“Even if Team Blue wins in the end, the California governor’s race has been a fiasco for Democrats from the start—and in ways that reflect an ongoing dysfunction that has become a feature of the party in recent years.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

"As the hopium pipe keeps getting passed around the Democratic campfire, could it also carry a risk of complacency? Improved morale is great for the party, but not if it saps voters of their most vital asset: urgency." www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Democrats have reasons to be optimistic headed into the midterms—but they’re starting to seem overconfident, @markleibovich.bsky.social writes.

It’s horrifying, @markleibovich.bsky.social that this book needs a sequel.

"Bigger names, such as Kamala Harris and Senator Alex Padilla, opted not to run. Newsom is term-limited. Jerry Brown is 88. George Clooney lives in France."

For all Californians, this is a good one to read b4 June's primary. Who's leading "Team Donkey," as @markleibovich.bsky.social calls it. His description of candidates & "Wizard of Oz wrap party" left me wondering about the 💙 party, but not enough to vote 🟥. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

"A bottleneck of B-listers": How California Democrats may lose the governorship of America's biggest blue state. "The glaring lack of candidate talent, political skill and personal appeal...has been the defining quality of the race" says @markleibovich.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Thank you Val!

"I met Swalwell at a Little League field, where he and his wife would be watching their 8-year-old son. Swalwell had been rising above a Lilliputian cast of candidates and had acquired a scent of momentum. “Impeccable timing for you,” he’d texted me." www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

My journey into the bottleneck of b-listers www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

"Mills is haunted by Joe Biden’s 2024 debacle. She is at least confident that nothing disastrous will surface about her. “I don’t have a tattoo,” she promised. I took the governor at her word on this. But has she ever been on Reddit? “No,” she said. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

“I’LL SHARE MY lipid profile with anybody!” Janet Mills, the governor of Maine, pledged. These are the kinds of assurances that candidates make when everyone keeps harping on their age. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

I have a similar impairment re: the prose of @FranklinFoer (on the storied Ann Godoff). "Writers suffer from a cognitive impairment that limits their ability to see flaws in their prose." www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...

“Few, if any, candidates running this year have as consistent a record of appealing to what’s become a kind of holy-grail constituency for Democrats: the coveted “working-class voter.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

It isn't even just GOP owned media. Like this is the Atlantic and a bunch of centrist think tanks teaming up to create the exact thing you are talking about bsky.app/profile/mark...

One of several incredible quotes in this @markleibovich.bsky.social story on the state of the Democratic party. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

The challenge for Democrats resisting Trump? They keep playing into their worst stereotype as overly sensitive, out of touch and overindulged, writes @markleibovich.bsky.social. They "are not built for when the fascists come," @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social says. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

The president had recently called for JB Pritzker to be jailed—a status symbol among high-profile Democratic governors who might run for president. (Pritzker and Gavin Newsom could wind up sharing both a jail cell and a debate stage.) www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

A few minutes later, the DNC chair was back talking tough about the importance of not caring whom he antagonizes. “I don’t give a fuck who I offend,” Martin said. Except Biden, I noted. “Listen, that has nothing to do with offending him or not." www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

“For much of this week, Kristi Noem’s deportation from the Trump administration seemed imminent.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

“Democrats have accused the president of creating endless diversions to distract from Epstein – accusing Obama of treason, threatening to revoke Rosie O’Donnell’s citizenship, etc. Name the escapade, some adversary has tried to dub it an Epstein diversion" www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

"It has become the Democrats’ go-to exhortation: Trump is just doing this to distract you from Epstein. In other words, America’s descent into authoritarianism is a mere deflection." www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Like every word she writes, @SallyJenki is undefeated. And so’s this. Swirling gratitude for and from the Goddess x.com/BenMullin/st...

Long live this piece -- and this kicker – and M “Readers of the Post, though, may not notice immediately: I’m told that there are still roughly 900 pre-written obits in the can, waiting for God to decide on when to lift the embargo.” www.politico.com/news/magazin...

“Bacon’s wife, Angie, enjoys having her husband in Nebraska for a number of reasons. One is that if he’s home, she’s less likely to sleep with a gun.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

“Right now, what I think America wants is a little bit of normalcy.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

“Yesterday marked one year since Joe Biden’s debate meltdown against Donald Trump. Happy anniversary to those who observe such things, or are triggered by such things. Please celebrate responsibly.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

“Obama’s detachment feels jarringly incongruous with the desperation of his longtime admirers—even more so given Trump’s assaults on what Obama achieved in office.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Where Is Barack Obama? The “audacity of hope” presidency has given way to the fierce lethargy of semi-retirement, @markleibovich.bsky.social writes.

God bless you @markleibovich.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

“Here is why I think that the ‘cover-up’ of Biden’s ‘true condition’ is beside the point—and why I’m not really vibing with the umbrage-mongering: It’s pretty much impossible to ‘cover up’ for something that is hiding in plain sight,” @markleibovich.bsky.social writes

“You know what else is old? The story about Biden being old.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Tim Walz has been busy traveling from state to state for labor roundtables, townhall meetings, and impromptu roadside stops, reports @markleibovich.bsky.social. At the very least, Walz “feels itchy to help jump-start the second Donald Trump resistance”:

If there is one lesson that Democrats can take from Trump, Tim Walz told @markleibovich.bsky.social, it is to “continually be present.” theatln.tc/Jd1sBG5f

Walz volunteered that Bill Clinton called him in early October. “He said, ‘Don’t allow them to make you a caricature.’” (“Them” here refers to the Harris-Walz campaign higher-ups.) “You are a consequential governor,” Clinton told him, according to Walz. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

“Probably the last guy to tell you what to do is the guy who got his ass kicked in the last election.” www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Read @markleibovich.bsky.social on Trump and a third term.

"Soon, Trump’s right to serve a third term could become a litmus test for Republicans who wish to stay viable in the party. The White House could make clear that refusing to support Trump’s remaining in office will be considered an act of disloyalty." www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

“Peace and love, peace and love . . . " "I imagine that’s one of the hassles of immortality: It tends to go on forever . . . "

Ringo Starr has spent his post-Beatles career as a roving ambassador of peace and love, @markleibovich.bsky.social reports. These days, we need him more than ever.

“I was an only child, and then suddenly I had three brothers,” Ringo Starr told @markleibovich.bsky.social. Few bands have inspired such complicated mythology as the Beatles. But the truth resides only in the exquisite space that the bandmates inhabited together: theatln.tc/lwMjptdw

Ringo Starr is among the most scrutinized, fetishized, analyzed, and catechized people in history. @markleibovich.bsky.social spent about a year reporting on the former Beatles drummer. The world still needs him:

Ringo Starr has spent his post-Beatles career as a roving ambassador of peace and love, @markleibovich.bsky.social reports. These days, we need him more than ever.

“Peace and love, peace and love,” Starr said back to a cluster of onlookers, sounding cheerfully bored. He paused and puffed out his cheeks into an ostentatious deep breath. I imagine that’s one of the hassles of immortality: It tends to go on forever." www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

This article was brought to you by the letter d—for depressing. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Truly a must watch for #Democrats with @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social and @markleibovich.bsky.social discussing focus groups with Biden-to-Trump voters.

Since Mitch McConnell announced that he will not run for reelection, many have described him as “liberated.” Indeed, McConnell voted against more Trump nominees than any other GOP member. @markleibovich.bsky.social met the senator to find out if he feels freer now: