Russell Berman
A Nation of Pundits
Electability is king in the 2020 Democratic primary as voters are choosing candidates they think their fellow citizens would support—not the ones they actually like best.
-
![]()
Gretchen Ertl / Reuters The Question Elizabeth Warren Doesn’t Want to Answer
The senator from Massachusetts’s artful dodge on middle-class taxes reflects an age-old wariness in the Democratic Party.
-
![]()
J. Scott Applewhite / AP The Question Democrats Have to Answer Before They Can Impeach
The lawmakers who most want to oust President Trump don’t agree on what the party’s strongest case against him is.
-
![]()
Kittibowornphatnon / Shutterstock / Katie Martin / The ... The 2020 Congressional-Retirement Tracker
For the second consecutive election, more Republicans than Democrats are forgoing reelection, a potentially ominous sign for the GOP in 2020.
-
![]()
Andrew Harnik / AP The Impeachment Summer That Wasn’t
Despite impeachment efforts from progressive activists, most of the Democrats who flipped GOP seats in 2018 aren’t ready to go there.
-
![]()
Andrew Harnik / AP Never Trumpers Want a GOP Alternative. Most Republicans Don’t.
Former Representative Joe Walsh is running against a president who, polls show, is no more vulnerable to a primary challenge than his recent predecessors were.
-
![]()
Lucas Jackson / Reuters The Last Days of the Other 1 Percent
Next week’s deadline to qualify for the third Democratic debate could leave half of the large field of candidates on the sidelines.
-
![]()
Tom Brenner/Getty Images Five Stories We’re Watching
Atlantic writers look ahead at gun-control momentum, Kashmir’s status change, the secrets of Jeffrey Epstein, and more.
-
![]()
Jose Luis Magana / AP Trump’s Own Aides Doubt His Latest Push on Guns
And Democrats do, too.
-
![]()
Trump Passed the Tax Cuts. Now He’s Undermining Them.
According to Grover Norquist, one of the 2017 bill’s biggest champions
-
![]()
Jonathan Ernst / Reuters A Rare Gun-Control Proposal That Could Unite Congress
A plan to help states implement so-called red-flag laws has bipartisan support in the Republican-controlled Senate.
-
![]()
Elise Amendola / AP ‘Do Something’: 2020 Democrats Are Stuck After Mass Shootings
With Congress on August recess, the candidates running to take on Donald Trump can call for action on guns, but they can’t take any themselves.
-
![]()
Erin Scott / Reuters Will Hurd Could Be the Canary in the Coal Mine
The Texas Republican’s retirement, which shocked his party, could be a harbinger of a broader exodus from Congress.
-
![]()
Jim Watson / AFP /Getty Cory Booker Exposed a Key Biden Weakness
The senator from New Jersey finally got a clear shot to capture America’s attention tonight by going after the former vice president’s criminal-justice record.
-
![]()
Jim Watson / AFP / Getty Joe Biden Enters Attack Mode
The former vice president, who was largely playing defense one month ago in Miami, took a different strategy tonight in Detroit.
-
![]()
Justin Sullivan / Getty Warren and Buttigieg Beg Democrats Not to Fear Republicans
During tonight's Democratic debate in Detroit, candidates tried to reframe how their party sells its own policies.
-
![]()
J. Scott Applewhite / AP The GOP Finally Rejects Trump
A lopsided protest vote in the House showed that the president’s grip on his party is not always as strong as it appears.
-
![]()
Jonathan Ernst / Reuters Robert Mueller Kept His Promise
“The report is my testimony,” the special counsel had previously said. During six hours of questioning today, that proved to be the case.
-
![]()
Andrew Harnik / AP / Andrew Harrer / ... Republicans Take Their Shot at Mueller—And Narrowly Miss
Time and again, they chose to pontificate rather than prosecute.
-
![]()
Carolyn Kaster / AP The Dirty Secret of Mueller’s Testimony? Voters Might Not Care.
Rather than expecting fireworks from the former special counsel’s appearance before Congress, many seem wary of getting their hopes up.
-
![]()
Justin Sullivan / Getty What You Gain by Losing Quickly
Recognizing that his presidential bid was going nowhere, Eric Swalwell showed better political sense in getting out of the 2020 race than he did in getting in.
