A Quick Take on Team Cave’s Big Win talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-qui...

This is a perfectly reasonable question for voters to ask, but there are many answers Shaheen could give that don't involve capitulation.

Democrats are extremely fortunate that people still showed up to vote for them in force despite their disgust with the party. That's something that might not last forever.

So what will Mike Johnson’s new excuse be for refusing to seat Adelita Grijalva?

What's so wild about Johnson refusing to seat Grijalva is that even if the discharge petition gets 218 sigs *and* there's a vote *and* it passes ... the Epstein files still won't be released! Even if the bill could pass the Senate, Trump would veto. So it's all about avoiding an uncomfortable vote.

Quite the stat from @pbump.com at @howtoreadthisch.art: During all the time that Trump has been president across both terms, the federal government has been shut *1 out of every 23 days*. www.howtoreadthisch.art/red-versus-b...

"We've been talking about these elections like any other ones & that's important to hold onto. For all the justifiable fear people have since Trump won again about whether we'll have free & fair elections, we pretty much still do" My latest convo w/ @davidnir.com www.publicnotice.co/p/the-great-...

This photo has always meant so much to me. I wrote a note about it to accompany today's newsletter. If you'd like to do as Nancy Pelosi once did, you can subscribe here: www.the-downballot.com/subscribe

Suffice it to say that no blue state will ever pass a one-sided redistricting commission again, and more will ditch theirs until Congress fixes the problem.

Gotta say, we've been having a *hell* of a fun time on The Downballot's Discord server this week. Don't miss out! sidestack.io/the-downballot

Here's something telling about Bill Ferguson's opposition to a redraw: Not a single prominent MD Dem has publicly come out to defend him. Instead, Gov. Wes Moore is starting to box him in by setting up a new redistricting commission, and people like Louise Lucas are just absolutely dogwalking him.

Geidner is a mensch and a true public servant. We are lucky to have his dedicated analysis. Don't mistreat him.

Apart from FDR in 1936, the highest vote share by a Democratic presidential candidate in California came in 2020, when Biden got 63.4% of the vote. Still lots of votes to count, but Prop 50 is currently beating that score with 63.9%. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Pretty amazing that VA House Dems targeted 14 GOP-held seats and flipped 13 of them. The only one they didn't win (#HD34) was still close—52-48!

It's amazing how elite institutions keep caving even as voters keep saying—as we just saw on Tuesday—"Fuck all the way off."

according to Politico, it's "Decision day for Senate Dems" of course, that's Politico framing after the GOP got walloped in the election and even Trump says the shutdown hurt them It's Republicans who need to make some decisions but most DC media can't grasp that www.politico.com/live-updates...

Most retrospectives of Pelosi’s career focus on her time as leader of the House. At The Downballot, we reach back much further to explain how she *got* to the House in the first place. if you want to understand how Pelosi got her start in politics, read @jeffsinger.bsky.social’s deep dive.

There may be a sick logic to this that helps explain why Hochul can veer from good to bad and back again seemingly unpredictably. It's a sort of oppositional defiance disorder. When Trump tells her to do something, she resists—good. When the people tell her, she also resists—bad. Sigh.

What I want from each and every one of you is a hard target search of every state house, senate, school board, county legislature, coroner's office, residence, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in the United States including all of its territories. Your fugitive's name is Donald J. Trump.

This is precisely why you need outsider politics tipsheets, like @talkingpointsmemo.com, @boltsmag.org, and @the-downballot.com. They never buy into the CW in the first place.

Since it seems to be victory lap day, we're gonna take one, too. One prominent reporter said in mid-Sept. that a poll showing Prop 50 up 17 points had Dems "quite spooked"—because of conventional wisdom about ballot measure polls. We explained why that CW might be wrong. Prop 50 beat the polls.

You have a situation now where Donald Trump is blaming Senate Republicans for the shutdown, while Mike Johnson keeps blaming Senate Democrats. Shouldn't Johnson be parroting Trump and demanding the Senate GOP nuke the filibuster, too? Will Trump get pissed at Johnson for not being on the same page?

I've never met Nancy Pelosi, but I will always be stoked that, on election night 2014, she relied on our poll closing times map!

"All 15 defeated incumbents were Republicans."

Cool. What would you call the other wing then? www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/u...

"All hot dog stands will be replaced with goat meat stands." hold up. tell me more about that

Anyone done a wellness check on Alex Lee?

I subscribe to The Downballot, and I really recommend their analysis of state level and city races. This is a level of politics that really matters but is rarely covered well.

Every new post tonight is like Dems have flipped the Mehaden town sewer authority, long dominated by conservatives, by a +38 margin

In Manchester, Democrats texted voters with a picture of Trump, a headline reporting his intent not to fund SNAP, and a simple all-caps message: “VOTE RIGHT NOW!”

Well, this was one of the easiest predictions I've ever made.

Verbatim quote here from JB Pritzker. Click through.

This is extremely good, and I'm very glad to see this. Mamdani has an understanding of the levers of power, and he's helping educate folks about them. Unlike some past Dems who've generated major excitement, he's making it clear that the work does not end on Election Day but only *starts* now.

Truly something to behold

Ultimately, I think the biggest and most important takeaway from last night’s election in Virginia is this: Ya Winsome, ya lose some! #VAGov #Virginia #VApol

The next time there's an article about how voter registration numbers are an omen for the next election remember: This piece ran two days before New Jersey Democrats pulled off a blowout win.

Best of luck in your senior year

MS is a very tough state for Dems not just because of its lean but because there's very limited party infrastructure. The winning candidates did a ton of hard work, and groups like Sister District helped step into the breach. A great example of why Dems should never give up even in red states!

Looks like they were pretty smart to do so! (“I worry that Donald Trump is like crack cocaine for our party,” fretted one Dem pollster.)

I cannot tell you how touched I am by this tribute from Martin Longman (@booman23.bsky.social), a contemporary who came up with me during the dawn age of the blogosphere. Last night was incredible, but this has truly made my day—my week! martinlongman.substack.com/p/im-never-d...

“Spanberger and Sherrill won elections the wrong way” – Ezra Klein

Folks - let them think this. I’ve spent 25 years doing campaigns - when you think like this after a loss like last night, you are doomed to lose again.

Surprised he heard about it.

legally mamdani now gets to take sliwa’s hat

City of Sickos

Politicians should probably get on Bluesky to get better in touch with the American electorate.

The 2024 election was not a binding referendum on American culture that everyone must accept and accommodate. Never was.

AOC: "I do think that this moment, a lot of people who are willing to talk about party unity when it serves them, but not party unity when it serves everybody—it puts those folks on notice."

Mamdani told Trump to bend over and he did. Immediately.

You'll get to benefit from these benchmarks—and Elliott explaining them as he updates them—if you tune into our livestream at 7 PM ET! open.substack.com/live-stream/...