A compendium of the best reporting and commentary surrounding the pivotal 2024 elections in the United States. You will rarely find horse race coverage here, or the standard "both sides" BS that passes so often for political journalism. What you will find are links, with brief commentary, to work that I believe advances the conversation we should be having about America's – and the world's – future. Remember: Everything is at stake this year. (Unfortunately, some of the work I point to is behind paywalls.)
The great secret and poverty of campaign reporting is that the majority of it is based on reading the polls or the eventual result and then writing a story of the campaign to match that outcome, predicted or real. Every losing campaign is run by idiots and vice versa. With that reality in mind, I wanted to share some opinions in advance of the results. I think Kamala Harris has run an almost flawless campaign. Many people think a great campaign is made up of a great strategy, or perhaps a great speech. The truth is that campaigns are almost all down to execution. That’s particularly so in an early 21st century American presidential campaign, when the main constituencies and issues are chosen in advance and not by the candidate.
If Harris loses, there will of course be recriminations all over the map, most notably Harris' refusal to go hard left in the campaign. But Josh Marshall's analysis strikes me as entirely fair – and accurate. Harris did pretty much every thing she had to do, and then some. (Note: I contributed what for me was a large amount of money to the campaign, and to an organization working on the "ground game" for down-ticket candidates. I wish I'd done even more.)
I don’t know about the incoherence, but I don’t think the growing violence of his speech—opining, for instance, that we need a day of unchecked police violence to restore law and order—is the Lear-like meandering of an aggrieved old man. I think it’s a very conscious strategy to turn out those Trump supporters who are least likely to vote: working-class young men. Even if it’s not conscious on Trump’s part, I think his handlers know that their employer’s adding a little ultraviolence to his speeches may prod just enough smoldering incels and other angry young men to bring themselves to the polls.
The threat this represents to the nation can't be overstated. If Trump takes power again, these "angry young men" will be his brownshirts, ready and eager to carry out his promised retribution against all those who've displeased him. They're eager, too, if he loses. And there are a lot of fellow travelers in the military and police forces. There are also plenty of liberals who own guns at this point, however, not to mention urban armaments of some size. It could all blow up. The national press hasn't paid nearly enough attention to the potential for catastrophe, but as with so many other things, what else is new?
I asked where people who encounter problems voting (e.g. right wing intimidation) can get help. Commenters responded with great suggestions. (I've listed a few below as well.)
Working hand in hand with individuals who tried to overturn the 2020 election, Leo’s billion-dollar dark money network is amplifying election conspiracy theories promulgated by former President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and their allies. While such strategies are likely designed to help sway the election foe Trump, experts say these efforts could also help set the foundation for distrust and upheaval on election night and in the days to come. The groups are “invested in using scare tactics to sow doubt in the election process, which could help lay the groundwork for partisan actors to challenge the results of the election if they do not like the outcome,” according to a recent report by Issue One, a nonpartisan group dedicated to protecting the election process.
Leonard Leo has been the brains – and has raised the money – behind the successful campaign to turn the Supreme Court (and all courts) into right-wing echo chambers. He has done more damage to democracy and social justice than perhaps anyone else in recent American history. Now, according to this article in the Lever, which cites some of the best reporting on Leo's political tentacles, he's godfathering the attack on voter trust – creating and amplifying the fear and loathing that could help wreck democracy altogether.
Harold Meyerson
Freddy Brewster
