The Atlantic Politics & Policy Daily: Pence’s First Resort
On his visit to Ireland, VP Mike Pence will stay at President Trump’s private golf resort, an hour away from his meetings in Dublin. Plus: The “queen” of the Iowa caucuses
Were you forwarded this email? Sign yourself up here. We have many other free email newsletters on a variety of other topics. Browse the full list.
What We’re Following Today
It’s Tuesday, September 3.
‣ Following two deadly shootings this summer in its own stores, Walmart said it will stop selling handgun ammunition, and has asked customers not to openly carry firearms on the premises.
‣ A judge ruled that the political maps for North Carolina’s state legislature are unconstitutional.
Here’s what else we’re watching.
(Chip Somodevilla / Getty)
Queen of the Caucuses: What does Iowa’s most famous pollster think about the Democratic National Committee’s recommendation that the Iowa Democratic Party scrap a plan to host a set of virtual caucuses? Elaine Godfrey talked to J. Ann Selzer about what the flurry of activity means for her renowned polling operation—and what kind of turnout she’s expecting in February.
Go Meet Your Neighbor: The Iowa-based writer Lyz Lenz tears down the myth, constructed and perpetuated by both Americans and the media, that there is such a thing as an “authentic” American voter: “Once we start allowing more of those stories into the narrative, we’re going to see the full and complete picture,” she said during a probing conversation with Emma Green.
Record-Breaking, but Not Unusual: Hurricane Dorian has already had devastating effects in the Bahamas, where it’s killed at least five people, and is slated to bring strong winds and heavy flooding to Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina later this week. But Dorian isn’t a freak storm, Rachel Gutman writes. In fact, many of its most frightening attributes are in line with recent trends.
On the Emerald Isle: Vice President Mike Pence will be staying at Trump’s private golf resort during his trip to Ireland, even though the resort is more than an hour’s flight from the site of Pence’s meetings. It’s inconvenient for Pence, but great for the president, David A. Graham argues: “Trump has so frequently used the power of the presidency to plump for his businesses that the public has almost become inured to it, but it remains brazenly corrupt and shameless.”
Snapshot
(Mike Blake / Reuters)
A passerby places a candle at a makeshift memorial near the Truth Aquatics boat-rental service in Santa Barbara, California, after a fire consumed a commercial diving boat, killing at least 20 people and leaving 14 unaccounted for.
Ideas From The Atlantic
‘The Supreme Court Is Not Well. And the People Know It.’ (Garrett Epps)
“The Supreme Court as we once knew it—as a national institution that could at least sometimes stand apart from partisanship—died last year. The ongoing fight over its corpse spilled into public view last week.” → Read on.
A Future Without Long-Haul Vacations (Henry Wismayer)
“Holidays are a luxury, an extravagant add-on to life that we could live without. Our attitude to travel, then, is in many ways a barometer of our response to an urgent question: Can we accept that our pursuit of happiness might be inimical to our survival?” → Read on.
What Else We’re Reading
Justin Amash was part of the conservative in-crowd. Now he’s trying to figure out who his real friends are. (Ben Terris, The Washington Post) (🔒Paywall)
Scoop: Trump allies raise money to target reporters (Mike Allen, Axios)
YouTube says it’s removing more hate speech than before but controversial channels remain up (Kaya Yurieff, CNN Business)
The gospel according to Marianne Williamson (Taffy Brodesser-Akner, The New York Times) (🔒Paywall)
About us: This newsletter is a daily effort from The Atlantic’s politics writer Elaine Godfrey, with help from Christian Paz. It was edited by Shan Wang.
Were you forwarded this email? Sign yourself up here. We have many other free email newsletters on a variety of other topics. Browse the full list.