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.
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Evan Vucci / AP Trump Fails the QAnon Test
The president’s refusal to condemn the conspiracy theory was a shock, but not a surprise.
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Getty / The Atlantic When the Chaos Candidate Goes Missing
Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris offered America a window into a world where Donald Trump isn’t president.
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Liu Jie Xinhua / eyevine / Redux The November Surprise
What if everyone showed up to vote this year?
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Tasos Katopodis / Getty The Virus Is Coming From Inside the White House
Asking whether the celebration of Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination was a “super-spreader” event misses the point: Trump’s irresponsibility made this crisis likely.
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Erin Schaff / The New York Times / ... Suddenly, Amy Coney Barrett Might Not Have the Votes
For the moment, COVID-19 diagnoses have jeopardized three votes that Republicans can’t afford to lose.
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SAUL LOEB / AFP / Getty The Man Who Wouldn’t Shut Up
President Trump launched his comeback bid with a simple, familiar strategy: Bulldoze over everyone.
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Getty / The Atlantic No Other Western Democracy Allows This
Only in America does so much power rest in the hands of elderly judges.
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Charles Dharapak / AP What Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Death Means for America
The Supreme Court vacancy will surely inflame an already-angry nation.
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Shutterstock / The Atlantic The Election’s Biggest Threat Is No Longer the Postal Service
Reports of a vote-by-mail apocalypse are greatly exaggerated.
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Luke Sharrett / Bloomberg / Getty If You Can Grocery Shop in Person, You Can Vote in Person
Experts now say the health risk of casting an in-person ballot is relatively low. Will Democrats tell their voters that?
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Paul Morigi / Getty / The Atlantic How Ed Markey Defeated Joe Kennedy
Facing a challenge from a young Kennedy, the long-serving senator from Massachusetts turned his biggest vulnerability into an opportunity.
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Getty / The Atlantic Remember the Pandemic?
President Trump’s surrogates are referring to COVID-19 in the past tense as it continues to ravage America and disrupt the RNC.
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U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee ... The Question at the Heart of the Postal Service Crisis
The new postmaster general tried to assure senators that the USPS could handle the election, even as he acknowledged that his changes have slowed down the mail.
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Getty / The Atlantic The United States Versus Steve Bannon
Masked and handcuffed, President Trump’s former chief strategist was arraigned on charges of fraud.
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Daniel Acker / Bloomberg / Getty Barack Obama Is Scared
His warning to America during the Democratic convention’s third night was existential.
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Jeenah Moon / Getty No, COVID-19 Is Not a Metaphor
Democrats gave a hero’s welcome to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo despite his mistake-filled early response to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Getty / Paul Spella / The Atlantic What Really Scares Voting Experts About the Postal Service
No matter what Trump says, the USPS has the money and the capacity to handle a huge surge in mail-in ballots. But new restrictions could disrupt the election.
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Boston Globe / Getty / Katie Martin / ... Why Is Joe Kennedy Doing This?
The Democratic representative hasn’t come up with a good rationale for challenging progressive Senator Ed Markey in Massachusetts. But with a name like his, it may not matter.
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Jonno Rattman / Redux Democrats Are Spending Millions to Boost a Trump Ally
A Democratic super PAC is running ads to help Kris Kobach win the GOP Senate nomination in Kansas, unnerving the party’s staunchest immigrant advocates.
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Chip Somodevilla / AP Why the Democrats Can’t Nail Bill Barr
The long-awaited testimony of Trump’s most powerful Cabinet member yielded more venting than questions, and few answers. There’s a reason for that.
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