John Cassidy's Blog, page 24

Can Donald Trump Rebound?

Donald Trump’s campaign is in reset mode. On Friday, Trump reversed himself and endorsed the reëlection efforts of fellow Republicans Paul Ryan, Kelly Ayotte, and John McCain. He admitted that he hadn’t seen a video of a U.S. plane unloading four hundred million dollars in Iran. And he also wished good luck to the U.S. Olympics team in Brazil. This “New Trump” even lasted into the weekend. Appearing at a rally in New Hampshire on Saturday night, he referred extensively to his written notes and restricted his barbs to the media and Hillary Clinton, whom he described as “a dangerous liar.” He didn’t bait any fellow Republicans, query the security guarantees that underpin NATO, or disparage the families of fallen U.S. servicemen.

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Related:
Trump Sees a Monster
Why We Pine for Manufacturing
The Trouble with Corey Lewandowski on CNN

How Progressive Was Hillary Clinton’s Acceptance Speech?

Just hours before Hillary Clinton delivered her speech accepting the Democratic nomination for President at the Party’s Convention, on Thursday night, two veterans of Bill Clinton’s Administration—the pollster Stan Greenberg and the economist Joseph E. Stiglitz—appeared at an event organized by the Roosevelt Institute, a liberal think tank. The title of the session, which was held at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel, was “How to Win on the Economy in 2016.” Greenberg presented some interesting data about two possible ways to frame her domestic-policy agenda, which includes raising the minimum wage, eliminating tax breaks for hedge funds, guaranteeing paid family leave, and encouraging corporations to invest for the long term.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
Photos from the Democratic National Convention: The Final Night
Live-Drawing Hillary’s Historic Convention
Daily Cartoon: Friday, July 29th

Obama’s Powerful Message: Donald Trump Is Un-American

It was about 8:40 P.M. last night when President Obama climbed aboard Air Force One for the hop to Philadelphia, where he was scheduled to speak at about 10:30 P.M. As an accomplished speaker, he must have known that the speech that would be fed into the teleprompters at the Wells Fargo Center was one of his best. As an astute politician, he must have known that, in other respects, too, the ground was being laid for a memorable night.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

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Hillary’s Night
Trump and Russia: Even Historians See No Precedent
What the Kremlin Makes of Donald Trump

Bernie Sanders Gives Hillary Clinton Another Boost

As the second day of the Democratic National Convention opened, Bernie Sanders was still garnering almost as much attention as Hillary Clinton. Despite the strong endorsement of Clinton that Sanders delivered on Monday night, a Convention that was meant to be about presenting a united front against Donald Trump seemed to be trapped in one of the gaping fissures separating the supporters of the two Democratic principals. Thus, it wasn’t entirely surprising when word spread that the Clinton and Sanders camps were in discussions about staging a second show of unity during Tuesday evening’s roll call. But was this the right approach?

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

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Joe Biden and the Democratic Family at the D.N.C.
The Real Paranoia-Inducing Purpose of Russian Hacks
Jill Stein’s Play to the Bernie-or-Bust Contingent

Bernie Sanders Goes All In for Hillary Clinton

When Bernie Sanders walked out to address the Democratic National Convention, on Monday night, at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center, which normally serves as home to the N.B.A.’s hapless 76ers, he was fully aware that many of his supporters were ready for a fight. Earlier in the day, when the Vermont senator had appeared for a pre-D.N.C. event at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, he had been roundly booed after suggesting that it was time for the Party to unite around Hillary Clinton. He had then texted an appeal to some of his supporters: “I ask you as a personal courtesy to me not to engage in any kind of protest on the floor. It’s of utmost importance you explain this to your delegations.”

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
The Vermont Delegation Mourns the Sanders Campaign
The D.N.C. on TV: Don’t Go, Michelle!
Bernie Sanders’s Struggle Continues

Why Some of Bernie Sanders’s Supporters Are Angry

As the Democratic Convention opened in Philadelphia on Monday, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the controversial former head of the Democratic National Committee, had virtually disappeared from the proceedings. But there was still a lot of antagonism between some of Bernie Sanders’s supporters and the Party establishment, and it was threatening to disrupt the Democrats’ effort to produce a carefully coördinated show of unity.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
Democrats Schedule Three Straight Hours of Booing to Get It Out of System
Photos from the Democratic National Convention: Bernie or Bust
Daily Cartoon: Monday, July 25th

Three Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Chose Tim Kaine

On Friday, word that Hillary Clinton would pick Senator Tim Kaine, of Virginia, as her running mate spread across the Internet, accompanied by a chilly reaction from some quarters. There have been complaints from the left that Kaine isn’t progressive enough, which isn’t exactly surprising. (The Warren wing of the Democratic Party isn’t so-named for nothing: it wanted Elizabeth Warren to get the job.) Some Hispanic groups were sure to be disappointed if Clinton didn’t pick a Latino, which is understandable, too. And some journalists have complained that Kaine isn’t an exciting enough choice—a recent headline at The New Republic read, “Tim Kaine Is Too Boring To Be Clinton’s Running Mate.”

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

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Leslie Jones and Twitter’s Troll Economics
The R.N.C. on TV: Ivanka’s Weaponized Graciousness
What Does NATO Do, Anyway?

Donald Trump’s Dark, Dark Convention Speech

In the history of democracies, there are numerous instances of authoritarian “strongmen” rising to power, and virtually all have based their appeal on a promise to restore order. Donald Trump clearly aspires to join this list, and, in one sense, his apocalyptic speech accepting the Republican nomination for President, on Thursday night in Cleveland, merely confirmed what we already know.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
The R.N.C. on TV: Ivanka’s Weaponized Graciousness
What Does NATO Do, Anyway?
Stephen Colbert’s Joyful Return to Political Comedy

Ted Cruz Spoils the Trump–Pence Party

Give one thing to the Republicans: they can’t be boring even when they try to be. On Wednesday night here in Cleveland, the idea was to force fifteen thousand or so journalists, many of whom have spent the past couple of days immersed in the intricate details of “Melaniagate,” to write and talk about the Republican Party coming together to hail the Donald Trump–Mike Pence ticket. A speech by the Vice-Presidential nominee was meant to be the highlight of the night.

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Related:
Ivanka Trump’s Walk on the Donald Side
Ted Cruz Has a History of Getting Himself Booed During Speeches
The Strangely Quiet Streets of Cleveland

Magical Economic Thinking at the G.O.P. Convention

After the drama of the first night of the Republican National Convention, when the Donald Trump campaign threw Benghazi, grieving mothers, and angry cops at Hillary Clinton under the rubric “Make America Safe Again,” the theme of Day 2 was “Make America Work Again.” Or that was supposed to be the idea.

See the rest of the story at newyorker.com

Related:
The Republican Party’s Unrequited Love of Rock Music
Donald Trump Threatens the Ghostwriter of “The Art of the Deal”
Three Problems with the Melania Trump Plagiarism Admission