Ahead of the midterms, the Democratic base is raring to go—but it’s also demanding a reckoning from its highest ranks that hasn’t come, @elainegodfrey.bsky.social reports:
The Democratic Base Is Ready to Go
But where are its leaders?
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Elaine Godfrey
@elainegodfrey.bsky.social
Staff writer at The Atlantic. Politics, etc. Iowan 🌽
The vibes at Turning Point were strange this year. Some speakers were almost feminist. Another believes that women shouldn't even have the right to vote. Oddly, not a single speaker mentioned the midterm elections?! Read (or listen to) more about my very odd weekend here:
This year’s Turning Point women’s summit was different than in years past, @elainegodfrey.bsky.social reports: more Christian women’s empowerment, less electoral politics.
A Turning Point for Conservative Women
Some sounded vaguely feminist; another doesn’t want women to vote.
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Donald Trump’s endorsement of Texas’s scandal-plagued attorney general might have given Democrats their best chance in decades to win back a Senate seat, @elainegodfrey.bsky.social writes:
The Republican Senate Candidate Who Could Lose Texas
Ken Paxton won Trump’s endorsement, but may struggle in a general election.
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I was with a few dozen retirees at a Tex-Mex spot near Dallas when word came down that Trump had endorsed Ken Paxton. The news hit like manna from the MAGA heavens. My story on what the endorsement means for Texas—and why Paxton keeps hanging on.
Frustrations with rising costs, with Donald Trump, and with GOP leadership have made Democrats hopeful about Iowa—but whether they can get the votes is another matter, @elainegodfrey.bsky.social reports from the campaign trail:
Democrats Might Actually Win Iowa
Are the party’s hopes for the Hawkeye State real, or just another mirage?
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“Iowa is a commonsense state masquerading as a red state,” Josh Turek told me last month. For the past decade, Iowa Dems have been repeating some version of this phrase like an incantation. In November, they’ll have a chance to prove it’s true. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Democrats Might Actually Win Iowa
Are the party’s hopes for the Hawkeye State real, or just another mirage?
theatlantic.com
Frustrations with rising costs, with Donald Trump, and with GOP leadership have made Democrats hopeful about Iowa—but whether they can get the votes is another matter, @elainegodfrey.bsky.social reports from the campaign trail:
Democrats Might Actually Win Iowa
Are the party’s hopes for the Hawkeye State real, or just another mirage?
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Gretchen Whitmer’s pandemic-era clash with Donald Trump made her a Democratic icon. But lately “Big Gretch” seems to have changed her approach to the president. @elainegodfrey.bsky.social set out to learn why: theatln.tc/xKxP1bJz
Gretchen Whitmer has been somewhere on the list of possible presidential candidates since 2020, when she beefed so publicly with Trump. But in the past couple of years, Whitmer has seemed different. Some Michiganders are asking, “What happened to Big Gretch?” My story:
Gretchen Whitmer has been somewhere on the list of possible presidential candidates since 2020, when she beefed so publicly with Trump. But in the past couple of years, Whitmer has seemed different. Some Michiganders are asking, “What happened to Big Gretch?” My story:
President Trump helped pull off his improbable comeback with the help of manosphere podcasters, @elainegodfrey.bsky.social reports. Now many of these men seem to feel—by varying degrees—duped by the president they helped elect. theatln.tc/Mz2E3Grm 🎨: The Atlantic
Thirty minutes into the show, after a lively debate over manscaping methods, Andrew Schulz leaned back into the couch and brought the chin-wag to a screeching halt. “Are you guys, like—do you feel existential anxiety about the war?”
Representative Kevin Kiley is changing parties to become an independent, avoiding a potentially nasty GOP primary this fall, @elainegodfrey.bsky.social and @russellberman.bsky.social report: “The switch represents the latest example of the Republican Party eating its own.”
The Republican Party Continues Eating Its Own
What one lawmaker’s defection from the GOP says about the state of politics
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Talarico's answer when I asked him last week about the "God is nonbinary" line:
James Talarico won the Texas Senate Democratic primary—but now the real ugliness begins, @elainegodfrey.bsky.social reports. It’s “open season” for Republicans, a consultant told her:
Things Are About to Get Ugly in Texas
A runoff, resentments, and the question of whether a Democrat can win statewide
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Last week, Jasmine Crockett's campaign kicked me out of an event because (they alleged) I am a "top-notch hater." My story about that—and what today's primary election between Crockett and James Talarico means for Democrats—here: www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Why I Got Thrown Out of a Jasmine Crockett Rally
The crowd was fired up. The candidate was on her game. And I was escorted out by armed guards.
theatlantic.com
Online, the Texas primary has gotten ugly—but that drama was far from the minds of the voters @elainegodfrey.bsky.social spoke with, who seemed to like both of their options. “Rather than policy, their preferences came down to style—and not much else,” Godfrey reports.
What Kind of Fighter Do Democrats Want?
The Texas Senate primary could help decide.
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@elainegodfrey.bsky.social: Representative Jasmine Crockett claimed I wasn’t kicked out of her rally. Here’s the audio.
‘Elaine From Atlantic … She Needs to Leave’
Representative Jasmine Crockett claimed I wasn’t kicked out of her rally. Here’s the audio.
theatlantic.com
Jake Tapper talks to my colleague, @elainegodfrey.bsky.social about the Crockett flap. www.cnn.com/2026/02/27/p...
Reporter says she was kicked out of Rep. Crockett rally for being a ‘top-notch hater’ | CNN Politics
Elaine Godfrey joins The Lead.
cnn.com
This week, the Atlantic staff writer @elainegodfrey.bsky.social was escorted from a Jasmine Crockett rally in Texas. On this episode of “Radio Atlantic,” she speaks with @adamhsays.com about Crockett’s confrontational style and the upcoming primary election in Texas:
What Can the Texas Primary Tell Us About Democrats?
Our reporter Elaine Godfrey on getting kicked out of a Jasmine Crockett rally
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Texas lawmaker James Talarico is young, well-spoken, and eager to talk with Republicans—just what some Democratic dreamers think they need to finally turn the state blue. But first, @elainegodfrey.bsky.social reports, he’d need to win the primary. She spoke with him in 2025:
The Millennial Seminarian Trying to Turn Texas Blue
Democrats think James Talarico is the type of Senate candidate who could win back the voters his party lost to Trump. First he’d have to win the primary.
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"Minnesotans have preserved everything worthwhile about 'Western civilization,' while armed brutes try to tear it down by force." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Minnesota Proved MAGA Wrong
The pushback against ICE exposed a series of mistaken assumptions.
theatlantic.com
Where many Democrats hear “Abolish ICE” as a righteous call to action, others in the party register the clanging of alarm bells, @elainegodfrey.bsky.social reports.
‘Abolish ICE’ Is Back
How a controversial slogan is being revived
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Five years ago I was buying a hot pretzel from some guy on the Ellipse, hoping Trump would finish up soon, when a bunch of guys in riot gear started walking toward the Capitol. I followed them, and wrote about what I saw:
Ultimately, Turning Point's Alex Clark isn't worried about losing women to the Democrats. As more young men turn to the GOP, so will young women, because it's their "natural instinct to follow strong men and strong leadership," she told me. Link:
Bathroom sex, slut-shaming, and a fight over the size of someone’s engagement ring—I’d like to think this story has a little something for everyone. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
(Some) MAGA Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
What does it mean to be female and conservative in 2025?
theatlantic.com
"Democrats have decided to embrace a big-tent mindset. Now comes the hard part" - @elainegodfrey.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
The Limits of the Democrats’ Big Tent
A convention showed that it’s more medium-size.
theatlantic.com
Wrote about the $10 million effort to change the Democrats—and help the party start winning again www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
The Democrats’ Heterodoxy Problem
There’s not enough of it, according to one political operative.
theatlantic.com
Even as most congressional Republicans are avoiding their constituents, Mark Alford of Missouri bucked his party and held 15 public events this week. @elainegodfrey.bsky.social reports on what the representative heard:
The Republican Who Isn’t Afraid to Hear From His Constituents
A lawmaker from Missouri bucked his party and held 15 public events this week. Here’s what he heard.
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