The drunk Ben Affleck DVD commentary will be all about why they trained political scientist to be astronauts, instead of just teaching astronauts to say electability probably won’t matter 
Seth Masket
@smotus.bsky.social
"A very accessible, very interesting, non-bombastic political scientist." -Jonah Goldberg Subscribe to my newsletter "The Smotus Report" about US politics in an endangered democracy: http://smotus.substack.com
I really enjoyed this conversation with @perrybaconjr.bsky.social and @juliaazari.bsky.social about the MI Dem primary and what we're seeing more broadly in terms of the Dems' progressive moment, but I also want to point out how absolutely badass we look here www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK7F...
What the Michigan Senate Race Tells Us About the Democratic Party
YouTube video by The New Republic
youtube.com
Great convo between @juliaazari.bsky.social l, @smotus.bsky.social & @perrybaconjr.bsky.social on #Michigan and what the primary does and doesn't reveal. youtu.be/cK7FXXdJhM4?...
What the Michigan Senate Race Tells Us About the Democratic Party
YouTube video by The New Republic
youtu.be
New at the Smotus Report: If El-Sayed wins in November, that will encourage progressive candidates in 2028, including presidential candidates. If he loses and Dems lose the Senate as a result, you will never hear the end of the I-told-you-sos.
If the left can make it there...
El-Sayed's performance in November will have huge downstream effects on the Democratic Party
open.substack.com
I'll be talking with @juliaazari.bsky.social about presidential impeachments and racial backlash tomorrow (8/6) at 11AM EDT. Hope you can join in! open.substack.com/live-stream/...
LIVE SOON: Racial backlash and impeachment, with Julia Azari
Starting Aug 6 at 11:00 AM EDT
open.substack.com
Hey it worked for Lincoln in 1864, and there were no down sides I think
Arizona’s Democratic Governor Set to Pick a Republican Running Mate
Gov. Katie Hobbs, locked in a competitive re-election battle, plans to tap a moderate former mayor of Mesa, Ariz., John Giles, to serve as her lieutenant governor if she wins in November.
nytimes.com
Why did people not flock to my support when I started dressing like Seb Gorka
Politico@politico.com · 11h agoChuck Edwards says he will end reelection bid after censure recommendation
Do brokers know something about AI and Iran the rest of us don’t?
You’ll never believe which party made a whole national campaign against frivolous lawsuits 20 years ago
Federal judge tosses Trump administration lawsuit seeking Colorado’s unredacted voter rolls
A federal judge tossed a Trump administration lawsuit Tuesday that had sought to force Colorado election officials to turn over unredacted copies of the state’s voter rolls.
denverpost.com
1. How long did it take to construct a detailed wooden statue of that size? 2. Didn't the Trojans have, like, scouts?
Depicting Jewish people with horns is a centuries-old, dehumanizing, antisemitic trope. Democratic Gov nominee Phil Weiser is outspoken about his mother’s birth in a Nazi concentration camp, his family members killed in the Holocaust, and the threat posed by antisemitism today.
This tale of seafaring Mediterranean nation-states who traded and warred with civilizations in Europe, Asia, and Africa could not possibly have a Black character
How much do formal party organizations matter? We gave one party a favorable political environment but also made their national organization a clown show.
Author of Democrats’ 2024 Autopsy Says Party Left Out Key Chapter
A dispute over the chapter between the author and the Democratic National Committee has added to the party’s turmoil as it tries to look forward, not backward.
nytimes.com
The pattern of softening deaths due to public policy decisions with "underlying health issues" is so toxic. How many people over 50 do not have an underlying health issue? I'm pretty healthy but probably have at least two or three of those.
The New York Times@nytimes.com · 2d agoBreaking News: Two deaths in Michigan have been linked to cyclospora. Both people who had the parasite also had underlying health issues.
One of the more frustrating legacies of 2020 is the idea that reporting risk factors for mortality is somehow always a slight against disabled and chronically ill people, as opposed to an essential piece of information for people in that category to assess their risk before *or after* they get sick
The New York Times@nytimes.com · 2d agoBreaking News: Two deaths in Michigan have been linked to cyclospora. Both people who had the parasite also had underlying health issues.
New at the Smotus Report: Trump won’t use federal resources to help states that didn’t vote for him - because he doesn’t think his job comes with obligations
A president for some of the people
Trump won’t use federal government resources to help states that didn’t vote for him
open.substack.com
It’s important to understand that when 1.2 million Americans are dying from a disease, any government action is excessive and tyrannical, but if a dozen trans women want to play soccer no government action can go far enough
A party winning supporters by literally improving people's lives has become a radical idea
wishda@wishda.bsky.social · 5d agoThe DSA in Wilmingotn, N.C. has created a "crisis" by putting benches at city bus stops, after literal decades of the city promising and failing to do so.
I wrote a piece a few weeks ago on the different ways each of the parties polices their own candidates in matters of sexual assault. Anyway...
The party created this mess, and the party should clean it up
Just doing what primary voters want is how they got here in the first place
smotus.substack.com
Eric Umansky@ericumansky.bsky.social · 3d agoGOP Rep. Jim Jordan on alleged spouse and child abuser Max Miller: “This is a family matter. I know Max is a good man. I hope he wins re-election.” www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/u...
This is about as good actual evidence of an electability advantage you'll find. These numbers are almost certainly within the margin of error, and a long national fall campaign probably ends up erasing most actual vote differences between Dems, but it's still something for MI voters to consider
Polling USA@usapolling.bsky.social · 4d agoMichigan - Senate Polling: 🔴Rogers: 46% 🔵El-Sayed: 43% 🔵Stevens: 44% 🔴Rogers: 42% EPIC-MRA / July 31, 2026
President Ulysses Grant's hand-written proclamation announcing Colorado's statehood, August 1, 1876
There's an alternate universe in which a cabinet secretary who boldly claims wildly untrue things for weeks and then is caught in the lie realizes that he has embarrassed the administration and resigns rather than let the embarrassment continue.
Helen Kennedy@helenkennedy.com · 4d agoOh my. Pirro v Burgum is on people. (Cannot see how they both stay in their jobs)
At a certain point, you have to assume people in Trump’s orbit *like* being ritually humiliated
New at the Smotus Report: Colorado’s birth 150 years ago today was a deeply political and partisan act — and that’s a good thing
Happy 150th, Colorado!
A state born into politics and partisanship
open.substack.com
This was such an absurd embarrassment of Trump's own making, and the only thing more absurd than its existence is the fact that he keeps finding ways to put it in the headlines
Scott MacFarlane@macfarlanenews.bsky.social · 5d agoFLASH: Justice Dept seeks to dismiss Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool criminal case against former Olympian David Hearn Trump Admin acknowledges: "Damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor"
