Up until this point in the GOP battle for the Speaker of the House, compromised Florida congressman Matt Gaetz has been treating the whole affair as if he is a high school kid playing some kind of game, perhaps the...
Democratic Party
Does Krysten Sinema want another term in the U.S. Senate?
Krysten Sinema left the Democratic Party today. She registered as an Independent. Watch: I applaud Sinema’s independence. But from a political perspective, this looks likes suicide. If she runs again in 2024 as an Independent, the non-GOP vote (we can...
Can the Democrats hold the Senate?
Yes. And it looks like they will. Last night the major networks called the Arizona senate race for Mark Kelly. At this moment, the Democrats and the Republicans each hold 49 seats in the U.S. Senate. Two seats have yet...
Episode 47: What Are “Moral Issues?”
And does the Christian Right have a sole claim on them? Episode 47: “What Are ‘Moral Issues?’” dropped today. Subscribers to Current at the Longshore level and above have access to new episodes of this narrative history podcast. Here is a teaser: If you...
Why I almost came to see Josh Hawley as a sympathetic figure
Notice the word “almost” in the title. As most readers of this blog know, I am not a Josh Hawley fan. In fact, the guy usually makes my skin crawl. But the other day I actually found myself, at least...
Are the political parties realigning?
Yes. Here is Josh Kraushaar at Axios: Shifts in the demographics of the two parties’ supporters — taking place before our eyes — are arguably the biggest political story of our time. The big picture: Republicans are becoming more working class...
Pennsylvania senator Bob Casey will vote to codify Roe v. Wade into law
Here is Amy Gang and Seung Min Kim at The Washington Post: Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. said Tuesday that he would support legislation that would codify Roe v. Wade into law, a dramatic shift for one of the few remaining Democrats...
More on Utah Democrats and Evan McMullin
Here is veteran political journalist Walter Shapiro at Roll Call: The most intriguing political development in recent weeks had nothing to do with inflation, Ukraine, the pandemic, border control or redistricting. And it did not take place in Washington or...
Michael Kazin on the history of the Democratic Party
The Georgetown University historian is the author of the recently released What It Took To Win: A History of the Democratic Party. The guys at “Know Your Enemy” podcast talk with Kazin about the book: Listen here....
The Author’s Corner with Sean P. Cunningham
Sean P. Cunningham is Associate Professor of History at Texas Tech University. This interview is based on his new book, Bootstrap Liberalism: Texas Political Culture in the Age of FDR (University Press of Kansas, 2022). JF: What led you to...
Does Ibram X. Kendi run the Democratic Party?
Of course he doesn’t. But I am sure his views have a following among some progressives in the party. Here is Matt Bai at The Washington Post: I’ve always liked and respected President Biden, and in most ways he has governed...
Kinzinger calls for an “uneasy alliance” among Republicans, Democrats, and independents to fight Trump’s influence
He is one of the few honest Republicans in the House of Representatives. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (IL), who is not running for reelection in 2022, is asking Democrats and independents to help him save his party from Trumpism. Here is...
The only Democrat to defeat Barack Obama is retiring from the House of Representatives
He is 75-year-old Chicago congressman Bobby Rush and he wants to spend more time with his grandkids after serving fifteen terms in the House. Rush beat Obama in the 2000 Illinois 1st congressional district Democratic primary by about thirty percentage...
The Democratic race for Pat Toomey’s Senate seat reveals the divisions in the party
The frontrunner is Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman. His top challenger is western Pennsylvania congressman Conor Lamb. Here is Holly Otterbein at Politico: One candidate promises he won’t be a centrist Democratic senator like Joe Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema. Another...
Episode 29: “The Rise of Barack Obama”
The background to the speech that would change his life and the life of a nation. Episode 29: “The Rise of Barack Obama” dropped last night. Subscribers to Current at the Longshore level and above new episodes of this narrative history podcast. Here is...
Historian David Blight champions teachers; criticizes Democratic Party’s “endless debates over the right language”
Here is the Pulitzer Prize-winner and Frederick Douglass biographer: Blight is also concerned about the current state of the Democratic Party:...
The Jacobin editors on the “commonsense solidarity” of the American working class
The socialist magazine Jacobin recently published a study on the political views of the American working-class. The editors offer several takeaways: “Working-class voters prefer progressive candidates who focus primarily on bread-and-butter economic issues, and who frame those issues in universal...
Ron Sider on the problems with the Democrats
At his Substack page, progressive evangelical Ronald Sider reflects on the current state of his political party. A taste: You would think Democrats would recognize the vast cultural and ideological diversity of the country and say that our pluralistic society...
The Author’s Corner with J. Matthew Gallman
J. Matthew Gallman is Professor of History at the University of Florida. This interview is based on his new book, The Cacophony of Politics: Northern Democrats and the American Civil War (University of Virginia Press, 2021). JF: What led you...
“Democrats are misreading the room to an astonishing degree”
Here is a New York Times reader from Georgia responding to this New York Times op-ed: Democrats are misreading the room to an astonishing degree. Let this sink in: my Mexican yard man likes Trump. Although immigration laws should be...