Perry Bacon

@perrybaconjr.bsky.social

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Government, policy and elections writer. Views are my own. [email protected]

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"The limitation of term limits is that they do nothing to address the problem that people have in mind when discussing the Supreme Court as a broken institution: It is controlled by six Republicans who spend each June issuing decisions that normal people hate." ballsandstrikes.org/court-reform...

Biden’s Support For Supreme Court Term Limits Is a Nice First Stepballsandstrikes.org For years, Democrats like Biden have put off the hard work of making the case for Supreme Court expansion. It shows.

"Bernie and AOC made a bad call on this one. Now we have to hope that the cutthroat centrists can push Biden out, and save the left from this trap that could fuck up our credibility for years to come," writes @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social. www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/the-honest...

The Honesty Thingwww.hamiltonnolan.com The price for supporting Biden is the left's credibility.

The party can't decide in part because the polls aren't deciding. wapo.st/3W7oY2r

Opinion | The polls are inconclusive. Advantage Biden.wapo.st Biden’s bad month hasn’t led to a dramatic drop in his numbers — or really much of a drop at all.

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Perry Bacon

It's 1000% rational to be scared. That's the thing. A lot of that fear is grounded in the fact that as individuals we have so little control over world historical forces. That's fucking scary. To me, it's OK to vocalize that. I wish people have more relationships in real life with others to do that.

The party can't decide. Or it can't implement its decision. Or there really isn't a "party"---just pundits and podcasters. wapo.st/3S7hxXT

Opinion | Why we’re still arguing about whether Biden will quitwapo.st The president insists he’s running. The news media say he might not be. Here’s why.

wapo.st/4bAbfqR

Opinion | Expand the Supreme Court. And weaken it.wapo.st Two essential reforms: Add justices to the court. And then require a supermajority to overturn federal laws.

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Perry Bacon

Why not just have FREE COLLEGE FOR ALL rather than to depend on the largess of billionaires? Just such a mess.

A $1 billion gift from Michael Bloomberg to Johns Hopkins University, announced on Monday, will allow most students at the university’s medical school to attend free of cost and will also increase financial aid for other students.

$1 Billion Bloomberg Gift to Hopkins Makes Tuition Free for Most Medical Studentswww.nytimes.com The gift, made by Michael R. Bloomberg’s philanthropic organization, will also cover living expenses for some Johns Hopkins University students.

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Perry Bacon

I wrote about one of the most infuriating subplots of the Biden crisis: the insistence that he is a "good man." Please look at the genocide in Gaza and then try to tell me that. www.discourseblog.com/p/please-don...

Please Don't Try to Tell Me Joe Biden Is a Good Manwww.discourseblog.com It is simply not true.

Great piece.

Watching the entire "should Biden step down" discussion play out completely among donors and insiders is an incredibly bleak illustration of how absent the working class base of the Democratic Party is from its power center. We can fix that. www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/the-hole-a...

The Hole at the Heart of the Democratic Partywww.hamiltonnolan.com Labor needs to fill the vacuum. Or else.

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Perry Bacon

NEW: Biden has narrowed Trump’s lead in swing states despite a widely panned presidential debate performance, the Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll finds

Biden Narrows Gap With Trump in Swing States Despite Debate Losswww.bloomberg.com The incumbent trails his GOP rival by just 2 points across key states, a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult shows, even as three in 10 Democrats say he should leave the race.

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Perry Bacon

This shit can’t keep on going

Nearly 2 million people have been displaced in Gaza – almost the entire population – after the Israeli military last week ordered a further 80,000 people to evacuate parts of Gaza City amid a renewed ground operation, the latest UN figures show.

Almost entire population in Gaza now displaced amid fresh Israeli offensive | CNNwww.cnn.com Nearly 2 million people have been displaced in Gaza – almost the entire population – after the Israeli military this week ordered a further 80,000 people to evacuate parts of Gaza City amid a renewed ...

Reply to

Totally Finebaum

If there were a contested convention, the Dems would not be unified during that period and of course that would be covered by the media as a time of disunity. But would Whitmer-Booker be polling ahead of Trump by Sept 10? I think that's the real question. I don't know the answer to it.

I have written extensively about the shortcomings of American political journalism. But I don't view the last week as a huge media failure. Two very important questions are being discussed: 1. Is the president up to four more years on the job? 2. Can he be an effective candidate?

"Plenty of us actual Midwesterners will vote for all kinds of people. If you’re worried about the bad vibes, stop creating them. If you’re worried about electability, remember that what makes a candidate electable is when you elect them into office." www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/...

Perspective | Kamala Harris and the coconut tree of hopewww.washingtonpost.com A candidate’s electability exists in a context.

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Perry Bacon

Glad to see this piece on the New Popular Front from Piketty and Cagé. While almost all the attention has been on the gains by the right, the success of a unified left with an ambitious program seems like just as an important story from the French elections. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

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Perry Bacon

wrote about becoming coconut tree-pilled nymag.com/intelligence...

A Socialist’s Case for Kamala Harrisnymag.com She’s not a lefty, but I think she’s our best option.

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Perry Bacon

I think that the people who ignored or yelled at those who pointed out that A LOT of voters thought Biden was too old for another term should do some self-reflection but I don't think they will have the humility to do so.

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Perry Bacon

CNN's new poll: Trump leads Biden 49/43. Trump leads Harris 47/45. Some differences: —Independents: Biden -10%. Harris +3%. —People of color: Biden +21. Harris +29. The side-by-side:

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas is I think the first sitting Democratic member of Congress to call for Biden to opt out of running for reelection. www.texastribune.org/2024/07/02/l...

Democratic Congressman Lloyd Doggett calls on Biden to withdraw from …www.texastribune.org Doggett, 77, is the first Texas Democrat in Congress to call for Biden to withdraw from the ticket.

"With the unknown candidates, there is more upside potential. Novelty is always a powerful force in politics. And the electorate right now is screaming for something new and different," writes @leedrutman.bsky.social. leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-many-u...

The many uncertainties of saying good Bidenleedrutman.substack.com Sometimes the risk of staying the course is greater than changing the course. Here’s how I’m thinking about the choice Democrats have to make, and the consequences for 2024 and beyond.

"After many of Biden’s accomplishments have been dismantled and erased by right wing courts, it will become clear that his inability to get to the right place on those two issues was one of his most deadly miscalculations," writes @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social. www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/the-end-of...

The End of Liberal Institutionalismwww.hamiltonnolan.com Excessive belief in institutions is a proven failure.

www.thenation.com/article/arch...

A Senior DNC Member Says There’s a Way to Replace Biden and Beat Trumpwww.thenation.com James Zogby, who has served on the Democratic National Committee for decades, says that if Biden stands down, the DNC can establish a transparent, fair process to choose its nominee.

“Nothing fundamentally changed about this election last night,” said Quentin Fulks, Mr. Biden’s deputy campaign manager. "We’re going to get punched. We’re going to punch back. We’re going to get up when we get punched.” www.nytimes.com/2024/06/30/u...

48 Hours to Fix a 90-Minute Mess: Inside the Biden Camp’s Post-Debate Frenzywww.nytimes.com With countless calls and a rush of campaign events, the president’s team began a damage-control effort to pressure and plead with anxious Democratic lawmakers, surrogates, activists and donors.

"Above all, Biden and those around him need to understand that this is not about them, their touchiness over who has underestimated the president in the past or who is loyal and disloyal." www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | What Biden owes his country if he stays inwww.washingtonpost.com He needs to show he has clear strategy for undoing the damage of his debate performance.

"He’s being selfish. He’s putting himself ahead of the country. He’s surrounded by opportunistic enablers. He has created a reality distortion field where we’re told not to believe what we’ve plainly seen. His hubris is infuriating." www.nytimes.com/2024/06/29/o...

Opinion | The Ghastly vs. the Ghostlywww.nytimes.com Do the Democrats really want to stop Trump? What are they prepared to do?

Interesting. www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2024/6/...

"Biden’s subtler, policy-driven steps — deport a million people here, hire more immigration judges there, offer temporary protection to 300,000 recently arrived Haitian immigrants over here —don’t offer a feeling of comfort to anyone, whether immigrant or native-born." theracket.news/p/there-were...

There were two debates last nighttheracket.news One pitted Donald Trump against reality and a complacent pair of moderators. The other pitted Joe Biden against himself. Everyone lost.

"Instead, the party decided it would smother democracy to protect the struggling president, ruling out any debates and even simply declaring him the winner of some primary contests without any voting." jacobin.com/2024/06/demo...

Democrats Can No Longer Pretend Biden Is Fit to Be Presidentjacobin.com The Democratic establishment has been fretting about Joe Biden’s fitness for years behind closed doors, while misleading and dissembling about it in public. Last night’s presidential debate shattered ...

"We’re at this place where both candidates are repeatedly using a moral panic and pushing more state power and systemic repression at the border and in communities across the country." www.democracynow.org/2024/6/28/bi...

Biden-Trump Debate: Silky Shah on How Both Candidates Scapegoat Immigrants, Promote Xenophobic Mythswww.democracynow.org Thursday’s CNN debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump was “a really, really rough night for those who are fighting for immigrant rights,” says Silky Shah, executive direc...

www.nytimes.com/2024/06/28/o...

Opinion | Kamala Harris Could Win This Election. Let Her.www.nytimes.com The vice president is the obvious path out of the mess Joe Biden has created.