Adam Pontius

You know-- I'll bet that might abstract into a pretty nifty republican tradition if one of the former colonies picked it up... 🤔

(you and I both)

Not a question of candidate virtue, it's a question of whether 'vote blue no matter who' is effective political messaging.

I'd argue that without further substance, the narrow bluntness of VBNMW's focus on top of ticket and ambiguity for bottom of ticket and reform make it less than sufficient.

Common sense can be interpreted in a number of different ways, Maine Dems have made peace with Angus but have also run kamikaze campaigns at other indies. I fear "vote blue no matter who" without at least little more substance (restore democracy? ban the cheaters?) doesn't quite cut the mustard.

Bear in mind, both states also have ranked-choice voting for various offices (although am more certain of ME's status than Alaska's).

Am curious how far you see this principle extending? There are states like Maine and Alaska where indies are regularly more competitive than Democrats both at district level and state level (depending on candidates, cycle). Would this mean voting for a Democrat over Angus King, for example?

Which is precisely why its so important to actually discuss candidates other than the ones we assume will be problematic. If Newsom actually does float your boat... congratulations... I guess... you and I clearly look for different things in politicians.

Hardly worth giving Newsom (or the dead ender tankies) the oxygen by engaging in that convo, at least IMO. `28 doesn't have many positives going for it, but it will at least be the freshest set of Dems in a long time. Have to take the political silver linings where they come.

Let them do their thing, many will never change (if they were capable of being shamed into it by now they already would have) and those who might still are more likely to respond to positive messaging, not shame-based messaging.

Focus on enunciating who you like and why!

Indulging the folks who obsessively fear Newsom in arguments over him now is not going to make them any more likely to vote for him in `28, and will just turn everyone else off the process. Talk about folks you like and why.

Don't give them oxygen. The fantasists will do just fine on their own.

We're not even through the midterms yet, surely there is time to think up options better than Newsom.

So this is the kind of polling that's far more useful than the generic "approve/disapprove" Gallup was doing. Gallup may be doing away with that polling entirely because they fear displeasing Dear Leader but I'm not going to miss it. Trump doesn't believe negative polling, anyway.

While 2025 seems like a million years ago by now, it is still worth listening to our "2025 in Review", featuring Erin Jenne @erinjenne.bsky.social, Adam Pontius @ampontius.bsky.social, Letitia Roman @letitiaroman.bsky.social, and Markus Pollak @markuspo.bsky.social.

open.spotify.com/episode/4mEj...

YouTube video by Vienna Dialogues- Coffee and IR Where geopolitics and higher ed meet: A conversation with historian Michael Ignatieff

Check out our very first video-podcast with Michael Ignatieff on the topic "Where geopolitics and higher ed meet". Hosts @ampontius.bsky.social and @erinjenne.bsky.social interviewed him and asked some of the most pressing questions about liberalism in illiberal times.

youtu.be/F0xt4vmsG28?...

Maybe done for the wrong reasons, but fundamentally a good idea. We know everything we need to know about approval rating to know that it doesn't offer voters useful information in forming political judgements.

Measurement for measurement's sake in social science is a disservice to the public.

YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

When the CBP or ICE agent that Stephen Miller is trying to get killed dies, it is extremely important that every member of the media be told, repeatedly and loudly, that they wanted this and that people called it out in advance.

I will just keep repeating. I have never never never seen anything like this. 30 years of reporting.

Volunteers going out in winter weather is one of the most inspiring things I witnessed as an organizer. A story that stuck with me was a volunteer telling me how she’d bring 8 pens with her so that should rotate them in and out of her coat to thaw the ink while collecting sigs in -10 degree weather

Certainly not the most important thing about that question but those numbers don’t quite add up right. How is support and and oppose tied if strong support is one point higher and weak support is equal? Inconsistent rounding at the very least.

My wife and I have decided that ‘Yorgos’ ought to be its own genre of film.

There is just no clear category for what he does.

Trump & Sons: providing coup d’états for very normal price since 2026.

I think this is fair. I don’t think it’s entirely accurate. Congress has restrained Trump’s instincts on NATO and Ukraine.

The issue is that GOP leadership doesn’t take issue with his policy on Latin America, so they’re very happy to let ‘carry the water.’

To put a sharper edge on this: if you lean entirely on legal arguments then you will find yourself leaning on nothing if (when) the laws change (yes, even if they change illegally).

Moral argument first. Legal arguments in support. That’s good politics.

Maduro is a brutal and oppressive dictator of Venezuela.

Trump has no legitimate legal basis for military action against Venezuela under United States or international law.

Both of those facts are simultaneously true.

In Mexico, Bogota, and Brasilia, leaders are surely looking at this and asking if he can do it in Caracas, what's stopping him from doing it here. The same realization might take a bit longer in Ottawa, Copenhagen, and London.

Shredding what little remains of trust in the USA.

i think that people really underestimate reality that

1) administration has no doctrine, it is really about a single, mercurial, and half-awake man

2) the administration is a constantly churning system with factions that rise and fall contextually

3) might not have happened if trump tower caracas

Well I suspect this confirms that the National Security Strategy that was just released did in fact reflect some significant policy realities.

Can’t think of a much more horrifying way Trump could have demonstrated that.

Tonight I'm remembering Melissa Hortman. She devoted her life to bettering politics by serving her community through civic life. That she was killed for her service makes us uglier as a people and dims whatever light is left in our city on the hill.

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.

—Abraham Lincoln