Here's A Wild Thought

In this episode, the continued fall of MAGA and Trump faces his Waterloo in Minneapolis. I analyze the shift in immigration politics back to the Democrats and how they can best navigate the issue, knowing that there’s still some support for Trump’s mass-deportation ideas and that the politics have shifted against them before. What is the best way to message a plan to get rid of Immigration and Cus...

Election Day is tomorrow, and I have predictions! In this episode of Here’s A Wild Thought, I outline my predictions for the premier races of this off-year election, including Mayor of New York City and select competitive City Council races; New Jersey Governor; Virginia Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General and Proposition 50 in California, which would allow the state to redraw their...

This weekend, New York Times reporter Ezra Klein published an op-ed video identifying one of the significant problems Democrats face nationwide—their reputation for being unable to effectively govern the parts of the country where they have control, the “blue states.” He points to housing and infrastructure as the top issues and the inability of blue states to build infrastructure on time and at c...

It’s week three of Trump 2.0, and he and his shadow president, Elon Musk, are taking a hatchet to the federal government, causing chaos, uncertainty, and unease. Democrats and liberals, still reeling over November’s loss to Trump, are wondering why we aren’t seeing the massive marches and, rallies and organized opposition that we saw in 2017 in the opening weeks of Trump’s first term. In this epis...

Congestion pricing is in effect in New York City, and no one in the city is more upset about it than the New York City media industrial complex led by the lead s**t-stirrer, the New York Post . In this episode, I discuss the media’s long history of fighting progressive transit policies and my role as a foot soldier of the press in biased fights against policies like bus lanes on Woodhaven Boulevar...

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Fifteen years ago, I became friends with a bunch of “dudebro” types through a coworker, and they shared with me some glaringly offensive comedy they found on the internet. While thinking about it recently, it dawned on me that these sports-loving, women-objectifying, offensive, comedy-loving dudebros were hardcore progressives at that time. Today, 25-year-olds who would fit that cu...

A big part of the 2024 election post-mortem has been the debate around the television ad the Trump campaign claims as its most effective: the one that ends, “Kamala is for they/them. Trump is for you.” The ad explicitly targets the vice president’s past support for taxpayer-funded gender confirmation surgeries for prisoners in California. The political word seems to be landing on the conclusion th...

The election is over, and we know how it ended. In this episode, I discuss what happened and how the election result was probably inevitable years ago. Also, why have men, especially Gen Z and Latino men, swung so far to the right? Some of it is that conservatives are cool and liberals are not. I talked about in this piece last year. Have a listen! Get full access to Nick Rafter Writes at nickraft...

Is Kamala blowing it? With two weeks to go, the polls are tight, and Vice President Kamala Harris's momentum in September appears to have vanished. Democrats are experiencing 2016 PTSD. I explain why I think the race is closer than it was a few weeks ago (If it truly is) and what my vibes tell me about what will happen in two weeks. Get full access to Nick Rafter Writes at nickrafter.substack.com/...

Hey, loyal readers! Become loyal listeners! I was writing about Eric Adams today and thought this might be better offered in podcast format. So listen to my take on Eric Adams and how someone who oozes corruption and slime like he does found himself in Gracie Mansion. Yes, I place much of the blame on progressives. Also, check out my take on Chappell Roan, the rising music star turned political sp...

Fun Fact: I was in the middle of recording this video when a gunman opened fire on former President Donald Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. I saw the news immediately after I finished recording. Since that event knocked the topic of whether Biden should stay on as the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee this year off the front pages, I considered just deleting this video essay. Howev...

George Latimer defeated incumbent Jamaal Bowman in the Democratic primary in New York’s 16th Congressional District on Tuesday night by a wide margin, but that wasn’t the only bad news for progressives. Here’s a post-mortem on the biggest primary night of the summer. (article to follow for paid subscribers, so subscribe below for access to that!) Nick Rafter Writes is a reader-supported publicatio...