Is Donald Trump a 90s-era Democrat? This week’s guest, the estimable Batya Ungar-Sargon, argues that he might be just that. She joins the podcast for a fascinating conversation about her new book: Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America’s Working Men and Women. Based on her in-depth conversations with working-class Americans across the country, we explore the plundering of the middle class, elite paternalism, and why the working class isn’t getting behind Biden. Stick around as Batya makes the case for why the party that focuses on the health care-immigration nexus can establish a ruling ..read more

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks from the White House on May 02, 2024 about recent protests across the United States on college campuses. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) When President Biden delivers the keynote address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Day of Remembrance later this morning, he’ll be speaking to two main audiences—a divided American public just six months before national elections, and the people of a Middle East traumatized by a war that began exactly seven months ago with a brutal Hamas attack against Israel. The Liberal Patriot is a reader-supported publicatio ..read more

Flooding such as that seen in downtown Montpelier, Vermont in 2023 is often attributed to a new era of climate-related catastrophes. But is this correct? (Photo John Tully via Getty Images) Flooding is among the most consequential natural hazards and globally accounts for tens of thousands of deaths per year and hundreds of billions of dollars of damage per year. When rivers overrun their banks or flash floods occur from extreme rainfall, many media outlets will reflexively report on the flooding as though we are in a fundamentally new situation due to climate change. Consider the following ..read more

Carl Oglesby, a national officer for Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) addresses protesters at Columbia’s graduation on June 4, 1968. His book on the demise of SDS is worth a read to see how mass-based movements fall apart. (Photo by Don Jacobsen via Getty Images) The current wave of student demonstrations/occupations/encampments around Israel-Gaza has drawn some comparisons to the large protest wave of 1968. To be sure, there are some similarities…but also some very large and important differences. To understand this, we need to get in the Wayback Machine and revisit the era, not just ..read more

Just 39 percent of voters are enthusiastic about the impending rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The lack of excitement is no surprise: both men are deeply unpopular. What is surprising, however, is the large partisan enthusiasm gap. According to fresh polling from Monmouth, 63 percent of Republicans are “very” or “somewhat” enthusiastic about the election, compared to just 36 percent of Democrats. This 27-point gap places Democratic enthusiasm closer to that of independents—a group that usually slots in significantly below firmer partisans. This reluctance extends across key comp ..read more

Two things are clear about the 2024 campaign at this point. One is that Biden is still trailing Trump: he’s behind nationally in both the RCP and 538 running averages, as well as in every single swing state. The other is that his two great vulnerabilities are the economy/inflation and immigration, generally the two most important issues to voters. Indeed the latter now sometimes eclipses the former in importance as it has in the Gallup poll for the last three months. Immigration was very important in the 2016 election as well. One way David Shor frequently illustrated the dynamic in 2016 re ..read more

Immigration and border security are top priorities for voters in 2024. President Biden with US Customs and Border Protection officers at the US-Mexico border in 2023. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images) Immigration is one of the two most important issues to American voters in the 2024 election according to brand new data from The Liberal Patriot and Blueprint. In a survey of 4,038 registered voters, conducted online in April 2024 by YouGov, voters express equal concern about “immigration and border security”—selected as one of the most important issues facing the country by 38 perc ..read more

American and Ukrainian flags frame the U.S. Capitol dome during the Senate debate over President Biden’s request for military aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan on April 23. (Credit: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) Last week, the House finally took action on the military aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan that President Biden requested six months ago. White House briefings on the dire state of Ukraine’s war effort as well as Iran’s mid-April missile and drone barrage against Israel appear to have put the fear of God into Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), spurring him to mo ..read more

The remains of an Iranian missile fired at Israel on April 14 in a mined area near the Dead Sea. (Credit: Saeed Qaq/Anadolu via Getty Images) Throughout his political career, two abiding policy principles have animated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: identifying Iran as Israel’s greatest regional challenge and opposing the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Though Netanyahu has linked these two impulses together—and they have in some ways reinforced each other—they have often come into conflict. In the aftermath of Iran’s barrage of approximately 320 ballistic missi ..read more

The Enchantments—name says it all. (Author photo) When spring hits the east coast, the local trails are perfect for warming up the legs in a mostly bug free and low humidity environment. For backpackers, spring also marks the start of planning season for big trips later in the summer or early fall in places with seriously impressive peaks, lung-busting climbs, and dramatic vistas. Here are a few of my favorite spots for multi-day backpacking trips—away from the hassles of everyday life and into some of the best terrain in the world. Wonderland Trail, Mount Rainier National Park. The crown je ..read more