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 debate over whether “science” should take a political stand, in fact, forces one of the deepest possible questions about what liberal politics is for. It opens a much larger discussion about how all sorts of institutions should think about their role in electoral politics: not just scientists but educators, journalists, artists, writers, civil servants, foundation officers, and just about anyone in a healing profession—anyone within the bestiary of what conservatives deride as the “liberal elite.”
Perlstein's commentary is always a must-read, and this thoughtful piece is an example. The debate he refers to here stems, most recently, from Scientific American magazine's endorsement of Harris, which (IMO bizarrely) generated negative criticism. Perlstein explains just how nuts it is to suggest that scientists have some obligation to keep their mouths shut when one political candidate, a science-denying fascist, is close to winning. As he notes, promising a follow-up piece on the role of professionals in education, media, and other pursuits, the question is "whether anyone working within the sort of institution that seeks to make the world a safer, saner, healthier, and more humane place will be able to continue doing that work in peace if Trump is inaugurated, or even if he is not." The magazine wasn't just being provocative. It was doing its job.
TRUMP HAS RIPPED THE MASK OFF the libertarian conceit that it is a nonpartisan actor guided by its core commitments when opposing or allying with either side. As it turns out, the slam that libertarians are merely conservatives who smoke pot was—or has become—more true than false. But Trump is a unique figure who despite—or perhaps because of—his nasty, no-holds-barred attacks on his opponents, especially progressives, has a strong hold on the right, especially the donor class. Although the policy staff and writers among libertarians are less susceptible, his pugnacious style still appeals to the many edgelords in the libertarian thinking class.
This piece in the Bulwark goes deep into the degradation of the libertarian movement, which once stood for (at least some) important principles. But it has become, particularly at the leadership level, just another bended-knee collection of Trump cultists. Libertarians have fundamental contempt for progressive ideas. They are eager to be part of a regime that squashes those ideas, even if it means they shed their own principles. The fact that fascism and libertarianism are completely incompatible is just a detail. Surely, the fascist leader won't turn against people who believe in personal liberty, right? I always thought libertarians were a bit shallow in their thinking, even as I agreed with some of their stands (e.g. their logical contempt for the War on (Some) Drugs). I'm sad to say I gave them more credit for being principled than they deserved.
In addition to the financial costs of responding to these targeted campaigns, the study revealed other dynamics, the researchers said. “The attack on public officials as pedophiles was one I heard again and again, from people across extremely different parts of the country: rural, urban, suburban. It speaks to the way that this really is a nationalized conflict campaign,” said John Rogers, an education professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the lead author of the study. The frequency with which both school board members and school superintendents were “being called out as sexual predators – it was really frightening”, Rogers said. Superintendents from across the country told the researchers how these culture battles had affected their schools, and cut into resources they would have preferred to spend on education.
This is a well-tested right-wing tactic: Declare public servants who are doing their vital but already difficult jobs to be the "enemy" – but that's only where it starts. In the example cited by the Guardian, the extremists attack education broadly and educators personally. They force public institutions to expend vast amounts of money defending the vital work they do, and try to ruin the lives of the teachers, draining financial and emotional resources. Schools aren't the only target. Election officials around the nation have been under the same kinds of attacks, waged with the same kind of bad-faith tactics. Acknowledging that this is happening, and decrying the abuse, is a good first step. The harder question is how to deter these extremists, because constantly being on the defensive isn't the way to do it.
Some of the necessary ingredients for this extraordinary campaign are in place. Trump has already embarked on a clear mission to stoke as much uncertainty as possible about the results of the election. He claims that the only way he can lose to Harris is if Democrats cheat — despite no evidence that any significant fraud occurred in 2020 or is underway in 2024. Dutiful allies have amplified these messages. And many of the officials who stood in Trump’s path four years ago have been ousted or retired, ceding power to more compliant Trump-aligned successors. Meanwhile, threats against election officials and growing fears of civil unrest have intensified — potentially at polling places, ballot counting facilities and Electoral College ceremonies — which Trump detractors worry could bolster any election subversion campaign.
Less than a year after Trump, his apparatchiks, and his violent cult tried but failed to overturn the 2020 election, the Atlantic magazine's Bart Gellman wrote convincingly that the coup plotters not only were going to try again in 2024, but had already launched a multi-faceted effort to make sure they'd prevail. They've done the groundwork. And as the Politico article above makes clear, they could pull it off. That this is even possible is testament to the passion of democracy's enemies, and their determination to give the fascist leading them what he, and they want. Democrats and people who care about democracy have done much to head this scenario off, but the only sure way to prevent it is for Harris to win a victory so convincing that the coup fails before it starts.
Have a listen to this conversation between Harris and Cheney. They agree on very little politically, but they emphatically agree on the danger to the American experiment posed by dictator-in-waiting Trump. And that, this year, is enough to make common cause. (Note: I happen to believe that Harris hasn't done enough to make progressives excited about her presidency, but I also believe (or hope, at any rate) that progressives are wise enough to be enthusiastic about voting for her – and getting others out to vote – given the alternative.)
Voting is just part of democracy, but it's the essential place to start. Make sure you're registered. Doublecheck in the fall, well before Election Day, because in some states Republican officials are removing people, mostly those who tend to vote for Democrats, from voting rolls.
Take your personal contact list, compare it to the national voter file, and find out which of your actual friends, family, co-workers and past acquaintances live in swing states and districts where a call or text from you could be hugely influential.
Please read Micah Sifry's advice – and heed it! You still have time to make a huge difference.
Please send your suggestions
I spend a lot of time looking for essential coverage, and hope you'll help me by letting me know about the good stuff you find. Let me know.
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Rick Perlstein
Shikha Dalmia
Lois Beckett
Micah L. Sifry
