’Identity Politics’ Isn’t Why Harris Lost
Plus: Today’s Echoes of the First ‘America First’
Recently in The Bulwark:
BILL KRISTOL & ANDREW EGGER: The Trump Sh*t Show Arrives in D.C.
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MATT JOHNSON: ’Identity Politics’ Isn’t Why Harris Lost
THERE’S BITTER DISAGREEMENT within the Democratic party and on the broader American left over Donald Trump’s shockingly decisive defeat of Kamala Harris. There are many explanations for Trump’s victory, and they tend to mirror the political prejudices of those who propose them: Harris didn’t appeal to the working class. She wasn’t progressive enough. She was too progressive. She didn’t distance herself from President Biden’s economy (which is quite good, despite the pervasive belief that it’s awful). She didn’t go on Joe Rogan’s podcast.
MICHAEL MAZZA: The China Threat Extends Far Beyond Asia
PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP’S core national security team is shaping up: He announced Rep. Mike Waltz as his national security advisor and news leaked that he intended to nominate Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state. Besides experience in Congress, there’s another theme common to the two men—they’re all noted China hawks. Chilliness towards China was rightly one of the few continuities between the last Trump administration and the Biden administration, but it would be a mistake for the new team to assume that the China problem is only a China problem.
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CASEY MICHEL: Today’s Echoes of the First ‘America First’
THERE WAS A TIME, NOT LONG AGO, when a revanchist European dictator unleashed a devastating, genocidal war in the heart of Europe. Acting with a kind of messianic imperialism that the continent, and much of the world, thought they’d left behind, this despot built out alliances with similar fascistic regimes elsewhere—including, most especially, a brutal Asian regime bent on overturning the broader order in the western Pacific, and perhaps far beyond.
A.B. STODDARD: The Tragedy of Joe Biden, Once More
HAD JOE BIDEN MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE, he may very well have found himself right now in a flurry of celebrations of his career.
On Capitol Hill, at the White House, and in private gatherings around the country, he would have been fêted by Democrats—and some Republicans—eager to highlight his record of accomplishments and heap gratitude upon him. He would have been hailed for saving American democracy from Donald Trump and then sacrificing his own ambitions to do it again.
JOHN AVLON: What I Saw on the Campaign Trail
I HAD A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON the 2024 election than I did on the past few I’ve covered as a journalist—because this time, I was the candidate for Congress.
Running for a seat in New York’s first district, I found that what I learned by listening to voters did not track with the subjects that preoccupy most horse-race political coverage. Instead, people out on Eastern Long Island were focused on issues like the price of food and affordability (from inflation to housing and insurance costs).
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Wednesday! The proposed cabinet is getting fuller. Each trip to the inbox is like opening a choose your own certifiable adventure with each new proposed cabinet pick or high level appointee.
Among the crazy for today: Matt Gaetz for Attorney General and Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence. Senators are actually surprised (before new majority leader John Thune ushers them along, unless they get entirely recess-appointed). But remember: This is what those guys wanted. Enjoy?
🎵On the Jukebox…🎵"Mad World" - Michael Andrews (feat. Gary Jules)
The FBI raided the home of Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan… seizing phone, electronics (Reuters)
Elise Stefanik, Trump’s pick for UN ambassador…. declines to stand by previous support for Ukraine joining NATO (CNN)
The End of American Exceptionalism… Trump’s Reelection Will Redefine U.S. Power (Daniel Drezner, Foreign Affairs)
Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary
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