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Perry Bacon

Perry Bacon

Washington Post

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Why Does Gavin Newsom Keep Helping the Oligarchs?

This year Gavin Newsom has shown that he would be a billionaire-friendly president. Which means he shouldn’t be president at all. In short order, we...

09.10.2026 4

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Are the Blue Wave Polls Too Good to Be True?

I’m nervous about the polls and election forecasts projecting a huge Democratic wave. And I think you should be too.

07.10.2026 6

New Republic

Perry Bacon

The Left Must Fight The New York Times’ Monopoly Too

The New York Times has a massive, almost hegemonic influence on the political discourse among liberals in America. That’s a bold statement, and not...

01.10.2026 100

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Why Democrats Should Stop Using the Phrase “Culture Wars”

Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa, who is surprisingly close in polls against Republican incumbent Greg Abbott, attributes that...

29.09.2026 10

New Republic

Perry Bacon

The White House Press Corps Must Stand With CNN, MS NOW, and Politico

CNN, MS NOW, and Politico jointly filed a lawsuit on Monday to overturn President Trump’s decision over the weekend to bar their reporters from the...

21.09.2026 10

New Republic

Perry Bacon

How the Midterms Could Shrink Red State America—and Why It Matters

The Democrats are poised to gain control of the House and potentially the Senate this November, which would substantially weaken President Trump and...

16.09.2026 10

New Republic

Perry Bacon

How Keisha Lance Bottoms and David Crowley Can Make Political History

Many Americans who live in suburbs and rural areas don’t like the big, left-leaning metropolitan areas nearby. And while it’s hard to say exactly...

14.09.2026 10

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Good Riddance, Seth Moulton: You Got What You Deserved

The biggest reason that Kamala Harris lost the 2024 election is probably the post-Covid-19 inflation and anti-incumbent sentiment that resulted in...

01.09.2026 10

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Stop the Sabotage, Democrats! You Need Talarico and El-Sayed to Win.

Over the next two months, James Talarico and Abdul El-Sayed will face tens millions of dollars in negative ads savaging them, Fox News and a broader...

01.09.2026 10

New Republic

Perry Bacon

What the Hell Are Karen Bass, Xavier Becerra, and Gavin Newsom Doing?

Twelve Democratic attorneys general, including California’s Rob Bonta, filed a lawsuit last month to block the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery...

25.08.2026 10

New Republic

Perry Bacon

The DNC Did Something Right? Actually, It Was Three Things!

Recent news about Democratic National Committee has all been terrible. The author of the committee’s much-delayed autopsy of the 2024 campaign...

17.08.2026 10

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Francesca Hong’s Loss Is Both a Blessing and a Curse for Progressives

The progressive momentum of the summer has stalled. Francesca Hong’s surprising loss in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, following...

12.08.2026 10

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Actually, AOC, Woke 1.0 Did a Lot of Good Things for This Country

State Representative Francesca Hong, the frontrunner in tomorrow’s Democratic Wisconsin gubernatorial Wisconsin primary, has been dogged by tweets...

10.08.2026 10

New Republic

Perry Bacon

It Wasn’t a Blowout, but El-Sayed Won. Get Behind Him, Democrats.

Coming into Election Day, Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary was widely expected. A blowout seemed possible....

05.08.2026 10

New Republic

Perry Bacon

The Solution to the Democrats’ John Fetterman Problem

Flipping four Senate seats, which would give Democrats a 51-seat majority in the upper house, is a daunting enough challenge for this midterm cycle....

04.08.2026 10

New Republic

Perry Bacon

How the Democrats Can Win by Losing in Montana and Other States

Alani Bankhead, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Montana, should end her campaign and clear the path for independent Seth Bodnar to consolidate...

30.07.2026 10

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Can Progressive Candidates Win in Swing States? They Already Have.

Center-left Democratic officials are coalescing around the opponents of Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong and Michigan Senate candidate...

29.07.2026 10

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Why Democrats Should Stop Obsessing About the 2028 Primary Calendar

Top Democratic National Committee officials are meeting this week to determine which states will vote first in the 2028 nomination contest. And this...

24.07.2026 10

New Republic

Perry Bacon

The Two Chances for the Media to Show It Really Cares About Democracy

The mainstream media has two huge upcoming opportunities to prove that it prioritizes democratic principles over placating President Trump and his...

16.07.2026 10

New Republic

Perry Bacon

The Dumb Argument Driving the Michigan Senate Democratic Primary

Representative Haley Stevens’s chief argument in her U.S. Senate run in Michigan is, “I beat Republicans.” As she told The Associated Press...

14.07.2026 10

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Graham Platner Was a Train Wreck—but Playing It Safe Is Not the Answer

The Graham Platner campaign has collapsed in spectacular fashion, with the upstart candidate suspending his run for Maine senator in a video he...

09.07.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

The Left Wins in Colorado—and It’s Not Because of Gaza or Socialism

The primaries on Tuesday in Colorado weren’t a sweeping victory for the Democratic left like last week’s in New York, where three very progressive...

01.07.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Democratic Centrists Need to Stop Saying “Both Sides” Have “Extremes”

In the wake of victories by candidates who New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed, Senator Joe Manchin complained, “The extremes are driving the...

30.06.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Zohran Mamdani Now Has Real Power. Here’s What He Wants to Do With It.

Being the mayor of New York is an enormous task for anyone, let alone a 34-year-old. But Zohran Mamdani’s ambitions seem to go beyond leading the...

24.06.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

It’s 100% Right to Admire Obama—and 100% Wrong to Emulate Him

The opening of Barack Obama’s presidential library in Chicago this Friday has inspired a new round of conversations around his remarkable rise and...

18.06.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Democratic Progressives Are Winning Primaries Everywhere. Here’s Why.

Abdul El-Sayed ran for governor of Michigan in 2018, emphasizing his progressive views and endorsement from Senator Bernie Sanders. He didn’t gain...

16.06.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Graham Platner Is Weakened—But He Can Still Win in November

Graham Platner will kick off starts his first general election at one of the lowest points of his upstart Senate campaign. There has been nonstop...

10.06.2026 30

New Republic

Perry Bacon

The Real California Lesson: The Democratic Party Has No Actual Leaders

Democrats avoided the worst outcome in the California governor’s race. While it will take several more days for the state’s mail-in ballots to be...

08.06.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Scott Pelley Knew Exactly What He Was Doing in Trashing Bari Weiss

CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss lost her initial battle against the staff of 60 Minutes. That was back in December, when she blocked the airing of...

03.06.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Are We Wrong to Assume a Black Democrat Is Best for Black Voters?

Florida Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz is the exact kind of Democrat I usually criticize. She’s been in Congress for more than 20 years,...

02.06.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Some States Are More Anti-Democracy Than Others. Guess Where They Are?

On Tuesday, federal judges blocked an attempt by Alabama Republicans to eliminate a heavily Black congressional district, and GOP politicians in South...

27.05.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Thomas Massie’s Defeat Will Tighten Trump’s Grip on the GOP

Donald Trump has convinced Republican voters to exile seven conservative politicians from the Republican Party in the last two weeks. Not moderates....

19.05.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

The Week Where Republicans May Have Stolen the Midterms

Republican state legislators, governors, state supreme court justices, and U.S. Supreme Court justices have combined over the last week to effectively...

12.05.2026 30

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Indiana Primary Results Prove It: The GOP Is Still a Trump Cult

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, and a long list of other powerful figures in the party spent last winter and...

06.05.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

What Suddenly Made Jon Ossoff Into Such a Democratic Rock Star?

A year ago, Senator Jon Ossoff seemed like he might be a one-hit wonder—elected in that short period from November 2020 to January 2021 when Georgia...

06.05.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Graham Platner’s Next Fight Is Even More Consequential

Maine Governor Janet Mills’s decision to suspend her U.S. Senate campaign and effectively concede to upstart Graham Platner is a huge temporary...

30.04.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

The DeSantis Gerrymander Shows the Wisdom of Virginia Democrats

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis this week is pushing his state’s GOP-dominated legislature to adopt a gerrymandering scheme that could...

29.04.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Zohran Mamdani Has Two Big Problems—They’re Called Hochul and Menin

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin raises objections to almost everything Mayor Zohran Mamdani proposes, from his budget to his plans to create...

26.04.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

The Redistricting Vote: Virginia Is Where Trump’s Scheme Came to Die

Yes, Virginia! The passage of a ballot initiative that allows Virginia Democrats to gerrymander the state’s congressional districts will make it...

21.04.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Count ’Em on One Hand: Trump’s Global Friends Are Disappearing Fast

Pope Leo XIV may be the most prominent and respected figure abroad who is increasingly critical of President Trump. But he’s far from alone....

17.04.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Guess Who Else (Besides Orbán) Lost in Hungary’s Wipeout Election?

President Trump and Vice President JD Vance treated Hungary’s election like it was a U.S. Senate race in the United States. Vance flew to Budapest...

13.04.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Vance, Rubio, and Wiles: Iran War? What Iran War? Don’t Look at Me!

Hours before the announcement of a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran, The New York Times published a story titled, “How Trump...

08.04.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Bernie Sanders’s New, Necessary, Bold Act: Taking on the AI Oligarchs

This time last year, Senator Bernie Sanders was giving speeches in front of thousands of people, decrying what he correctly describes as an...

06.04.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Pam Bondi’s Firing Is a Sign of Trump’s Increasing Weakness

President Trump wanted his Department of Justice to prosecute and put in jail former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia...

02.04.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

A GOP Governor? In California? Unless the Dems Get It Together, Yes.

The Democrats are in danger of giving away one of the most important perches in American politics, particularly with a radical Republican like Donald...

30.03.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

A Shocking Third Report Gives U.S. Democracy Another Terrible Score

The United States is in a period with a “persistence of diminished democracy,” according to a report that will be released on Tuesday. It’s the...

24.03.2026 30

New Republic

Perry Bacon

The Party of AOC or AIPAC? In Illinois, Neither Bloc Could Dominate

The primaries in deep-blue Illinois on Tuesday were a test of who has power and influence in the Democratic Party. In three primaries for open U.S....

18.03.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Finally, Democrats—of All Stripes—Are Coming After the Wealthy’s Money

The state of Washington is on the verge of enacting a 9.9 percent tax on income over $1 million. Rhode Island’s governor has proposed a 3 percent...

18.03.2026 20

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Democratic Voters Don’t Want Vanilla Centrism

You can watch this conversation above, on Substack, or YouTube.

13.03.2026 40

New Republic

Perry Bacon

Here We Go Again: A War that Makes Me Ashamed to Be an American

We’re 13 days into the U.S.-Israel war against Iran—and it seems as ill-conceived and wrong as when it started. Oil prices keep going up....

11.03.2026 30

New Republic

Perry Bacon