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You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. What We Learned About Harris — and the Democrats — This WeekKamala Harris’s speech was a “joyful but not transformational” moment for the Democrats. Aug. 23, 2024, 5:02 a.m.

Persons: Harris —, Kamala Harris’s

☆ Opinion | There Is Still a Biden Scandal
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-10 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

One of the Biden White House’s greatest achievements, from the perspective of its staffers, if not necessarily the country, has been to deny the press the kind of juicy leaks that were constant under Donald Trump and frequent under his predecessors. For instance, we learned that Biden hadn’t held a full cabinet meeting since last October and that his handlers expected scripted questions from his cabinet officials. We learned that his capacities peak between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and diminish outside that six-hour window. We learned that congressional Democrats, liberal donors and some journalists all had exposure to Biden’s decline that they didn’t discuss publicly until the debacle of the June debate. We learned that none other than Hunter Biden was acting as a close adviser to his father in the crucial days after that debate.

Persons: Biden White, Donald Trump, Biden hadn’t, Hunter Biden Locations: United States

michelle goldbergI mean, I’m a huge Walz fan, and I was worried. ross douthatSo, yeah, I mean, I’m having made the case that this pick makes sense in vibes terms. michelle goldbergYeah, I don’t think that he necessarily overperforms among conservative voters strictly defined. You don’t think that there’s a part of the country that just finds joy like a really refreshing change? I’m going there.

Persons: ross douthat I’ve, Bon Iver, Taylor Swift, I’ve, michelle cottle Oh, ross douthat, michelle goldberg, michelle cottle, Vance, I’m Michelle Cottle, Ross Douthat, Ross, Michelle Goldberg, Michelle, Harris, Kamala — Kamala — michelle goldberg Kamala, nomenon, Kamala, Chappell Roan, I’m, Frenchman, we’ll, Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, Josh Shapiro, it’s, Donald, JD Vance, Donald Trump, Biden, Walz, Sarah Longwell, Shapiro, Trump, ross douthat Let’s, It’s, that’s, John Fetterman, we’ve, Michelle Cottle, relatability, Jared Golden, Joe Manchin, Mary Peltola, —, Bernie, you’ve, who’s, Josh Shapiro doesn’t, don’t, you’re, Shapiro wasn’t, JB Pritzker, The New York Times ”, here’s Shapiro, Netanyahu, Donald Trump’s, John Kerry, — ross douthat, “, we’re, Bone, michelle goldberg Ross, George Floyd’s, there’s, George Floyd, That’s, It’s Trump, michelle cottle Ross, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, ross, hadn’t, “ Trump, MAGA, michelle cottle It’s, he’s, she’s, Tucker Carlson, — michelle cottle, ross douthat —, doesn’t, chameleons, He’s, McKay Coppins, it’s Kamala, Sarah Palin’s, John McCain, Mike Pence, Dick Cheney, George W, ”, michelle cottle “ Sunny, ” ross douthat, Rashida Jones, — ross, ” michelle goldberg, michelle cottle Juicy, “ Severance, michelle cottle Nice Organizations: “ New York, Minnesota, Twitter, Republican, Trump, Democratic, America, Democratic Party, Dartmouth, Biden, The New York Times, Bone Spurs, Vance, Republicans, Air Force, Atlantic, Democrat Locations: Tay, “, Pennsylvania, Brooklyn , New York, Wisconsin, San Francisco, relatability, America, Maine, Alaska, California, Israel, Palestine, Minnesota, Italy, Minneapolis, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Trump, United States, Michelle, Kyoto, Japan

☆ Opinion | How to Save Disney
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-09 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the feast-or-famine landscape of contemporary cinematic box office, Disney is gorging itself at the high table once again. There are the recent stumbles into culture-war controversy and a related impulse to blame the fans when self-consciously diverse content disappoints commercially. There’s the stagnant stock price, the big layoffs last year and the smaller ones this year. But really, the problems can be summed up in a single sentence: The old stuff still sells, but nobody likes the new stuff. But when it comes to new content and new storytelling, the Mouse is struggling to connect.

Persons: ”, Hugh Jackman Organizations: Walt Disney Company, ” Marvel, Pixar, Disney, Vox Media

Patrick Healy: Kamala Harris will announce her running mate very soon. Michelle Goldberg: Like a lot of progressives, I barely knew who Tim Walz was two weeks ago. Now I love him, even though I worry that his normal Midwestern guy affect is starting to border on shtick. Goldberg: He reads like an all-American heartland normie — a hunter and former high school football coach — who can articulate progressive priorities in a plain-spoken, unapologetic way. And branding Republicans “weird” was a stroke of genius, capturing the large part of the Venn diagram where sinister authoritarianism and ridiculous online subcultural tics overlap.

Persons: Patrick Healy, Jamelle Bouie, Ross Douthat, Michelle Goldberg, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Harris, JD Vance, Tim Walz, it’s, Andy Beshear, Healy, Michelle, Walz, Goldberg, — Organizations: Electoral College, Democrats, Trump Locations: shtick, Kentucky

☆ Opinion | Is It Weird to Care About the Birthrate?
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-02 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Even when the cats are left out of it, alas, the problem of weirdness is a chronic one for pro-natalists. This is not to concede that it is actually weird to care about the birthrate: Children are good, human beings are good, a prosperous future for the human race is good, and it’s absurd not to care about looming depopulation and all the social and economic problems that come trailing in its wake. Future generations (to the extent that they exist!) will find it much, much stranger that so many people barely noticed this issue or dismissed it than that a Republican vice-presidential candidate once floated giving children political representation through their parents. But if you are a pro-natalist, you still have to understand the reasons an aura of weirdness hangs over the idea.

Persons: Vance, — Organizations: Democratic, Trump, Republican Locations: United States

The 2024 presidential race is officially in its identity politics stage. From “White Dudes for Harris,” to “D.E.I. candidate” accusations, the hosts debate how race and racism are being deployed in the second week of the Harris v. Trump election. Plus, Carlos is feeling deceived by the Olympics. (A full transcript of this audio essay will be available within 24 hours of publication in the audio player above.)

Persons: Harris, ”, D.E.I, Carlos Organizations: Trump, Olympics

☆ Opinion | Kamala Harris and the Audacity of Desperation
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-27 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Since then we’ve watched cracks spread throughout this edifice, dividing groups and institutions that once seemed to move in lock step. These fault lines include the split between a more ideological academic culture, where wokeness seems entrenched, and corporate and media realms, where its hold has somewhat weakened. They include the divisions between donors, university administrators and activists exposed and heightened by the Hamas attacks and the Israel-Gaza war. This means money: a surge of tens of millions of dollars into Democratic coffers. It means star power, whether through endorsements or just associations: Olivia Rodrigo and George Clooney, Charli XCX and Beyoncé.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Trump, Joe Biden’s, Kamala Harris’s, Nate Silver, Olivia Rodrigo, George Clooney, Charli, Harris, Biden, ” Organizations: Democratic Party, Trump, Democratic Locations: Israel, Gaza

nominee should be this year. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Patrick Healy: Michelle, Lydia, Ross and David, I’ll cut to the chase: Is the Democratic Party making a mistake by quickly going all in on Kamala Harris as its likely presidential nominee? Michelle Goldberg: This is a hard question, because for the party to do otherwise would mean trying to restrain the passions, enthusiasms and calculations of its members. Healy: Did that flood of support seem organic to you, Michelle, or orchestrated by Harris’s campaign?

Persons: Patrick Healy, Ross Douthat, David French, Michelle Goldberg, Lydia Polgreen, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Michelle, Lydia, Ross, David, I’ll, Harris, Healy Organizations: Democratic, Democratic Party

☆ Opinion | How Trump Sabotaged His Own Apotheosis
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-20 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The six days that carried Donald Trump from the stage in Butler, Pa., to the rostrum at the Republican National Convention seemed at times like the buildup to a moment of total political domination, an apotheosis for the Republican nominee and confusion and defeat for his opponents. The image of Trump rising, alive and fighting and undaunted, under the red, white and blue. The cohesive and enthusiastic Republican convention that followed, complete with the anointing of a youthful vice president and heir apparent, all in contrast to the spectacle of a Democratic Party trying desperately to jettison its senescent standard-bearer. The promises of a conciliatory and unifying acceptance speech, finally delivering the “presidential” Trump that Republicans have strained to see these last eight years. For the first nearly 20 minutes of the speech, as Trump walked the audience through the experience of surviving an assassin’s bullet, the apotheosis seemed to be on track.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, ” Trump, transmuting, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris Organizations: Republican National Convention, Republican, Democratic Party, Republicans, Trump Locations: Butler, Pa, shapelessness

☆ Opinion | J.D. Vance and the Tech-Trad Alliance
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-19 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Just over seven months ago, the talented pseudonymous writer Trace Woodgrains wrote an essay announcing the Republican Party’s doom — not the doom of electoral irrelevance, since the G.O.P. Vance as Donald Trump’s running mate and the recent surge of support for Trump’s campaign from Silicon Valley, Woodgrains reconsidered the durability of his diagnosis. The Vance pick, he wrote, suggests that “the G.O.P. is looking to make an appeal to anti-woke Silicon Valley or finance types to fill the void left by the Republican Party’s competency crisis,” with Vance himself as an exemplar of what a right-leaning counter-elite might look like. suddenly has more support in Silicon Valley than in 2020 or 2016.

Persons: Trace Woodgrains, ”, Woodgrains, Trump, J.D, Vance, Donald Trump’s, it’s, Peter Thiel, it’s Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen, pander, Reed Albergotti, Noah Smith Organizations: Biden, Republican, Cathedral Locations: United States, Silicon Valley

The former president was expected to offer unity in his nomination acceptance speech. But after a wild week, his speech revealed the same old Donald Trump. In this episode, the hosts debate: Is Trump a “man of destiny”? (A full transcript of this audio essay will be available within 24 hours of publication in the audio player above.)

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, ”

☆ I reread JD Vance's 'Hillbilly Elegy.' He hasn't transformed as much as you think.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-18 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

To reread "Hillbilly Elegy" now, as I did this week, is to feel a sense of disorientation. JD Vance the author sounds a lot different than JD Vance the politician. Personally, I first read "Hillbilly Elegy" in college, in an earnest if somewhat contrived attempt to better understand communities unlike mine. On stage, he recounted a story that also appears in "Hillbilly Elegy," where Mamaw bluntly threatens violence against one of Vance's friends. There are hints of this in "Hillbilly Elegy" as well: He served as a public affairs Marine, where he was trained in the art of media relations, including "how stay on message."

Persons: JD Vance, It's, Vance, Donald Trump's, Trumper, Trump, I've, who's, Vance didn't, JD, Alex Wong, Mamaw, Mom, Brett Kavanaugh, there's, New York Times's Ross Douthat, There's, he's, Usha, Mike Johnson, Kamil Krzacynski, — Vance Organizations: Service, Republican, audience's, Democratic, Capitol Hill, Republican National Convention, Supreme, New, GOP, Marine, Yale Law School, Getty Locations: Ohio, Middletown , Ohio, Appalachia, Middletown, Washington, New York, Ukraine, AFP

☆ JD Vance’s populist persona leaves pro-worker groups skeptical
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-17 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —There’s a popular idea in political discourse known as the horseshoe theory. The idea is that if you map ideologies on a horseshoe-shaped spectrum, the far right and the far left are actually more closely aligned than the centrists on either side. Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley is another young buck (44 is the new 24 in Congress) who’s all-in on Trump and positioning himself as an advocate for workers. “Pro-worker is raising the minimum wage, ensuring people get overtime, supporting paid sick and family leave,” Terri Gerstein, the Director of the NYU Wagner Labor Initiative, told CNN. “Playacting as working class by dressing up in jeans and acting aggrieved doesn’t do anything for real working people who are struggling.”

Persons: CNN Business ’, New York CNN —, we’ve, Ohio Republican Sen, JD Vance, —, Donald Trump’s, Vance, Reagan, Lina Khan, Biden, ” Vance, Wall, Massachusetts Democratic Sen, Elizabeth Warren, New York Times ’ Ross, Bernie Bros, ” Vance isn’t, Missouri Republican Sen, Josh Hawley, who’s, Hawley, –, Democrats –, ”, Rupert Murdoch, Ken Griffin, Trump, Liz Shuler, “ Sen, he’s, ” Terri Gerstein, NYU Wagner, “ Playacting Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Ohio Republican, Yale, Silicon, Massachusetts Democratic, New York Times, GOP, Missouri Republican, Trump, Democrats, Time, ” Media, Washington Post, AFL, “, NYU, NYU Wagner Labor Initiative, CNN Locations: New York, Silicon Valley, Massachusetts, American

Patrick Healy, the deputy Opinion editor, hosted an online conversation with the Times Opinion columnists Ross Douthat, David French, Michelle Goldberg and Bret Stephens to discuss Donald Trump’s choice of J.D. Vance as his running mate — why Mr. Trump picked him, how Mr. Vance could help the ticket, what’s surprising and unusual about the vice-presidential nominee, and what if anything worries our columnists about Mr. Vance. Patrick Healy: The answer to one of the biggest questions of the presidential election has now been revealed: Donald Trump has chosen J.D. Vance as his running mate. What was the first thing that popped into your minds when you heard Trump had picked the first-term senator from Ohio and why?

Persons: Patrick Healy, Ross Douthat, David French, Michelle Goldberg, Bret Stephens, Donald Trump’s, Vance, —, Trump, Donald Trump, Fareed Zakaria’s, Trumper Organizations: Fareed Zakaria’s CNN, Republican Party, Trump Locations: Ohio, United States

☆ Opinion | Donald Trump, Man of Destiny
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-15 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Every act of political violence yields instant reactions that can’t be supported by the available facts. A single assassination attempt by a loner with a rifle doesn’t necessarily tell us anything about whether America is poised to plunge into a political abyss. Nor do the motives of would-be assassins necessarily map onto a given era’s partisan divisions. Nor can we say definitively that this assassination attempt has sealed up the 2024 election for Donald Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance — surely the wild twists and turns of the Trump era should disabuse us of that kind of confidence.

Persons: Donald Trump, J.D, Vance —, Trump, Hegel, Thomas Carlyle, Napoleon Locations: America, Pennsylvania, Corsican, Europe

☆ ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ Gets a Blockbuster Sequel
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-15 | by ( A.O. Scott | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“I am not a senator, a governor or a former cabinet secretary,” J.D. Vance wrote on the first page of “Hillbilly Elegy,” by way of establishing his regular-guy bona fides. This is partly because Vance is, in fact, a senator, and also, as of Monday, the presumptive Republican vice-presidential candidate. This turnabout is notable because part of the legend of “Hillbilly Elegy” is that liberals were its intended audience and biggest fans. One is the large-scale movement of poor whites, among them the author’s maternal grandparents, from rural Appalachia to the cities and towns of the Rust Belt.

Persons: “, ” J.D, Vance, MAGA, Ross Douthat, Donald Trump wasn’t Organizations: Marine, Yale Law School, Republican, Trump, The New York Times Locations: Appalachia, Middletown , Ohio, New Haven, Silicon Valley ; Washington

☆ The Nazi Jurist Who Haunts Our Broken Politics
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-13 | by ( Jennifer Szalai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It was a curious line, not just for what it said, but also because of who was saying it. And the goal here is to get back in power.”Vance was referring to the political theorist and Nazi jurist who provided much of the intellectual ballast for the Third Reich. Schmitt despised liberalism. That, at least, is what I think Vance was saying. “I think that challenging elections and questioning the legitimacy of elections is actually part of the democratic process,” Vance said.

Persons: Ross Douthat, Vance, Donald Trump’s, Carl Schmitt — there’s, there’s, ” Vance, Third Reich, Schmitt, thrall, Trump, “, ‘ He’s Organizations: New York, Republican, Third, Capitol Locations: Ohio

☆ A Second Term for Trump Could Go 4 Different Ways - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-13 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Donald Trump will arrive at the 2024 Republican convention — his Republican convention, finally and completely, without the dissent of 2016 or the pandemic that overshadowed 2020 — closer than ever to a second term. But the likelihood of a Trump restoration has not yet brought clarity about what it would actually usher in. With Trump there is always the whipsaw, the forays toward normalcy and the reversion to a darker mean. Asked on the debate stage whether he would spend a second term seeking revenge on his political enemies, he promised that “my retribution is going to be success. Instead there are Trumpist scenarios and Trumpian personae — whose interactions, if he wins, will give his second term its shape.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, We’re, ”, Liz Cheney Organizations: Republican, Trump, Truth, Heritage Foundation, Republican Party, Social Security

☆ Opinion | Do the Democrats Really Think Trump Is an Emergency?
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-12 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

I predicted last weekend that the Democrats will find a way to jettison Joe Biden; that likelihood seems to fluctuate daily or even hourly, but for now my prediction stands. Because it is so obvious to me, I had long assumed the Democratic Party would consider it equally obvious. But it is no longer clear to me that the party’s elected officials actually share that assumption. But to the extent that goal conflicts with other, more mundane imperatives, more than a few Democrats seem to view beating Trump as a secondary objective. I wrote about this in the context of Biden’s “save democracy, vote Democrat” rhetoric before the 2022 midterms, but clearly the point merits new elaboration.

Persons: jettison Joe Biden, Trump, Jonathan Chait, Donald Trump, mystification, Tim Miller, Ezra Klein, Trumpism Organizations: Trump, Democratic, Democratic Party Locations: New York

“The dam is breaking!” Have the Democrats reached their “break glass in case of emergency” moment? This week, Michelle, Ross and Lydia dig into the Democratic Party fissures, consider what could happen if President Biden refuses to bow out, and debate just how much this moment mirrors the Republican scramble against Trump in 2016. (A full transcript of this audio essay will be available within 24 hours of publication in the audio player above.)

Persons: Michelle, Ross, Lydia, Biden Organizations: Democrats, Trump Locations: Democratic

☆ Opinion | Forget Defeating Trump. Biden Needs to Spare the Country Four More Years of Himself.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-29 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Biden must step aside, the argument will go, because he’s going to lose the election and only a different Democrat can save the country from Trumpian misrule. This is a necessary argument for its intended audiences: Americans who fear Trump above all else and a Democratic Party motivated by partisan self-interest. It is definitely true that if you believe America needs to be saved from Trumpism 2.0, continuing with Biden is a grave dereliction. But it’s also important, especially for those of us who are not Democratic partisans, to emphasize that declining to nominate Biden is essential not just if you hope to avert a second Trump term. It’s essential if you want to protect the country from a second Biden term — from the ways that his obvious deterioration endangers the country that he nominally leads.

Persons: Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, Kamala Harris, it’s, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Jill Biden Organizations: Democratic, Democratic Party, Trump, Biden Locations: Trumpian

☆ Opinion | After the Debate: ‘I Don’t Think Joe Biden Should Be Running’
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-28 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

On the “Matter of Opinion” post-debate episode, hosts Ross Douthat and Michelle Cottle are joined by Ezra Klein, who says, “At some point Democrats have to decide if they want to try to win this election, or it is simply too uncomfortable for them to do anything but be on this train as it derails.”Below is a lightly edited transcript of their conversation. To listen to this episode, click the play button below.

Persons: Ross Douthat, Michelle Cottle, Ezra Klein, “

☆ Opinion | Why Conservatives Shouldn’t Be Doomers
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-28 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Part of that case was that our political system is governed by a gerontocracy that evokes the age of Leonid Brezhnev and Yuri Andropov. After watching Joe Biden’s performance on the debate stage, I think Ferguson can claim that point as proven. His essay folded the gerontocracy argument into a larger case that exemplifies what you might call conservative doomerism. In general there is more doomerism on the American left today than on the right — both more personal pessimism and more anxiety about various apocalypses, from climate change to Trumpian authoritarianism. Like any good provocation, Ferguson’s column inspired various critiques (here’s Noah Smith, here’s James Pethokoukis, here’s Jonah Goldberg) and various defenses (here’s Ferguson responding to Goldberg, here’s Helen Andrews arguing that he doesn’t go far enough).

Persons: Donald Trump, Niall Ferguson, Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, Joe Biden’s, Ferguson, here’s Noah Smith, here’s James Pethokoukis, here’s Jonah Goldberg, here’s Ferguson, Goldberg, here’s Helen Andrews Organizations: The Free Press Locations: America, Soviet Union

candidate who would make a genuine difference for Trump in the campaign and in the November election vote? What matters most about Trump’s choice? First, as Democrats like to point out when questions of Joe Biden’s age come up, Trump is also pretty damn old. So the possibility that his vice president would succeed Trump in the middle of his term is not implausible. Ross Douthat: It’s not just that Trump is old, it’s also that — fears of his permanent power notwithstanding — he’s term-limited, which means that his V.P.

Persons: Patrick Healy, Ross Douthat, David French, Michelle Goldberg, Bret Stephens, Donald Trump’s, Trump, Biden’s, Donald Trump, Bret, Joe Biden’s, Doug Burgum, Marco Rubio, It’s, it’s, Mike Pence’s, there’s Organizations: Trump Locations: MAGA, Florida

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