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Lacking The Courage Of His Convictions Jun 05, 2024

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

This week, Matt and Brian discuss the solidifying Democratic response to Donald Trump’s felony convictions, and scratch their heads a bit:

* Why are Democrats demurring when the facts are the ground are so advantageous to them?

* How consistent is this with the party’s past practice of shrugging off Trump-accountability moments?

* What if any role should data play in these kinds of rapid response moments, when Trump’s widespread unpopularity is so consistent?

Then, behind the paywall, we break down the forces within the party that cut against a unified, vigorous response: Does taking it easy on Trump really help swing-state and swing-district Democrats? How do Democratic congressional leaders actually conceive of their jobs? Would progressive leaders rather talk about Trump’s status as a felony convict and rapist, or about their policy agendas? Plus, what do Matt and Brian think a savvy response to the convictions look like? All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Brian on various tactics and strategies Democrats could deploy to keep reminders of Trump’s convictions above the fold.

* Josh Marshall with an important reminder to Dems and the media not to let the GOP’s affected aggression in the wake of the verdict mind trick them into allowing Republicans to set the terms of the discourse.

* A New York Times focus group suggests getting convicted of 34 felonies is not, in fact, good news for a presidential candidate.

Law & Order: Politix May 31, 2024

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

SPECIAL EDITION: A New York jury declared Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts he faced, finding that he forged business records to cover up his illegal conduct in the 2016 election.

Matt and Brian:

* Review the case and the law and the controversy around it;

* Discuss the relevance of the news—particularly to new voters who may have been too young to hear the Access Hollywood tape, or know that Trump paid hush money to a porn star;

* Air out the many ways Democrats might and should talk about Trump’s new status as a felon, and the conduct he committed to earn that distinction.

Then, behind the paywall, we review official reaction to the verdict in “real time,” discuss how this might snowball into greater interest in the trial Trump has successfully managed to delay, and examine the nexus of the hush-money case to his abortion bans, and his work to eliminate reproductive rights nationwide.

All that, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Brian on why Alvin Bragg’s prosecution was righteous from the outset.

* Former Manhattan prosecutor Rebecca Roiphe explained to Politix listeners why Bragg’s liberal critics were wrong.

* Brian on why President Biden should lift his vow of silence and begin making political hay of Trump’s criminal exposure.

Resist Trump, Don't Cower May 29, 2024

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

This week, with so many American liberals and leaders abroad worrying about what a second Trump term will mean for them, Matt and Brian examine the many political differences between fear and fearlessness. For instance:

* If Trump’s threats have become more literal and less figurative, how can liberals most effectively oppose him without sounding like panicky wimps?

* Have Trump-curious business elites taken leave of their senses, or do they really think Trump can’t possibly harm American capitalism more than huge corporate tax cuts will “help”?

* Do progressives agree that Trump is an existential threat to democracy? And if so, are they receptive to muscular “bring it on” politics, or are crisis and doom the only appeals that speak to them.

Then, behind the paywall, Brian and Matt take a look at global and domestic developments—from the Mexican election to diplomacy in the Middle East and the zombie border bill in Congress—to assess how actors with everything on the line are changing their behavior and contingency planning for a second Trump term. If they’re freaking out, why shouldn’t we be? If the situation is so dire, shouldn’t Biden entertain more drastic measures? Can U.S. leaders be simultaneously clear eyed in planning for the worst and resolute (rather than cowering) in their resistance?

Answers to all those questions, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Matt, on how Trump’s scams will only get worse in a second term.

* Brian on why progressive activists should lay off murder-suicide threats as “leverage.”

* Greg Sargent on the Trump movement’s many sadistic fantasies.

* Jamelle Bouie on the people (immigrants) who will bear the brunt of this sadism.

Big Alito Lies May 22, 2024

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

This week, Matt and Brian explore the revelation that Justice Samuel Alito flew a Stop the Steal flag over his house in the days after January 6 as a window into broader differences between the right and left. For instance:

* Why are Republican-appointed judges so often former Republican operatives, while Democratic-appointed judges hail from Big Law or academia or various prosecutors offices;

* Is Alito remorseless because he’s a good Federalist Society soldier, or because he knows Democrats in Congress won’t even try to hold him accountable?

* Are Democrats really so habituated to GOP dominance of the Supreme Court, and to the Court being a more galvanizing issue for Republicans, that they’ve forgotten liberal anger over the Garland seat, and the Ruth Bader-Ginsburg seat, and the decision in Dobbs?

Then, behind the paywall, Brian and Matt rant about the failure of both Democratic leaders in Congress, liberal justices, and progressive issue activists to take the fate of the court seriously. Why doesn’t Sonia Sotomayor think retiring now is the obvious thing to do? Why to so many Democrats in Congress seemingly want her to place her seat at risk? Why don’t progressive activists work toward constructive goals like strategic retirements and whipping up outrage over Alito? Also, what does any of this have to do with Donald Trump’s new aspiration to create what his campaign calls a “Unified Reich”? Answers to all those questions, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Brian reminds Senate Democrats (cough, Dick Durbin, cough) that they can squeeze Samuel Alito, including by exposing his secret role helping Donald Trump sweep the insurrection under the rug.

* Maya Sen on diversity in the judiciary.

* Mehdi Hasan on why Sotomayor should retire.

Having A Poll For Dinner May 15, 2024

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

This week, Matt and Brian take a granular look at the latest New York Times/Siena data, which finds Joe Biden losing most swing states, and well behind in the sunbelt states of Nevada, Arizona, and Georgia, which he won in 2020. They discuss whether:

* Biden’s post-State of the Union poll bounce was illusory, or a hint at what might help him turn the election around;

* Post-inflation grumpiness is hamstringing Biden, just like other world leaders, or if something unique to Biden (his age, the U.S. information environment) explains his peculiar unpopularity;

* The issues voters say they’re fixed on (inflation, immigration, and crime) are creating genuine problems in their lives, or are merely evidence of successful, unopposed, Republican propaganda.

Then, behind the paywall, Brian and Matt interpret the poll data per se: What’s the optimistic read of the numbers? What’s the pessimistic read? Is it time to revive the debate over whether Biden should yield to a younger candidate with less baggage? Or does he still have time to prove the doubters and haters wrong? Answers to all those questions, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Brian on Democrats’ mysterious aversion to setting the national discourse agenda, and how it hurts them badly.

* Learning From Lossby Seth Masket.

* Matt on the misinformation that truly matters.

The Times, They Aren't A Changin' May 08, 2024

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

This week, Matt and Brian break down the growing tension between Joe Biden and the New York Times and try to assess what impact it will have on the 2024 election and the deteriorating relationship between Democrats and mainstream media generally.

* Is Biden right to be frustrated with the way the national political media has covered the election so far?

* Should newspapers outsource editorial judgment to issue polls?

* What, beyond blinkering their coverage of politics, could mainstream news outlets do to increase their appeal among conservative consumers?

Then, behind the paywall, Brian and Matt take a more abstract look at the challenge facing non-partisan media in the Trump era. Should mainstream journalism outlets be tribunes for democracy, as part of their larger advocacy for the free press? Can institutions like the Times be openly pro-democracy without being openly engaged in an effort to help Joe Biden win the election? What would an incarnation of the Times that made an effort to address its critics look like? Answers to all those questions, plus the full Politix archive are available to paid subscribers—just upgrade your subscription and pipe full episodes directly to your favorite podcast app via your own private feed.

Further reading:

* Brian on whether outlets like the Times do such a bad job addressing well-developed liberal criticisms because they don’t have good answers.

* Ben Smith’s (widely criticized) interview with Times executive editor Joe Kahn.

* Dan Pfeiffer responds to their mischaracterization of his earlier Times critique.

Let Veeping Dogs Die May 01, 2024

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

This week, Matt and Brian look ahead to looming questions that, under normal circumstances, would be paint-by-numbers developments in a presidential election year: running-mate selection and debates.

* President Biden recently confirmed that he intends to debate Donald Trump. Is this a wise decision, and how should he approach the task?

* Do Biden’s communication and strategic arms have the right acumen to see Biden through debates and other, similar challenges?

* Can Trump have a running mate without attempting to steal his or her money or implicate them in the destruction of American democracy?

Then, for paid subscribers, Brian and Matt apply questions raised by the new movie Civil War to real-life, Trump-era political violence incitement. With Trump running free from consequences, and promising to pardon insurrectionists, what’s to stop him from applying the logic of January 6-style mob violence to other goals he may have? Is the logical endpoint of Trumpism a full-scale rebellion from one direction or another, or something slower-burning and harder to discourage? What can liberals and Democrats do to persuade people that the threat is real, without essentially guilt-tripping people into voting blue? We hope you enjoy the conversation, and if you’d like to listen to the whole thing, you can upgrade to paid for a private feed that gets you access to the complete Politix archive and all future episodes.

Further reading:

* The New York Post reports that the White House wanted to drive Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre out of her job, but chickened out.

* Brian on why Democratic frustrations with the mainstream press were bound to boil over, and where things go from here.

* Shelby Talcott on how nobody in GOP politics has any idea what Trump wants in a running mate because he’s distracted, selfish, and susceptible to flattery.

* Brian on Civil War (with spoilers).

Is The Biden Campaign's Theory Of The Election Panning Out? Apr 24, 2024

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

With Matt back from vacation, he and Brian discuss a bunch of important developments in the news, and zoom out to assess whether it’s really changed race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump:

* Has polling data improved enough to make Biden the favorite to win?

* Have developments like Biden’s patient victory in the fight over Ukraine aid, careful management of hostilities between Israel and Iran, and solid economic news contributed to the uptick?

* Is Trump’s legal jeopardy/farting finally taking a toll on his numbers?

Then, paid subscribers hear an assessment of the candidates’ upside or downside potential. Is Biden poised to benefit from a booming economy as inflation memories recede? Does Donald Trump have any way to improve his standing (as opposed to dragging Biden down)? Will Simon Rosenberg prediction that Biden would pull ahead by late April then widen his lead over the summer be vindicated? We hope you enjoy the conversation, and if you’d like to listen to the whole thing, you can upgrade to paid for a private feed that gets you access to the complete Politix archive and all future episodes.

Further reading:

* Brian on how a subset of reflexive critics, including progressives, have become economy deniers, and are holding Biden’s approval polling down.

* Matt on how negativity is making everyone miserable.

* Simon Rosenberg’s prediction, from Greg Sargent’s podcast.

Alvin Bragg's Liberal Critics Are Wrong Apr 17, 2024

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

With Matt on vacation this week, Brian hosts a conversation with Rebecca Roiphe, a New York Law School professor and former Manhattan prosecutor who enforced the very laws Donald Trump is charged with breaking in his first criminal trial. They discuss:

* Why legal commentators who criticized District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s theory of the case were factually wrong about the laws at issue and how they are applied;

* The importance of enforcing these laws, whether violators represent big businesses or small businesses, and whether their motives were financial, political, personal, or a combination thereof;

* Whether it would’ve been a breach of duty for Bragg not to bring charges in this case.

Then, paid subscribers hear a more abstract conversation about legal discourse and ethics. Why were so many legal and media elites, including many Trump critics, so eager to line up against Bragg, even as they lacked the subject-matter expertise to know whether Bragg had exceeded his mandate? Even if Bragg had gone fishing for a reason to try Trump on felony charges, would that be a violation of his ethical obligations or his oath of office? Should Trump’s status as an exceptionally high-profile political leader insulate him in any way from accountability for lower-tier felonies, even if law-enforcement officers understand him to be a serial scofflaw?

We hope you enjoy the conversation, and if you’d like to listen to the whole thing, you can upgrade to paid for a private feed that gets you access to the complete Politix archive and all future episodes.

Correction: Rebecca is a professor at New York Law School, not a New York University law school professor. Brian regrets the error.

Further reading:

* Brian on why Joe Biden should break his vow of silence and begin commenting on the hush-money case.

* Mark Joseph Stern on why he was wrong, initially, to be skeptical of Alvin Bragg’s case and what made him come around.

* There’s a new Stormy Daniels documentary on Peacock.

Donald Trump's Plan To Make You Poorer Apr 10, 2024

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.politix.fm

This week on Politix, Matt and Brian step back from the news cycle to examine Donald Trump’s policy agenda, and the weird extent to which he’s getting a pass on toxic ideas:

* His plan for an across the board 10 percent tariff would make Americans pay more for virtually everything, including groceries;

* A big immigration crackdown like the one he’s promised would raise prices further;

* But since these ideas are coded as pro American-worker, he faces little pushback for the terrible consequences they’d entail.

Then, paid subscribers get a deeper look at whether the threat of these consequences will eventually catch up with Trump, and hear an extended analogy between the politics of tariffs (which would cause more hardship) and the long saga of Medicare for all. Why did Medicare for all lose popularity over time? Might the same thing happen to Trump’s plan to raise banana and coffee prices? And if the key to selling policy is to cloak it in populist language (tariffs, Medicare) could Biden shake up the race by updating his agenda with ideas that unite the Democratic base and appeal to the public more broadly? We hope you’ll upgrade to paid so you can enjoy the whole episode, especially if you’re listening from the White House or Biden campaign headquarters!

Further reading:

* Matt on House Republicans’ (bad) plan for America.

* Brian with a reminder that the 2024 election is about real things.

* CAP: “Trump’s Tariff Would Cost the Typical American Household Roughly $1,500 Each Year.”

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