The win, combined with several mid-cycle surprises, has weakened Trump’s shield against accountability for his unpopular reign, although the Supreme Court really holds the key to whether we’ll have something approaching legitimate elections next year.
Democrats
Posted inPolitics
America’s Dumbest Billionaires Fail to Stop Zohran Mamdani
It’s encouraging on many levels: New York City didn’t submit to a campaign of flagrant bigotry from disgraced two-time loser Andrew Cuomo, and Americans, particularly young ones, can still be politically inspired by a good candidate with a good message.
Posted inTAP
The Anti-Mamdani Editorials, Considered
Perhaps the most recurrent theme in the major newspapers’ criticism was that Mamdani’s proposed 2 percent tax hike on that share of a taxpayer’s yearly income that exceeds $1 million would lead to mass millionaire flight from New York.
Posted inPolitics
Trump Lost the Politics of the Shutdown
On a political level, Democrats have succeeded in painting Republicans as mean and unfeeling stewards of American decline. But Trump may win on policy nonetheless, as a gang of Democrats prepares to squander their leverage based on a vague assurance.
Posted inPolitics
The 2025 Election’s Hudson River Divide
Through the campaigns of Zohran Mamdani and Mikie Sherrill, we can see a path that tenuously unites both social democrats and moderates. Future Democratic electoral successes will rest on a foundation of progressive economic populism.
Posted inPolitics
The Republican Plot to Turn Pennsylvania Into Hungary
Judicial retention elections are normally pretty sleepy, but the Pennsylvania Republican Party, led by right-wing megadonor Jeff Yass, who is also the richest person in the state, is conducting an all-out effort to get rid of three Democrats on the state Supreme Court.
Posted inPolitics
Virginia Governor’s Race Is Major Test for Democrats
Democrat Abigail Spanberger appears poised for a win, but the outcome of the attorney general’s race could complicate the direction the state heads in. Can Spanberger carry the other Democrats on the ticket with her?
Posted inPolitics
Mamdani and the Jews
Unlike his opponents in the New York City mayoral race, Zohran Mamdani has offered perspectives on Israel, Zionism, and antisemitism that have upset and even alarmed some voters. But his outreach efforts to the city’s diverse Jewish communities will persist.
Posted inWorking in America
Urgent Times Call for Something Old and Something New From the Labor Movement
For workers to survive Trump’s MAGA moment and build a fighting labor movement for the future, both electoral politics (something old) and militant actions to disrupt business as usual (something new for many unions) will be key.
Posted inTAP
Working-Class Heroes
Would democracy work better if more working-class people ran for public office? Running for office is time-consuming and expensive, and the most important pipeline that launches working-class people into politics, the labor movement, is far weaker than it once was.
