Living in the USA

What a week! Tuesday's historic Democratic victories this midterm election were more than just about the price of gas. And, they are part of a worldwide tend: the people's rejection of authoritarian rule. Alan Minsky comments. Also: What we won this week, starting with Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and James Talarico in Texas – John Nichols comments on the candidates and the issues. He’s The Nation’s...

Midterm Elections Roundup: California ballot initiatives – starting with the proposed 5% wealth tax in California – where if passed, 90% of the collected wealth tax would go to healthcare: What do supporters say about why the billionaire tax is a good idea? PDA executive director Alan Minsky comments. Also: If the election goes roughly as the polls say it will, next Tuesday will mark the beginning...

Republicans are spending hundreds of millions on the midterms, but their money hasn’t been able to counter the crisis of affordability, the disgust with Trump’s corruption, and the quality of many of the Democratic candidates. Harold Meyerson comments – he’s editor at large of The American Prospect. Also: Katha Pollitt argues that the gang rape at a Cornell fraternity party could have been stopped...

Most political reporting has been about Democrats’ chances of taking control of Congress, but the Governors’ races hold the key to election protection in the 2028 presidential vote. Harold Meyerson explains, and examines the contest now underway in Nevada. Harold is Editor-at-Large of The American Prospect. Also: The real threat of AI is not the destruction of humanity, but rather replacing human...

The big question about the midterms — control of the Senate. Statistician and political analyst Nate Silver estimated the Democrats winning the Senate at 74%. Harold Meyerson comments Also: Our right to peaceful protest is under assault. To save it, we need to “respect it, defend it, and more than anything – use it.” that’s what Annie Leonard says - she’s a longtime activist who spent 17 years wit...

Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of Indivisible, answers the question, “What’s the Plan – for the next No Kings Nationwide Day of Action?” This one shifts from mass protest in the streets to organizing for early voting – and preparing for whatever Trump does to disrupt or undermine the vote, the count, and the certification. Also: The Supreme Court last Friday issued an order allowing states...

The primary force behind the settlement that will allow Trump’s allies at Paramount to take over Warners-Discovery and CNN was Gavin Newsom, who pressured California Attorney General Rob Bonta to end the anti-trust fight defending media independence. Norm Eisen explains – he’s co-founder and executive chair of the Democracy Defenders Fund and Democracy Defenders Action, and, the New York Times rep...

To win control of the Senate in the midterms, the Democrats need to hold all of the seats they have and flip 4 to get to 51 – but, the wild card Dem that is John Fetterman of Pennsylvania means the Dems really need 5 to get to 52 – how and where might the Democrats win those seats? Harold Meyerson comments. Only two Justices backed Trump in the Court’s ruling blocking his efforts to enlist the pos...

The Republicans held their midterm convention in Dallas, TX on Wednesday and Thursday, which, featured Trump talking for two hours about the "increasingly fictitious" achievements of the GOP – Harold Meyerson comments. Also: Is the resistance to data centers a new kind of mass politics? David Wallace-Wells explains why the answer is “yes.” He’s a writer for The New York Times Opinion pages and aut...

The political surprise of 2026: the movement to block AI data centers – it's popular among both Democrats and Republicans at the grassroots. But, in many places the building trade unions are opposing that movement – they want to build those data centers – and in some places, Democratic political candidates are standing with those unions. Harold Meyerson comments on this "trans-partisan" issue. The...

On Monday, the Postal Service announced that it would follow Trump's executive order, which attempts to block voting by mail in states that do not provide its voter rolls for scrutiny by the Trump administration. As of today, Friday – 67 days away from the midterm elections: November 3, 2026 – the Postal Service is prohibited from following Trump's unconstitutional order. Next: Tariffs on Canada,...

More progressive democrats have triumphed over AIPAC money — starting with the surprising victory of Aisha Wahab in Northern California – Harold Meyerson comments on how "AIPAC is on a negative roll". Also: Indivisible’s 2,500 local volunteer-led groups are preparing for a rapid response to any threats to free and fair voting around election day, starting with plans to promote early voting, and in...

News from Wisconsin, one of the most gerrymandered states and a key to the national Democratic strategy; and from my home state of Minnesota, where Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan triumphed over opponent in the primary for state senate, Angie Craig, who out-spent her by 4 to 1 – Harold Meyerson comments. Also: The ACLU is organizing thousands of volunteers, preparing to respond to 25 different...

Abdul El-Sayed's first task is winning Black Detroit; next is making inroads in working class white Michigan. Harold Meyerson comments. Also: A rehearsal for the election protection groups: the California sheriff who seized 650,000 ballots from November’s referendum, claiming he needed to recount them. Zach Roth of Democracy Docket will explain how the Chad Bianco case provides a test of one key R...

Trump's trouble this week is getting the Senate committee to advance his nomination of Todd Blanche as Attorney General. Two key Republican senators are refusing to vote for Blanche unless Trump gives up on his deal that gives him immunity from tax audits – Harold Meyerson comments. Also: An impressive alliance of groups have been preparing for months to counter Trump’s threats to Democrats in the...

The Dems vs. the GOP in the 2026 Midterms: in the latest Fox News poll, 53% of Americans said they'd vote Democrat; but will that hold until November? "Assuming Donald Trump continues to be Donald Trump... these gaps may grow larger" – in the Dems' favor – Harold Meyerson comments. John Nichols on the Senate Candidates in Maine and Nebraska, and the governor’s race in Wisconsin. John of course is...

Trump's TV speech, and his declining situation, politically and mentally: Six years after he lost the 2020 election, Trump is still trying to find someone, anyone, to tell him he won. Trump said that last night's speech was about the 2020 election but really it was about the 2026 elections – and Trump's efforts to cause people to doubt the vote counters because he knows Republicans are set to suff...

The Democrats in Maine have got to pick a new candidate to replace Platner by July 27th. As we've learned from Kamala Harris, replacing a candidate this late is hard – but​, Harris carried Maine by 7 points in 2024, the Democratic candidate for governor there leads by 15 points, and Susan Collins' approval rating is negative. So, what​ chance ​does new Democratic candidate ​have to defeat Collins?...

On the Supreme Court today there is a 6 to 3 majority—I hesitate to call them 'conservatives' because they have been ripping apart tradition so drastically—right-wing Republican rule; Harold Meyerson comments on the "week of do this but don't do it here decisions". Trump​'s biggest losses in the Supreme Court rulings announced this week were on birthright citizenship—widely anticipated—and the vot...

In New York City, Zohran Mamdani's three candidates for the House all won, showing that Mamdani has "one heck of a lot of clout in New York". Meanwhile, some point out that Democrats should be focusing NOT on DSA victories in urban areas, but on the districts that voted for Trump – Harold Meyerson comments. Also: Election protection: defending Ohio’s biggest voter registration group, and blocking...

Trump says his memo of understanding is a big win for him because Iran has pledged NOT to develop nuclear weapons and to open the Strait of Hormuz. But, that only "gets us back to what the status quo was before Trump decided to go to war" and "the Iranian pledge not to develop nuclear weapons, that's a pledge they made 40 or 50 years ago". Next: News from Ohio, where Trump's favorable rating has g...

Democratic strength, and Democratic divisions, in primaries from L.A. to Maine—Harold Meyerson has our analysis of the week’s political developments. Also: Can AI write poetry? Good poetry? Katha Pollitt decided to find out. She’s an award-winning poet herself, and a columnist for The Nation​. Plus: From the archives: We remember George Harrison with Allan Kozinn; he​ was music critic for The New...

California's next Governor will likely be Xavier Becerra – as a former California Attorney General, he has a record of suing Trump; but is also known to be a corporate-friendly Democrat. Still, ​with California's notoriously slow count, it is too soon to call. Meanwhile, the 35% Karen Bass has in the LA mayoral race, "reflects the lack of enthusiasm" among LA voters – Harold Meyerson comments. Als...

The big picture of national politics: Trump is not just sinking in the polls, he's accelerating into the most unpopular and toxic parts of his presidency. People are focused on the economy, they want the war in Iran finished – instead, Trump is pushing his billion-dollar ballroom and his slush fund to pay-off the white-supremacist insurrectionists – Harold Meyerson comments. Also: Trump’s Billion-...

The primary elections results this week show the success of Trump's revenge campaign — and the limits of that campaign. Harold Meyerson comments. Also: History on the March: The American Historical Society has filed a lawsuit and a federal judge has ordered the Trump White House to comply with the Presidential Records Act. Next: State legislatures have a lot of power in America—the States Project...