I want to thank everyone for the great, touching, funny recollections about TPM’s first 18 years. TPM started 18 years ago with this post about the Florida recount. I was just on an editorial call and one of my colleagues pointed out that the post begins as though it is part of a continuing conversation, one in an on-going series of installments. “As if things couldn’t get any weirder, did you notice the name of the lawyer who made the Republicans’ unsuccessful arguments before that federal judge today?” Here we are in another Florida recount, almost as vexed. The lawyer was Ted Olson, who now just signed on to sue the White House on behalf of CNN and Jim Acosta. Things repeat but transform utterly. And to the question? No, that wasn’t the case at all. This was the beginning and there was no storyline or running conversation that preceded it. Read More
A red wave of crazy news out of the White House today which may have John Kelly, Kirstjen Nielsen and others booted off the island. But just as interesting is this news in the just updated version of the story from The Wall Street Journal. Trump has decided to can, according to the Journal, John Bolton’s NSC deputy Mira Ricardel because of conflicts with the First Lady …
From the Journal … Read More
Congrats to @kyrstensinema. I wish her success. I’m grateful to all those who supported me in this journey. I’m inspired by Arizonans’ spirit and our state’s best days are ahead of us. pic.twitter.com/tw0uKgi3oO
— McSally For Senate (@MarthaMcSally) November 13, 2018
A few points are worth noting. Read More
Kyrsten Sinema now has a more than 35,000 vote lead over Martha McSally in the Arizona senate race. It seems hard to see how she doesn’t win the election. But don’t miss a key down-ballot race. Katie Hobbs (D) has now opened up a 3,645 lead over Steve Gaynor (R) in the Secretary of State’s race. Hobbs looks to be in the stronger position but unlike the Senate race, but this one isn’t done. Given what is likely to be Arizona’s key role in 2020, having a Secretary of State who supports voting rights is a big deal.
Tomorrow we celebrate 18 years of continuous publication here at TPM. Drop us a line. What’s your favorite TPM memory? Who’s your favorite TPM alum? Perhaps most important, what would you like to see from TPM in the coming year? Send in your emails with subject line “TPM 18”.
We are aware that comments, The Hive and the Prime RSS feed are currently offline. Our team is working to bring them back online as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience.
Gallup is out with its weekly Trump approval number today and he’s down at 38% approval, 56% disapproval. That’s one of his lowest numbers all year. Polls go up and down of course. But there’s a point I want to make that goes beyond what appears to be Trump’s permanent ping-ponging between 36% and 42% public approval. Put simply, I doubt it will be an accident or momentary that President Trump’s support goes down post-election. Partisanship is a heavy constraining force on public support in this era. Read More
I thought I would observe the centenary of the end of World War I and Veterans’ Day with a book recommendation: The Vanquished: Why the First World War Failed to End. This is a powerful, deeply important book. Today we are observing the century since the armistice that ended the First World War. But this anniversary obscures a reality this book explores with great depth and hideous illumination. In the West, mainly for England, France, and Belgium, the war took a catastrophic toll. But it was conducted largely within accepted distinctions between combatants and civilians. Just as importantly it ended with a rapid and full transition from war to peace, hostilities to demobilization. The history is dramatically different the further we look to the east. Read More
Alexander Malkevich runs an outfit called USA Really, a kind of Russia Today/RT on steroids, basically a Russian-financed news operation the aim of which is to portray the USA as in a state of tumult and chaos. Admittedly this is probably an easier case to make than it might have been in the past. Needless to say, Malkevich, a Russian national is an epic Trump. Here’s how McClatchy described it in June … Read More