Writer Damon Linker, a former conservative (he was once editor of First Things), is the latest to claim that Biden’s decision to run again is a selfish act. He makes the case today at The Atlantic: The Democratic Party is […]
Joe Biden
February 8, 2024 revealed a democracy about to fall off a cliff and the American people didn’t bother to “get off the couch.”
Here is Will Bunch of The Philadelphia Inquirer: Some night around the year 2064, when the ragtag children of the last historians huddle around a cave fire and mix up some berries and the blood of their groundhog dinner to […]
Is Joe Biden’s decision to run again an act of selfishness?
Biden is running for president again at the age of 81. I voted for him in 2020 believing he would serve one-term, get the country back on track after the disastrous Trump years, and then ride off into the sunset. […]
Biden jokes about his age and memory
Remember this: And today Joe Biden offered this: I love it! It seems like this is the best way for Biden to address the “age” issue in the wake of the recent special counsel’s report on classified documents.
The labor market is booming.
More good economic news today. Here is Lauren Kaori Gurley at The Washington Post: The U.S. economy added 353,000 jobs in January, a shockingly strong pickup, even as higher interest rates continue to ripple through the economy. The gains were […]
David Frum on Trump’s America
Check out Judy Woodruff’s PBS Newshour interview with conservative Trump critic, Atlantic writer, and former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum. Here is a taste: Woodruff: There’s an animosity, a personal nature to the differences that people feel now about […]
Ross Douthat on why conservatives are hostile to Taylor Swift
As I wrote last week, “we now live in a world where a narcissistic sociopath wants to be president again and only a global pop superstar can stop him.” Can Taylor Swift influence the 2024 election? It appears that some […]
Two quick thoughts on Joe Biden campaigning in South Carolina over the weekend
Two quick thoughts this morning: Yes, Biden is old. But he does not lack energy: Churches are sacred spaces. They are places where the Gospel–the Good News–is proclaimed. Keep politics and political candidates out of the pulpit:
“Americans do not just disagree with each other, they live in different realities”
According to writer Peter Baker, the 2024 general election matchup that “seems likely between President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump is about fundamentally disparate visions of America.” This seems like the understatement of the year, but Baker’s New […]
The American economy “boomed” in 2023
Here is Abha Bhattarai at The Washington Post: The U.S. economy grew by a bustling 3.1 percent in 2023, shaking off recession fears and offering an upbeat picture of consumers and businesses ahead of a pivotal election year. Growth slowed […]
We now live in a world where a narcissistic sociopath wants to be president again and only a global pop superstar can stop him!
Donald Trump looks like he will be the GOP nominee for president again and only Taylor Swift can stop him from winning in November. OK–that’s a bit dramatic, but we should not underestimate Swift’s potential political power. A recent piece […]
“Investments, like saplings, do not yield immediate fruit”: Biden deserves more credit
Binyamin Appelbaum makes the case: President Biden has planted a lot of trees during his first three years in office, pushing through Congress bills that direct the investment of billions of dollars into infrastructure, research and subsidies for domestic manufacturing. […]
David Brooks on populism, Trump, and the “zero-sum mind-set”
Interesting observation from his recent New York Times column: Populism thrives on a zero-sum mind-set. The central story that populists tell is: They are out to destroy us. Populist leaders invariably inflame ethnic bigotry to mobilize their own supporters. America’s populist in chief, […]
The U.S. economy is doing very well. Why are some progressive unwilling to accept this fact?
Over at The New York Times, economist Paul Krugman makes a “progressive case for Bidenomics.” Here is a taste: There are two big questions right now about the U.S. economy. One is why it’s doing so well. The other is why […]
Harvard youth poll: 18-to-29-year-olds are not happy with Biden, but they will still vote for him over Trump in 2024
Here are some takeaways from a national poll of 2,098 18-to-29-year -olds released yesterday by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School. Learn more here. Watch:
Brownstein: Democrats are performing better “at the polls than in the polls”
Here is Ron Brownstein at The Atlantic: Democrats yesterday continued to perform better at the polls than in the polls. Even as many Democrats have been driven to a near panic by a succession of recent polls showing President Joe Biden’s extreme vulnerability, the […]
New York Times poll: Trump leads Biden in Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin
Here is Shane Goldmacher at The New York Times: President Biden is trailing Donald J. Trump in five of the six most important battleground states one year before the 2024 election, suffering from enormous doubts about his age and deep […]
Quinnipiac: RFK Jr. gets 22% as an independent in a 3-way presidential race
In the 1992 presidential race Ross Perot, who ran as an independent, got 18.9% of the vote. Perot’s candidacy cost George H.W. Bush a second term as president and got Bill Clinton elected. Today’s national Quinnipiac poll (this polling service […]
If you want a revealing glimpse into the MAGA evangelical movement, check out the responses to Russell Moore’s recent tweet.
Sometimes there are small moments that illuminate much larger social and cultural patterns. Historians are always looking for these moments. I thus hope future historians of evangelicalism will find this post. After Joe Biden’s speech to the nation on Thursday […]
Donald Trump goes to Michigan and speaks at a non-union factory
Donald Trump skipped Wednesday night’s GOP debate. Instead he went to Clinton Township, Michigan and spoke at a non-union auto parts factory. The day before Trump’s visit to Michigan, sitting president Joe Biden joined United Autoworkers leader Shawn Fain at […]