felt that way since the George W. Bush administration, and it’s a big reason why a like me has abandoned all...WW…

Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.One of Republicans’ most virulently held positions in the debate over the restrictive voting laws their party is pushing at the state level is that it’s a “” or at least a “” to compare those efforts to the disenfranchisement of Black voters under the Jim Crow scheme of racial apartheid in the South. Trying to argue this point is certainly an easier lift for Republicans than justifying the new voter restrictions in the first place or admitting they are of a stolen 2020 election.But voting-rights advocates should be clear about...…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.One of Republicans’ most virulently held positions in the debate over the restrictive voting laws their party is pushing at the state level is that it’s a “” or at least a “” to compare those efforts to the disenfranchisement of Black voters under the Jim Crow scheme of racial apartheid in the South. Trying to argue this point is certainly an easier lift for Republicans than justifying the new voter restrictions in the first place or admitting they are of a stolen 2020 election.But voting-rights advocates should be clear about...WW…

Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.Before California became a cultural symbol of everything conservatives hate, it was once a symbol of Republican political strength. It went Republican in eight of the nine presidential elections from 1952 through 1988; in five of those contests the GOP nominee was from the Golden State. From 1943 through 2011, Republican governors (including the most famous one, Ronald Reagan) were in office for 47 of 68 years. was considered the premier national stomping grounds of the conservative movement, and Southern California was...…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.Before California became a cultural symbol of everything conservatives hate, it was once a symbol of Republican political strength. It went Republican in eight of the nine presidential elections from 1952 through 1988; in five of those contests the GOP nominee was from the Golden State. From 1943 through 2011, Republican governors (including the most famous one, Ronald Reagan) were in office for 47 of 68 years. was considered the premier national stomping grounds of the conservative movement, and Southern California was...WW…

Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.Last month, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight did an of polling errors in the 2020 election cycle, and I along with related data at some length. Now comes an interesting from a group of five major Democratic pollsters that confirms much of what Nate had to say, while offering one new theory I find fascinating: that like voting by mail, poll response in 2020 may have been significantly skewed by Donald Trump’s disinformation.To be clear, the pollsters issuing this report are campaign pollsters, not the media-sponsored outfits whose...…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.Last month, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight did an of polling errors in the 2020 election cycle, and I along with related data at some length. Now comes an interesting from a group of five major Democratic pollsters that confirms much of what Nate had to say, while offering one new theory I find fascinating: that like voting by mail, poll response in 2020 may have been significantly skewed by Donald Trump’s disinformation.To be clear, the pollsters issuing this report are campaign pollsters, not the media-sponsored outfits whose...WW…

Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.As the 2020 presidential cycle noisily ground to a messy conclusion, there was a lot of that Ivanka Trump might challenge Marco Rubio’s reelection in Florida in 2022. It didn’t happen. And now Rubio can rest assured that he has the family imprimatur, as The Hill :“It is my honor to give U.S. Senator Marco Rubio my Complete and Total Endorsement,” Trump said in a statement. “Marco has been a tireless advocate for the people of Florida, fighting to cut taxes, supporting our Second Amendment, our Military and our Vets, a strong...…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.As the 2020 presidential cycle noisily ground to a messy conclusion, there was a lot of that Ivanka Trump might challenge Marco Rubio’s reelection in Florida in 2022. It didn’t happen. And now Rubio can rest assured that he has the family imprimatur, as The Hill :“It is my honor to give U.S. Senator Marco Rubio my Complete and Total Endorsement,” Trump said in a statement. “Marco has been a tireless advocate for the people of Florida, fighting to cut taxes, supporting our Second Amendment, our Military and our Vets, a strong...WW…

Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.From comes news that its regular polling on party affiliation shows the largest quarterly gap in major party affiliation since 2012, with 49 percent of U.S. adults identifying themselves as either Democrats (30 percent) or as Democratic-leaning independents (19 percent), while 40 percent call themselves Republicans (25 percent) or Republican-leaning independents (15 percent).That in itself is not good news for the GOP, though it has managed to stay relatively competitive despite persistently trailing Democrats in party...…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.From comes news that its regular polling on party affiliation shows the largest quarterly gap in major party affiliation since 2012, with 49 percent of U.S. adults identifying themselves as either Democrats (30 percent) or as Democratic-leaning independents (19 percent), while 40 percent call themselves Republicans (25 percent) or Republican-leaning independents (15 percent).That in itself is not good news for the GOP, though it has managed to stay relatively competitive despite persistently trailing Democrats in party...WW…

Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.The national debate over voting rights is now getting more than a little off-kilter, with Republicans infuriated by criticism of Georgia’s new election law about “woke corporations” and whining about the persecution of those in their own ranks who just want to “address concerns” about the 2020 elections (which is code for Trumpian conspiracy theories). No voting system is perfect, and there are legitimate reasons to question some Democratic prescriptions (as reflected in the congressional ). But Republicans need to come clean...…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.The national debate over voting rights is now getting more than a little off-kilter, with Republicans infuriated by criticism of Georgia’s new election law about “woke corporations” and whining about the persecution of those in their own ranks who just want to “address concerns” about the 2020 elections (which is code for Trumpian conspiracy theories). No voting system is perfect, and there are legitimate reasons to question some Democratic prescriptions (as reflected in the congressional ). But Republicans need to come clean...WW…

Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.Democrats in the Georgia legislature had no power to stop the Republicans who control the General Assembly and the governor’s office from enacting a adopted to reverse the GOP’s 2020 election losses in the state. Yes, negative publicity about the changes and the underlying determination to reduce voting by troublesome pro-Democratic minority folks led Republicans to some of the most pernicious provisions of earlier bills, like abolishing Sunday early, in-person voting and abolition of no-excuse voting by mail. But now that the...…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commission.Democrats in the Georgia legislature had no power to stop the Republicans who control the General Assembly and the governor’s office from enacting a adopted to reverse the GOP’s 2020 election losses in the state. Yes, negative publicity about the changes and the underlying determination to reduce voting by troublesome pro-Democratic minority folks led Republicans to some of the most pernicious provisions of earlier bills, like abolishing Sunday early, in-person voting and abolition of no-excuse voting by mail. But now that the...WW…

Trump during his post-Tulsa walk of shame after returning to the White House on Saturday night. Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP/Shutterstock In a year of unforgettable images — from hospital workers battling a pandemic, to the murder victim George Floyd, to toppled Confederate memorials, and many more — a sea of empty blue seats at the Bank of Oklahoma Center in Tulsa on June 20 may seem less than iconic. But it could tell us a lot about the current trajectory of this year’s high-stakes presidential election. An estimated 6,200...…Trump during his post-Tulsa walk of shame after returning to the White House on Saturday night. Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP/Shutterstock In a year of unforgettable images — from hospital workers battling a pandemic, to the murder victim George Floyd, to toppled Confederate memorials, and many more — a sea of empty blue seats at the Bank of Oklahoma Center in Tulsa on June 20 may seem less than iconic. But it could tell us a lot about the current trajectory of this year’s high-stakes presidential election. An estimated 6,200...WW…