Political punditry is falling back into some bad habits by presuming that every problem is the result of some strategic miscalculation by the President. Folks from the Obama era remember this as the Green Lantern Theory. Here's why it's dumb and dangerous. messagebox.substack.com/p/the-return-o…
The myth of the all-powerful president can lead to disappointment and demobilization. Failure on anything becomes a reason to disengage from politics, as opposed to doubling down to punish the obstructionists and make progress more likely. messagebox.substack.com/p/the-return-o…
The Green Lantern Theory, a term coined by @BrendanNyhan, asserts that the president can accomplish any goal as long as he or she tries hard enough. This belief misunderstands the limits of the Presidency and lets the GOP off the hook for obstruction messagebox.substack.com/p/the-return-o…
If you like this piece, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to access additional posts, special subscriber-only features, and weekly Q&A discussions. messagebox.substack.com/subscribe?
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
John Boehner's bad faith revisionist history book tour continues to give hope to a group of media members and moderate Democratic Senators that a less Trump GOP is right around the corner. It's time to give up the naive dream and come to terms with reality messagebox.substack.com/p/memo-to-the-…
Hoping against hope that the GOP is more Mitt Romney than Marjorie Taylor Greene allows Dems to defer tough decisions on voting rights and the filibuster and normalizes dangerous behavior. messagebox.substack.com/p/memo-to-the-…
Hoping against hope that this is the time Lucy will let you kick the football is easier than reckoning with the fact that there is a true sociopath in the ranks of your Peanuts Gang. messagebox.substack.com/p/memo-to-the-…
Joe Biden ran on a message of unity. Less than 72 hours into his presidency, the unity message is being weaponized against him with bad faith arguments from Republicans and others. Here's whats happening and what we need to push back on. messagebox.substack.com/p/unity-is-alr…
To be clear,
- Biden pursuing his agenda is not divisive.
- Biden undoing Trump's policies is not divisive
- Biden rooting out Trump hacks burrowed into the govt is not divisive
Not to mention the fact that Mitch McConnell is currently engaged in a slow motion coup of sorts by preventing the Democrats from taking the majority. The proper response any of the Republican that complains about a lack of unity is to laugh in their face messagebox.substack.com/p/unity-is-alr…
The insurrection was caused by more than the post-election lies of Trump et al. It is the result of a growing political cancer. We need a comprehensive response to ensure this never happens again. Here are some ideas on what that looks like: messagebox.substack.com/p/a-proportion…
1. Trump must be impeached and removed. It's an open and shut case. Any member that votes against is putting their narrow partisan interest over their oath of office. messagebox.substack.com/p/a-proportion…
2. A shortened impeachment process cannot replace a thorough accounting of the Trump years. Every crime and abuse of power from 1/20/17 led to this moment. We need something akin to truth and reconciliation commission to investigate, report, and prosecute messagebox.substack.com/p/a-proportion…
On its face, the Hawley/Cruz challenge to the election results makes no sense. It makes the whole party look ridiculous and probably hurts in Georgia, but it needs to be viewed as pretext for a huge push for more voter suppression laws in the next 2 years messagebox.substack.com/p/whats-really…
To be clear, this effort is no less ridiculous than a bunch of Senators demanding an audit of the moon landing or the roundness of the Earth. messagebox.substack.com/p/whats-really…
Even though McConnell opposes the challenge to the Electoral College certification, he deserves the bulk of the blame. His silence after the election created a vacuum for the nutsos and snake oil salesman to weaponize conspiracy theories messagebox.substack.com/p/whats-really…
The success Democrats had in bringing Republicans to the table by hammering them as callous corporatists on the campaign trail is a sign that economic populist arguments against the GOP could have more impact with Trump fading into the background messagebox.substack.com/p/thoughts-on-…
People rarely make a public argument against divided government, but this deal provides Democrats in Georgia with an opportunity to lay out the differences between a Senate that wants to fix things and one that would prefer to watch the world burn. messagebox.substack.com/p/thoughts-on-…
Today's Message Box looks at the state of the Democratic Party brand in 2020 and beyond, whether Dems have a brand problem, and what we can do about it.
Democratic policies are more popular than Republican policies. The Democratic Party is more popular than the Republican Party, but that hasn't translated into a success down ballot. Here's why and some thoughts on what we can do about it messagebox.substack.com/p/the-democrat…
In an era of declining split-ticket voting, a party’s brand matters a lot. Voters are defaulting to their pre-conceived party preference with less regard for the personal characteristics and policy positions of the individual candidates. messagebox.substack.com/p/the-democrat…