newyorker--2020-02-12--The Queer Opposition to Pete Buttigieg, Explained

By now , you may have heard that some queer people think that Pete Buttigieg , the former mayor of South Bend , Indiana , and a current contender for the Democratic Presidential nomination , is not gay enough .
Unless you are immersed in this conversation with other queer people , you may have thought , “ That ’ s ridiculous.
” I am here to explain .
The notion that some of us think Buttigieg is not gay enough has an identifiable relationship to the facts , which are that , for the purposes of this discussion , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country fall into two distinct categories of experience .
One is the experience of never fitting in , being bullied by classmates for the way you walk , the way you look in clothes , the way you hit or fail to hit—all the things that set you apart before you have language to describe them .
The novelist and essayist Alexander Chee has written , “ In the second grade , the boys would stop me in the hall to tell me I walked like a girl , my hips switching.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of that experience .
And then there is the other experience , the life of blending in , only to surprise your classmates—or , more likely , former classmates who follow you on social media—with the revelation that you are gay .
I am not arguing that one category of experience is worse or more difficult or painful than the other .
There are people who revel in their specialness from an early age , and there are people who fit in but feel tormented by their deep secret .
I am saying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are very different .
Though as grownups we have more control over our appearance and performance , the gap in experience follows us into adulthood .
Recently , a friend mentioned that , after thirty years of teaching , she had mentioned her wife in class for the first time , surprising her students with the revelation that she was gay—and I found myself momentarily marvelling at having the option to come out to one ’ s students or not .
As part of his campaign , and in developing his political persona @ @ @ @ @ @ @ story about his coming out .
His is the story of someone who blended in and was therefore able—or , one might say , forced to—choose the circumstances and timing of his coming out .
He chose to wait a long time : until after he graduated from college , after he had served in the military , after he had been elected mayor .
He has made it clear that he feared that , if he had come out sooner , his political career might have suffered .
But he didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in his political career .
He also waited until after attitudes toward homosexuality had changed and same-sex marriage had become legal in more than half the states and was recognized by the federal government—all thanks to the courage and work of people who came out before Buttigieg did .
Then , in 2015 , he had the chutzpah to write an op-ed titled “ Why Coming Out Matters , ” in which he praised himself for “ putting something this personal on the pages of a newspaper.
” Many a reader might have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ friend mentioned her relationship with her students , what it must be like to have the option of not being exposed .
Again , I am not saying that L.G.B.T .
people who don ’ t pass are somehow morally superior to L.G.B.T .
people who do .
But these two distinct experiences are in some ways correlated with two divergent tracks in L.G.B.T .
politics .
One kind of queer politics is rooted in ideas of liberation , revolutionary change , and solidarity .
The vision of this politics is a society @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of people fighting many kinds of injustice , a society in which economic , social , political , and sexual relationships have been transformed .
The roots of this politics are acknowledged in an open letter authored by a group called Queers Against Pete .
( The letter was signed , according to the organizers , by more than two thousand people . )
They wrote , “ We are clear that LGBTQIA people are directly and disproportionately impacted by police violence , incarceration , unaffordable healthcare , homelessness , deportation , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strategy of this brand of politics is to work across differences to bring about change .
The other , more mainstream , and often more visible kind of L.G.B.T .
politics aims to erase difference .
Its message to straight people is “ We are just like you , and all we want is the right to have what you have : marriage , children , a house with a picket fence , and the right to serve in the military.
” The vision of this politics is a society in all respects @ @ @ @ @ @ @ live now , except queer people have successfully and permanently blended in .
To be sure , all kinds of queer people have been involved in both kinds of queer politics .
But the politics of being “ just like you ” leaves out the people who can not or do not want to be just like conventional straight people , whether in appearance or in the way we construct our lives and families .
Buttigieg embodies the second kind of gay experience and the second kind of gay politics .
In a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Review of Books , Greta LaFleur , a professor of American studies at Yale , analyzed a photograph of Buttigieg and his husband , Chasten , that appeared on the cover of Time magazine in May of last year .
“ This photo is about a lot of things , ” LaFleur wrote .
“ But one of its defining features is its heterosexuality .
It ’ s offering us the promise that our first gay first family might actually be a straight one.
” Time had captioned the photo “ First Family.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of two men be heterosexual ?
LaFleur ’ s use of the term is a bit tongue-in-cheek , but she explains that the “ unmistakable heraldry of ‘ FIRST FAMILY , ’ alongside the rest of the photograph—the tulips ; the Chinos ; the notably charming but insistently generic porch ; the awkwardly minimal touching that invokes the most uncomfortable , unfamiliar , culturally-heterosexual embrace any of us have ever received—offers a vision of heterosexuality without straight people.
” And without women .
Buttigieg is the ultimate candidate of the country ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ woman .
He is not a socialist .
He is decidedly not a revolutionary .
He does not make big , sweeping promises , except one : that nothing much will change , only Donald Trump won ’ t be President .
“ What I like about Mayor Pete is that he is not a strong ideologue , ” Tod Sedgwick , a volunteer who had gone to New Hampshire to canvass for Buttigieg , told me .
Sedgwick , who is seventy-one and the former U.S .
Ambassador to the Slovak Republic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Christina Brown , a seventy-three-year-old community activist from Louisville , Kentucky .
Sedgwick lives in Washington , D.C .
The couple had seen “ Agrippina ” at the Metropolitan Opera before flying to Boston to drive to New Hampshire .
They both thought that Buttigieg ’ s ability to speak about his Christian faith , among other things , helps make him the best candidate .
“ We need Pete ’ s contemporaries to be leading , ” Brown said .
( Her own three grown children , she added , are not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as she is : of the current contenders , they prefer Elizabeth Warren , one of the oldest of the baby boomers . )
Likewise , Margaret Coulter , a fifty-eight-year-old nonprofit director in Newport , New Hampshire , told me that she liked Buttigieg because she was “ leaning toward a younger person as we move into the Internet age.
” What makes Buttigieg an easy and reassuring choice for these older , white , straight people , and a disturbing possibility for the queer people who seem to be criticizing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It is that he is profoundly , essentially conservative .
He is an old politician in a young man ’ s body , a straight politician in a gay man ’ s body .

By now, you may have heard that some queer people think that Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and a current contender for the Democratic Presidential nomination, is not gay enough. Unless you are immersed in this conversation with other queer people, you may have thought, “That’s ridiculous.” I am here to explain.
The notion that some of us think Buttigieg is not gay enough has an identifiable relationship to the facts, which are that, for the purposes of this discussion, people who grew up queer in this country fall into two distinct categories of experience. One is the experience of never fitting in, being bullied by classmates for the way you walk, the way you look in clothes, the way you hit or fail to hit—all the things that set you apart before you have language to describe them. The novelist and essayist Alexander Chee has written, “In the second grade, the boys would stop me in the hall to tell me I walked like a girl, my hips switching.” Millions of people have had a version of that experience. And then there is the other experience, the life of blending in, only to surprise your classmates—or, more likely, former classmates who follow you on social media—with the revelation that you are gay. I am not arguing that one category of experience is worse or more difficult or painful than the other. There are people who revel in their specialness from an early age, and there are people who fit in but feel tormented by their deep secret. I am saying only that these two kinds of experience are very different. Though as grownups we have more control over our appearance and performance, the gap in experience follows us into adulthood. Recently, a friend mentioned that, after thirty years of teaching, she had mentioned her wife in class for the first time, surprising her students with the revelation that she was gay—and I found myself momentarily marvelling at having the option to come out to one’s students or not.
As part of his campaign, and in developing his political persona, Buttigieg has repeatedly told a compelling story about his coming out. His is the story of someone who blended in and was therefore able—or, one might say, forced—to choose the circumstances and timing of his coming out. He chose to wait a long time: until after he graduated from college, after he had served in the military, after he had been elected mayor. He has made it clear that he feared that, if he had come out sooner, his political career might have suffered.
But he didn’t just wait until he was established in his political career. He also waited until after attitudes toward homosexuality had changed and same-sex marriage had become legal in more than half the states and was recognized by the federal government—all thanks to the courage and work of people who came out before Buttigieg did. Then, in 2015, he had the chutzpah to write an op-ed titled “Why Coming Out Matters,” in which he praised himself for “putting something this personal on the pages of a newspaper.” Many a reader might have wondered, as I did when my friend mentioned her relationship with her students, what it must be like to have the option of not being exposed.
Again, I am not saying that L.G.B.T. people who don’t pass are somehow morally superior to L.G.B.T. people who do. But these two distinct experiences are in some ways correlated with two divergent tracks in L.G.B.T. politics. One kind of queer politics is rooted in ideas of liberation, revolutionary change, and solidarity. The vision of this politics is a society that is radically changed by many kinds of people fighting many kinds of injustice, a society in which economic, social, political, and sexual relationships have been transformed. The roots of this politics are acknowledged in an open letter authored by a group called Queers Against Pete. (The letter was signed, according to the organizers, by more than two thousand people.) They wrote, “We are clear that LGBTQIA people are directly and disproportionately impacted by police violence, incarceration, unaffordable healthcare, homelessness, deportation, and economic inequality among other things.” The strategy of this brand of politics is to work across differences to bring about change.
The other, more mainstream, and often more visible kind of L.G.B.T. politics aims to erase difference. Its message to straight people is “We are just like you, and all we want is the right to have what you have: marriage, children, a house with a picket fence, and the right to serve in the military.” The vision of this politics is a society in all respects indistinguishable from the one in which we live now, except queer people have successfully and permanently blended in. To be sure, all kinds of queer people have been involved in both kinds of queer politics. But the politics of being “just like you” leaves out the people who cannot or do not want to be just like conventional straight people, whether in appearance or in the way we construct our lives and families.
Buttigieg embodies the second kind of gay experience and the second kind of gay politics. In a beautiful essay published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Greta LaFleur, a professor of American studies at Yale, analyzed a photograph of Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten, that appeared on the cover of Time magazine in May of last year. “This photo is about a lot of things,” LaFleur wrote. “But one of its defining features is its heterosexuality. It’s offering us the promise that our first gay first family might actually be a straight one.” Time had captioned the photo “First Family.” How can a family that consists of two men be heterosexual? LaFleur’s use of the term is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but she explains that the “unmistakable heraldry of ‘FIRST FAMILY,’ alongside the rest of the photograph—the tulips; the Chinos; the notably charming but insistently generic porch; the awkwardly minimal touching that invokes the most uncomfortable, unfamiliar, culturally-heterosexual embrace any of us have ever received—offers a vision of heterosexuality without straight people.” And without women.
Buttigieg is the ultimate candidate of the country’s post-2016 trauma. He is not a woman. He is not a socialist. He is decidedly not a revolutionary. He does not make big, sweeping promises, except one: that nothing much will change, only Donald Trump won’t be President. “What I like about Mayor Pete is that he is not a strong ideologue,” Tod Sedgwick, a volunteer who had gone to New Hampshire to canvass for Buttigieg, told me. Sedgwick, who is seventy-one and the former U.S. Ambassador to the Slovak Republic, was canvassing with his girlfriend, Christina Brown, a seventy-three-year-old community activist from Louisville, Kentucky. Sedgwick lives in Washington, D.C.
The couple had seen “Agrippina” at the Metropolitan Opera before flying to Boston to drive to New Hampshire. They both thought that Buttigieg’s ability to speak about his Christian faith, among other things, helps make him the best candidate. “We need Pete’s contemporaries to be leading,” Brown said. (Her own three grown children, she added, are not as enthusiastic about Buttigieg, a millennial, as she is: of the current contenders, they prefer Elizabeth Warren, one of the oldest of the baby boomers.) Likewise, Margaret Coulter, a fifty-eight-year-old nonprofit director in Newport, New Hampshire, told me that she liked Buttigieg because she was “leaning toward a younger person as we move into the Internet age.”
What makes Buttigieg an easy and reassuring choice for these older, white, straight people, and a disturbing possibility for the queer people who seem to be criticizing him for not being gay enough? It is that he is profoundly, essentially conservative. He is an old politician in a young man’s body, a straight politician in a gay man’s body.


newyorker--2020-02-12--China’s “Iron House”: Struggling Over Silence in the Coronavirus Epidemic

Long before Lu Xun , the author and poet , became a father of modern Chinese literature , he wanted to be a physician .
In 1904 , he entered medical school in Japan .
“ A glorious future unfurled in my mind , ” he recalled , “ in which I would return to my homeland after graduation and set about medicating its suffering sick.
” But Lu Xun came to believe that medicine , by itself , could engineer only a limited form of progress .
To alter the fate of his country , he wrote , his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He abandoned medical school and returned to China , and , in the next decades , he turned to essays , poetry , and short stories to rage against the perils facing China in the early twentieth century—fear , poverty , conformity , and nationalism among them .
In 1923 , Lu laid down perhaps his most enduring metaphor , for the dilemma that injustice imposes on those who must choose between complacency and fury .
He wrote : Silence , Lu concluded , was tempting but inexcusable ; awakening even the few @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so he wrote , in order to “ encourage those fighters who are galloping on in loneliness , ” as he put it , in the introduction to “ Outcry , ” his first collection of stories .
A century after Lu Xun imagined the suffocations of the iron house , China is besieged by a modern crisis of body and spirit , an epidemic that has threatened its people and underscored the perils of a suffocating politics .
By Wednesday , the coronavirus had sickened more than forty thousand people there and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disease had spread to at least twenty-four countries , sparking fears of a global scourge , as well as an economic chain reaction , as China ’ s economic behemoth fell silent .
By the first week of February , home sales in China had fallen by ninety per cent compared with last February ; car dealers predicted that the month ’ s sales would fall by up to eighty per cent , compared with last year .
Half of China ’ s four-thousand-plus Starbucks were closed .
In the epicenter , Wuhan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people , the disease has been met with courage and stoicism .
At least five hundred doctors and nurses have fallen ill , and patients and hospital staff struggle with a shortage of beds , oxygen bottles , and other supplies .
In a nighttime video of a residential neighborhood , where people have been confined for weeks , residents in modern apartment towers cry out to one another through open windows : “ Wuhan , stay strong !
” The government has fought to shape the perception of the epidemic , even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a heroic ophthalmologist who was one of the first to sound the alarm about the coronavirus .
The police had accused him of spreading rumors , warning , “ If you keep being stubborn , fail to repent , and continue illegal activities , you will be brought to justice.
” But Li was unbowed .
He told Caixin , an investigative magazine based in Beijing , “ I think a healthy society should not only have one kind of voice.
” When Li contracted the virus , and then died , on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a grim charade , they blocked news of his death for hours .
In the following days , they tried to stifle the public grief and outrage , by allowing online commenters to praise his heroism but striking down comments that linked his ordeal to China ’ s tightening constraints on speech .
Even by the standards of China ’ s propaganda system , the effort to control the world ’ s understanding of the virus cast a harsh light on the political culture that President Xi Jinping has encouraged .
Since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much of the bureaucracy has slipped into a posture of resigned obedience , avoiding responsibility and elevating political symbolism .
As the virus spread , the government generated admiring headlines around the world by announcing the construction of two hospitals in a matter of days , but Caixin found that function lags behind publicity ; Leishenshan Hospital had been touted as a facility capable of treating fifteen hundred patients , but , when it opened , on February 8th , it had only thirty beds .
It will almost certainly add more—the city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ between hype and reality has strained the Chinese public ’ s faith in official pronouncements about the crisis .
Last week , in the spirit of Lu Xun ’ s admonitions against silence , the epidemic inspired a manifesto from Xu Zhangrun , a law professor at Tsinghua University , who has emerged as the most prominent intellectual critic of Xi Jinping .
Since Xi suspended term limits , the professor , who is a scholar of Chinese constitutional law , has circulated a series of searing critiques of one-man rule and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Party .
On February 4th , he published online “ Viral Alarm , ” an essay that faults Xi and the Party for initially suppressing the discovery of the virus and punishing truthtellers , a campaign of official silence that “ served to embolden deception at every level of government.
” He wrote , “ No matter how complex , nuanced , and sophisticated one ’ s analysis , the reality is stark .
A polity that is blatantly incapable of treating its own people properly can hardly be expected to treat the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can a nation that doggedly refuses to become a modern political civilization really expect to be part of a meaningful community ?
” The essay extends a theme of social criticism that has coursed through modern China , from Lu Xun to the writings of Liu Xiaobo , a Nobel laureate , who died in 2017 while serving an eleven-year prison sentence for subversion .
Geremie R. Barmé , an independent historian in New Zealand , who translated Xu ’ s essays , told me , “ Writers like Lu Xun and Xu @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as so many others , repeatedly warn against the authoritarian practice summed up by the term 鉗口 , qian kou , an ancient expression meaning ‘ to clamp mouths shut.
’ Although their views and political aspirations differed , they have a shared contempt for , and warn against , the millennia-old autocratic tradition.
” In his essay on the virus , Xu called on the government to live up to Article 35 of the Chinese constitution , which guarantees “ freedom of speech , of the press , of assembly , of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demonstration.
” But Xu has no illusion that any change is coming soon .
For his writing , he has already paid a heavy price : Last March , Tsinghua University demoted him and banned him from teaching and publishing .
He continues to write , though , and his work has circulated widely among Chinese intellectuals and abroad .
Because his latest essay assails Chinese leaders at a vulnerable moment , he expected that it might incur a harsher punishment—that , as he wrote , “ this may well even be the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he ended with a call to his countrymen “ who have no way of fleeing this land.
” He wrote , “ I call on them : rage against this injustice ; let your lives burn with a flame of decency ; break through the stultifying darkness and welcome the dawn.
” A century ago , Lu Xun believed that for China to become truly modern , to reclaim its place among the world ’ s great powers , it must acknowledge that its people have , as the late doctor Li put @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of voice.
” Lu wanted writers to avoid the ancient literary forms and adopt a vernacular Chinese that would expand the realm of both readers and writers .
In a speech in Hong Kong , in 1927 , he said , “ Youth must first transform China into a China with a voice .
They must speak boldly , move forward courageously , forget all considerations of personal advantage , push aside the ancients , and express their authentic feelings.
” He died in 1936 .
But the struggle he described , to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voiceless China , ” still rages .

Long before Lu Xun, the author and poet, became a father of modern Chinese literature, he wanted to be a physician. In 1904, he entered medical school in Japan. “A glorious future unfurled in my mind,” he recalled, “in which I would return to my homeland after graduation and set about medicating its suffering sick.”
But Lu Xun came to believe that medicine, by itself, could engineer only a limited form of progress. To alter the fate of his country, he wrote, his people must “change their spirit.” He abandoned medical school and returned to China, and, in the next decades, he turned to essays, poetry, and short stories to rage against the perils facing China in the early twentieth century—fear, poverty, conformity, and nationalism among them. In 1923, Lu laid down perhaps his most enduring metaphor, for the dilemma that injustice imposes on those who must choose between complacency and fury. He wrote:
Imagine an iron house without windows, absolutely indestructible, with many people fast asleep inside who will soon die of suffocation. But you know since they will die in their sleep, they will not feel the pain of death. Now if you cry aloud to wake a few of the lighter sleepers, making those unfortunate few suffer the agony of irrevocable death, do you think you are doing them a good turn?
Silence, Lu concluded, was tempting but inexcusable; awakening even the few might also save the others. And so he wrote, in order to “encourage those fighters who are galloping on in loneliness,” as he put it, in the introduction to “Outcry,” his first collection of stories.
A century after Lu Xun imagined the suffocations of the iron house, China is besieged by a modern crisis of body and spirit, an epidemic that has threatened its people and underscored the perils of a suffocating politics. By Wednesday, the coronavirus had sickened more than forty thousand people there and killed more than a thousand. The disease had spread to at least twenty-four countries, sparking fears of a global scourge, as well as an economic chain reaction, as China’s economic behemoth fell silent. By the first week of February, home sales in China had fallen by ninety per cent compared with last February; car dealers predicted that the month’s sales would fall by up to eighty per cent, compared with last year. Half of China’s four-thousand-plus Starbucks were closed.
In the epicenter, Wuhan, a quarantined city of eleven million people, the disease has been met with courage and stoicism. At least five hundred doctors and nurses have fallen ill, and patients and hospital staff struggle with a shortage of beds, oxygen bottles, and other supplies. In a nighttime video of a residential neighborhood, where people have been confined for weeks, residents in modern apartment towers cry out to one another through open windows: “Wuhan, stay strong!”
The government has fought to shape the perception of the epidemic, even after the death of Li Wenliang, a heroic ophthalmologist who was one of the first to sound the alarm about the coronavirus. The police had accused him of spreading rumors, warning, “If you keep being stubborn, fail to repent, and continue illegal activities, you will be brought to justice.” But Li was unbowed. He told Caixin, an investigative magazine based in Beijing, “I think a healthy society should not only have one kind of voice.” When Li contracted the virus, and then died, on February 7th, state censors panicked; in a grim charade, they blocked news of his death for hours. In the following days, they tried to stifle the public grief and outrage, by allowing online commenters to praise his heroism but striking down comments that linked his ordeal to China’s tightening constraints on speech.
Even by the standards of China’s propaganda system, the effort to control the world’s understanding of the virus cast a harsh light on the political culture that President Xi Jinping has encouraged. Since Xi removed term limits in 2018, much of the bureaucracy has slipped into a posture of resigned obedience, avoiding responsibility and elevating political symbolism. As the virus spread, the government generated admiring headlines around the world by announcing the construction of two hospitals in a matter of days, but Caixin found that function lags behind publicity; Leishenshan Hospital had been touted as a facility capable of treating fifteen hundred patients, but, when it opened, on February 8th, it had only thirty beds. It will almost certainly add more—the city is desperately overstretched—but this sort of gap between hype and reality has strained the Chinese public’s faith in official pronouncements about the crisis.
Last week, in the spirit of Lu Xun’s admonitions against silence, the epidemic inspired a manifesto from Xu Zhangrun, a law professor at Tsinghua University, who has emerged as the most prominent intellectual critic of Xi Jinping. Since Xi suspended term limits, the professor, who is a scholar of Chinese constitutional law, has circulated a series of searing critiques of one-man rule and the campaign to eliminate challenges to the Communist Party. On February 4th, he published online “Viral Alarm,” an essay that faults Xi and the Party for initially suppressing the discovery of the virus and punishing truthtellers, a campaign of official silence that “served to embolden deception at every level of government.” He wrote, “No matter how complex, nuanced, and sophisticated one’s analysis, the reality is stark. A polity that is blatantly incapable of treating its own people properly can hardly be expected to treat the rest of the world well. How can a nation that doggedly refuses to become a modern political civilization really expect to be part of a meaningful community?”
The essay extends a theme of social criticism that has coursed through modern China, from Lu Xun to the writings of Liu Xiaobo, a Nobel laureate, who died in 2017 while serving an eleven-year prison sentence for subversion. Geremie R. Barmé, an independent historian in New Zealand, who translated Xu’s essays, told me, “Writers like Lu Xun and Xu Zhangrun, and like Xiaobo as well as so many others, repeatedly warn against the authoritarian practice summed up by the term 鉗口, qian kou, an ancient expression meaning ‘to clamp mouths shut.’ Although their views and political aspirations differed, they have a shared contempt for, and warn against, the millennia-old autocratic tradition.”
In his essay on the virus, Xu called on the government to live up to Article 35 of the Chinese constitution, which guarantees “freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession, and of demonstration.” But Xu has no illusion that any change is coming soon. For his writing, he has already paid a heavy price: Last March, Tsinghua University demoted him and banned him from teaching and publishing. He continues to write, though, and his work has circulated widely among Chinese intellectuals and abroad. Because his latest essay assails Chinese leaders at a vulnerable moment, he expected that it might incur a harsher punishment—that, as he wrote, “this may well even be the last piece I write.” Still, he ended with a call to his countrymen “who have no way of fleeing this land.” He wrote, “I call on them: rage against this injustice; let your lives burn with a flame of decency; break through the stultifying darkness and welcome the dawn.”


newyorker--2020-02-12--Fun Facts About Love Bugs

Fun Facts About Love Bugs

Easily distracted by artificial light and pinging sounds , these little critters are antisocial , despite preferring to travel in large groups .
They spend the majority of their lives courting one another , although they do reproduce eventually , much to the relief of the entomologists studying them !
These jumpy invertebrates are the only bugs known to sweat !
First-date jitterbugs come in a wide swatch of colors , ranging from extremely vibrant to very , very dull .
Keep your eyes on them long enough and you may be lucky enough to see one puke—an activity they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ !
Tall , dark , and handsome , one-night stick insects are nocturnal and can be observed scurrying around during odd hours of the morning .
They famously never fertilize the same egg twice .
Talk about commitment issues !
The life spans of young-love locusts are tragically short , lasting only ten weeks on average .
After they ’ ve found a partner , their lips permanently fuse together , resulting in death by thirst and starvation .
This sounds brutal , but don ’ t be sad !
Young-love locusts make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inhabit public spaces .
So we ’ re happy to be rid of them !
There ’ s nothing creepy about these crawlies , aside from the fact that no one is sure where one long-term worm starts and the other one stops !
These docile bugs are remarkably domestic , preferring to spend most of their time in the same patch of soil .
However , they ’ re in good company !
Long-term worms usually like to clump together with other long-term-worm couples , much to the envy of many lonely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ insect kingdom , married mayflies stay together for the larvae , even if they haven ’ t directly communicated in years !
All resources are channeled into these little grubs , who will thank their mommies and daddies by eating them when it ’ s time to leave the nest .
How ’ s that for a “ thank you ” ?
Divorce bees are most commonly found in dark , solitary spaces , although some have been known to adopt dust mites for company .
They love to observe how other divorce @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much as they enjoy eating pizza !
Don ’ t let their name fool you—single caterpillars want to be anything but !
These fuzzy creatures are highly social , but emit a tear-like ooze at the slightest provocation , scaring off most insects other than one-night stick insects .
Fortunately , after stress-eating copious amounts of plants , they get to take a lo-o-ong nap in their comfy , cozy cocoon !
A happy upgrade from the single caterpillar and the T.L.C .
of insects , single butterflies DON ’ T WANT NO @ @

Just-Texting Beetles
Easily distracted by artificial light and pinging sounds, these little critters are antisocial, despite preferring to travel in large groups. They spend the majority of their lives courting one another, although they do reproduce eventually, much to the relief of the entomologists studying them!
First-Date Jitterbugs
These jumpy invertebrates are the only bugs known to sweat! First-date jitterbugs come in a wide swatch of colors, ranging from extremely vibrant to very, very dull. Keep your eyes on them long enough and you may be lucky enough to see one puke—an activity they do almost incessantly, but in secret!
One-Night Stick Insects
Tall, dark, and handsome, one-night stick insects are nocturnal and can be observed scurrying around during odd hours of the morning. They famously never fertilize the same egg twice. Talk about commitment issues!
Young-Love Locusts
The life spans of young-love locusts are tragically short, lasting only ten weeks on average. After they’ve found a partner, their lips permanently fuse together, resulting in death by thirst and starvation. This sounds brutal, but don’t be sad! Young-love locusts make annoying buzzing sounds nonstop, and exclusively inhabit public spaces. So we’re happy to be rid of them!
Long-Term Worms
There’s nothing creepy about these crawlies, aside from the fact that no one is sure where one long-term worm starts and the other one stops! These docile bugs are remarkably domestic, preferring to spend most of their time in the same patch of soil. However, they’re in good company! Long-term worms usually like to clump together with other long-term-worm couples, much to the envy of many lonely bugs!
Married Mayflies
The ultimate parents of the insect kingdom, married mayflies stay together for the larvae, even if they haven’t directly communicated in years! All resources are channeled into these little grubs, who will thank their mommies and daddies by eating them when it’s time to leave the nest. How’s that for a “thank you”?
Divorce Bees
Divorce bees are most commonly found in dark, solitary spaces, although some have been known to adopt dust mites for company. They love to observe how other divorce bees are getting along, almost as much as they enjoy eating pizza!
Single Caterpillars
Don’t let their name fool you—single caterpillars want to be anything but! These fuzzy creatures are highly social, but emit a tear-like ooze at the slightest provocation, scaring off most insects other than one-night stick insects. Fortunately, after stress-eating copious amounts of plants, they get to take a lo-o-ong nap in their comfy, cozy cocoon!
SINGLE (!!!) Butterflies
A happy upgrade from the single caterpillar and the T.L.C. of insects, single butterflies DON’T WANT NO BUGS!


newyorker--2020-02-12--Ahead of the New Hampshire Primary, Trump Tries to Make Trouble for the Democrats

One New Hampshire result is not in doubt : Donald Trump will win the Republican primary .
His closest contender , Bill Weld , is polling in the single digits , even though he was once the governor of New Hampshire ’ s neighbor , Massachusetts .
So it wasn ’ t as much to campaign as to gloat that Trump held a rally in Manchester on Monday night , before about twelve thousand people .
The arena was full ; Trump congratulated his supporters in the front rows for waiting “ four days outside in the rain and snow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while that was overstating it , the line had begun to form early Sunday morning and the weather was not good .
( The Union Leader noted that some of the first arrivals were people from out of state , who follow Trump from rally to rally . )
Trump is so sure of victory that , from the stage , he speculated about his supporters moseying over to the Democratic primary and engaging in a little bit of strategic voting—just to cause trouble .
“ You have crossovers in primaries , don @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , referring to the option that allows voters in New Hampshire who are not registered as Democrats or Republicans to vote in either party ’ s contest .
“ So I hear a lot of Republicans tomorrow will vote for the weakest candidate possible of the Democrats .
Does that make sense ?
You people wouldn ’ t do that !
” He spread out his arms with a lopsided smile , like a salesman telling customers that people as discerning as they are don ’ t need to hear about a special @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but he ’ ll mention it anyway .
But there was a catch , Trump continued .
“ My only problem is I ’ m trying to figure who is their weakest candidate—I think they ’ re all weak !
” Strategic voting is always difficult to measure ; the main point for Trump seemed to be the theatre of it all .
Still , for another politician , it might have been an area to stay away from , given that Trump was just impeached and tried for actions in Ukraine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Joe Biden , who , at the time , was the Democratic front-runner .
But , then , earlier in the rally , Trump had denounced what he called “ the outrageous partisan impeachment hoax , ” and trumpeted his “ full , complete , and absolute total acquittal.
” ( When he mentioned Mitt Romney , who voted in the Senate trial to convict him on one of the two articles of impeachment , the crowd jeered . )
And , with regard to Biden , the math has changed , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his poor finish in Iowa .
A recanvass has been requested in that state , where the results were delayed and now show a narrow lead for Pete Buttigieg in the delegate count—the traditional measure of an Iowa victory—though more people seem to have aligned with Bernie Sanders in the caucuses .
But the mess couldn ’ t conceal the fact that Biden appeared to have finished a distant fourth .
Trump rejoiced in that caucus chaos ; he used the rally in Manchester to repeat what is becoming a standard Republican attack @ @ @ @ @ @ @ run your health care , but they can ’ t even run a caucus in Iowa !
” The caucuses became a punch line for Trump and an instrument for his interaction with the crowd , which is one of the elements of his rallies that draws people to them .
“ It ’ s now a week .
Does anybody know who won Iowa ?
I don ’ t know ” —he scanned the audience , as if looking for a courier from Des Moines—but “ maybe Rand or Lindsey ” knew @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and Lindsey Graham , of South Carolina , were both present and visible , and presumably standing by for Iowa-punditry duty , or any other task that Trump set before them .
“ Rand !
Does anybody know who won ?
Lindsey !
You ’ re a total pro .
Nobody knows !
He said nobody .
Flip a coin !
Flip a coin !
” The cameras caught a row of Republican elected officials standing , nodding , and laughing appreciatively .
They included the House Minority Leader , Kevin McCarthy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Florida , and Mike Johnson , of Louisiana , who , as members of the House Judiciary Committee , had vehemently defended Trump in the impeachment hearings .
( Last week , Trump , in his post-acquittal remarks , said that Gaetz had “ a great gene.
” ) Graham and Paul , who were also prominent impeachment defenders , were “ Great guys—warriors !
They ’ re warriors !
” ( Paul spent a lot of time trying to get the name of a person widely believed to be the Ukraine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including by way of a poster that he set up on the Senate floor during his speech at the close of the trial . )
And they and their Republican colleagues were “ my congressmen and senators.
” Another regular function of the rallies is to dole out favors and flattery and to establish Trump ’ s dominance over the G.O.P .
But the President can not resist trying to divide the Democrats and to sow uncertainty about the integrity of the elections more generally .
And Iowa gave him an opening .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ re trying to take it away from Bernie again , ” Trump said , referring to lingering complaints among Sanders supporters about how delegates were apportioned in his narrow loss to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Iowa caucuses , and to their continuing resentment about what they view as the Democratic Party ’ s institutional resistance to him .
“ They ’ re doing it to you again , Bernie !
They ’ re doing it to you again !
” The speech also included a dose of Trumpian digressions , including one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I tell you .
Rough , rough stuff .
But I think it ’ s going to work out good !
” He also reprised a signature of his 2016 rallies , by reciting the poem “ The Snake , ” meant as a parable of the insidious destruction wrought by migrants—a reminder that , with regard to immigration , in particular , this reëlection campaign will only get uglier .
And there was praise for the border wall , which Trump framed in oddly Luddite terms : “ With all the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ computers , the new genius , the new everything , cyber this , cyber that , two things never change , right ?
A wheel , and a wall.
” And , he added , “ it ’ s a high wall.
” But , throughout , he kept returning to the Democrats .
“ As we keep on winning , Washington Democrats keep on losing their minds .
They ’ re crazy !
” Trump said .
He had opened the rally with an attack on Nancy Pelosi , who , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him during last week ’ s State of the Union address , and tore up her copy of the speech when it had ended .
Had the crowd watched the State of the Union , he asked ?
“ I had somebody behind me who was mumbling terribly .
Mumbling .
Mumbling !
‘ Hoowah , hoowah , ho hah !
’ ” Some people in the crowd began chanting “ Lock her up !
Lock her up !
” Trump , appearing to hear them , gave a thumbs-up , and more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ become an all-purpose response to women whom Trump doesn ’ t like .
As it died down , he added , “ I ’ m speaking , and a woman is mumbling terribly behind me .
Angry .
There was a little anger back there .
We ’ re the ones who should be angry !
” As the speech went on , he reminded his supporters of what should make them angry : immigrants , impeachment , socialism , and Washington .
“ That swamp is a dirty swamp !
” Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some really evil , dirty , horrible people.
” In contrast , “ We will defend privacy , free speech , religious liberty , and the right to-o-o .
.
.
” he stretched the word out , prompting the crowd .
Trump confirmed that this was the reply he was looking for , and warned the crowd , “ They ’ re going to take away everything .
They ’ re going to take away your wealth .
They ’ re going to take away your guns .
They ’ re going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ booed loudly .
It seemed that they didn ’ t want the Democrats to take away this moment , or their President .
See the election results from the New Hampshire primary .
The New Hampshire results signal a long nationwide Democratic battle .
The Party ’ s candidates will almost certainly have to grind it out until early June , when the final primaries will take place .
“ This victory here is the beginning of the end for Donald Trump !
” Bernie Sanders said , at a primary-night party in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New Hampshire primary , but his performance was not as impressive as it was in 2016 .
In New Hampshire , Sanders and Warren promise bold , fundamental change .
But they struggle to conjure a vision of America that aggressively counters Trump ’ s .
After a disappointing fourth-place finish in Iowa , Joe Biden is struggling in New Hampshire .

One New Hampshire result is not in doubt: Donald Trump will win the Republican primary. His closest contender, Bill Weld, is polling in the single digits, even though he was once the governor of New Hampshire’s neighbor, Massachusetts. So it wasn’t as much to campaign as to gloat that Trump held a rally in Manchester on Monday night, before about twelve thousand people. The arena was full; Trump congratulated his supporters in the front rows for waiting “four days outside in the rain and snow” to get in, and, while that was overstating it, the line had begun to form early Sunday morning and the weather was not good. (The Union Leader noted that some of the first arrivals were people from out of state, who follow Trump from rally to rally.) Trump is so sure of victory that, from the stage, he speculated about his supporters moseying over to the Democratic primary and engaging in a little bit of strategic voting—just to cause trouble.
“You have crossovers in primaries, don’t you?” Trump said, referring to the option that allows voters in New Hampshire who are not registered as Democrats or Republicans to vote in either party’s contest. “So I hear a lot of Republicans tomorrow will vote for the weakest candidate possible of the Democrats. Does that make sense? You people wouldn’t do that!” He spread out his arms with a lopsided smile, like a salesman telling customers that people as discerning as they are don’t need to hear about a special discount on the premium gold golf-vacation package, but he’ll mention it anyway. But there was a catch, Trump continued. “My only problem is I’m trying to figure who is their weakest candidate—I think they’re all weak!”
Strategic voting is always difficult to measure; the main point for Trump seemed to be the theatre of it all. Still, for another politician, it might have been an area to stay away from, given that Trump was just impeached and tried for actions in Ukraine that were aimed at undermining the campaign of Joe Biden, who, at the time, was the Democratic front-runner. But, then, earlier in the rally, Trump had denounced what he called “the outrageous partisan impeachment hoax,” and trumpeted his “full, complete, and absolute total acquittal.” (When he mentioned Mitt Romney, who voted in the Senate trial to convict him on one of the two articles of impeachment, the crowd jeered.) And, with regard to Biden, the math has changed, with his drop in the polls and his poor finish in Iowa. A recanvass has been requested in that state, where the results were delayed and now show a narrow lead for Pete Buttigieg in the delegate count—the traditional measure of an Iowa victory—though more people seem to have aligned with Bernie Sanders in the caucuses. But the mess couldn’t conceal the fact that Biden appeared to have finished a distant fourth.
Trump rejoiced in that caucus chaos; he used the rally in Manchester to repeat what is becoming a standard Republican attack: “The Democrat Party wants to run your health care, but they can’t even run a caucus in Iowa!” The caucuses became a punch line for Trump and an instrument for his interaction with the crowd, which is one of the elements of his rallies that draws people to them. “It’s now a week. Does anybody know who won Iowa? I don’t know”—he scanned the audience, as if looking for a courier from Des Moines—but “maybe Rand or Lindsey” knew. Senators Rand Paul, of Kentucky, and Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, were both present and visible, and presumably standing by for Iowa-punditry duty, or any other task that Trump set before them. “Rand! Does anybody know who won? Lindsey! You’re a total pro. Nobody knows! He said nobody. Flip a coin! Flip a coin!”
The cameras caught a row of Republican elected officials standing, nodding, and laughing appreciatively. They included the House Minority Leader, Kevin McCarthy, and the congressmen Matt Gaetz, of Florida, and Mike Johnson, of Louisiana, who, as members of the House Judiciary Committee, had vehemently defended Trump in the impeachment hearings. (Last week, Trump, in his post-acquittal remarks, said that Gaetz had “a great gene.”) Graham and Paul, who were also prominent impeachment defenders, were “Great guys—warriors! They’re warriors!” (Paul spent a lot of time trying to get the name of a person widely believed to be the Ukraine whistle-blower in front of the public, including by way of a poster that he set up on the Senate floor during his speech at the close of the trial.) And they and their Republican colleagues were “my congressmen and senators.” Another regular function of the rallies is to dole out favors and flattery and to establish Trump’s dominance over the G.O.P.
But the President cannot resist trying to divide the Democrats and to sow uncertainty about the integrity of the elections more generally. And Iowa gave him an opening. “Actually, I think they’re trying to take it away from Bernie again,” Trump said, referring to lingering complaints among Sanders supporters about how delegates were apportioned in his narrow loss to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Iowa caucuses, and to their continuing resentment about what they view as the Democratic Party’s institutional resistance to him. “They’re doing it to you again, Bernie! They’re doing it to you again!”
The speech also included a dose of Trumpian digressions, including one about the coronavirus: “Rough stuff, I tell you. Rough, rough stuff. But I think it’s going to work out good!” He also reprised a signature of his 2016 rallies, by reciting the poem “The Snake,” meant as a parable of the insidious destruction wrought by migrants—a reminder that, with regard to immigration, in particular, this reëlection campaign will only get uglier. And there was praise for the border wall, which Trump framed in oddly Luddite terms: “With all the modern technology, all of the new computers, the new genius, the new everything, cyber this, cyber that, two things never change, right? A wheel, and a wall.” And, he added, “it’s a high wall.”
But, throughout, he kept returning to the Democrats. “As we keep on winning, Washington Democrats keep on losing their minds. They’re crazy!” Trump said. He had opened the rally with an attack on Nancy Pelosi, who, as Speaker of the House, sat behind him during last week’s State of the Union address, and tore up her copy of the speech when it had ended. Had the crowd watched the State of the Union, he asked? “I had somebody behind me who was mumbling terribly. Mumbling. Mumbling! ‘Hoowah, hoowah, ho hah!’ ” Some people in the crowd began chanting “Lock her up! Lock her up!” Trump, appearing to hear them, gave a thumbs-up, and more voices joined in. The chant has become an all-purpose response to women whom Trump doesn’t like. As it died down, he added, “I’m speaking, and a woman is mumbling terribly behind me. Angry. There was a little anger back there. We’re the ones who should be angry!”
As the speech went on, he reminded his supporters of what should make them angry: immigrants, impeachment, socialism, and Washington. “That swamp is a dirty swamp!” Trump said, adding, “You have some really evil, dirty, horrible people.” In contrast, “We will defend privacy, free speech, religious liberty, and the right to-o-o . . .” he stretched the word out, prompting the crowd.
“Bear arms!” they answered.
Trump confirmed that this was the reply he was looking for, and warned the crowd, “They’re going to take away everything. They’re going to take away your wealth. They’re going to take away your guns. They’re going to take away everything.” His supporters booed loudly. It seemed that they didn’t want the Democrats to take away this moment, or their President.
Latest Coverage
See the election results from the New Hampshire primary.
The New Hampshire results signal a long nationwide Democratic battle. The Party’s candidates will almost certainly have to grind it out until early June, when the final primaries will take place.
“This victory here is the beginning of the end for Donald Trump!” Bernie Sanders said, at a primary-night party in New Hampshire.
Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire primary, but his performance was not as impressive as it was in 2016.
In New Hampshire, Sanders and Warren promise bold, fundamental change. But they struggle to conjure a vision of America that aggressively counters Trump’s.
After a disappointing fourth-place finish in Iowa, Joe Biden is struggling in New Hampshire.


newyorker--2020-02-12--Joe Biden Struggles in New Hampshire

Joe Biden Struggles in New Hampshire

After a disappointing fourth-place finish in Iowa , Joe Biden is struggling in New Hampshire .
He is polling tied for third in the state , ten points behind Pete Buttigieg and nearly twenty points behind the leader , Bernie Sanders .
Among the top candidates in the race , Biden has the least amount of money .
On Friday , the Times reported that his campaign had reshuffled its leadership , in part owing to “ internal generational tensions.
” On Saturday , in the stands at the McIntyre-Shaheen Dinner , a primary-season showcase hosted by the New Hampshire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the smallest contingents of supporters .
Bert Weiss , a moderate Democrat who is backing Amy Klobuchar , told me , “ I like Joe Biden just fine .
But I think he ’ s vulnerable.
” The New Hampshire primary has traditionally narrowed the field to a moderate front-runner and a progressive insurgent .
Sanders , who beat Hillary Clinton here in 2016 , remains the anti-establishment candidate .
Biden , with strong name recognition , a long résumé , and deep ties to the Party ’ s leadership , was always @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the presumptive nominee in 2020 .
Instead , around a third of New Hampshire ’ s likely voters remain undecided .
For many of the state Party ’ s most active members , the lack of a clear alternative to Sanders , an independent in the Senate and a self-described democratic socialist , is deeply troubling .
“ Everyone ’ s saying the same thing , ” Joe Keefe , who chaired the New Hampshire Democratic Party in the mid-nineties , told me .
“ Someone ’ s got to first beat Bernie @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Biden held a get-out-the-vote rally in a wood-panelled ballroom at Ashworth by the Sea , a weathered beachside hotel in Hampton .
Biden wore a navy blazer with shiny brass buttons over a seersucker shirt and blue slacks .
It ’ s been clear since the start of the campaign that he is somewhat uncertain in front of a crowd .
What ’ s surprising is that he hasn ’ t gotten any better .
For long stretches , he addresses the surrogates assembled behind him—in Hampton , there were a half @ @ @ @ @ @ @ —rather than the audience .
He often delivers concluding thoughts in a manner that sounds like he ’ s transitioning to a new idea .
When the crowd registers an emotional response , he sometimes objects : “ No , I ’ m serious !
” When he gets a laugh , he yells , “ I ’ m not joking !
” In Hampton , he brought up the Violence Against Women Act .
The measure , which Biden introduced as a senator in 1990 , and Bill Clinton signed into law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a reduction in domestic abuse in the U.S. by sixty-four per cent .
But , after nine months on the campaign trail , Biden still has not found a way to communicate its significance .
“ You all know what the phrase ‘ rule of thumb ’ means ?
” he asked the crowd .
The expression originated in English common law , he said , when “ your wife was a chattel , a personal property .
Just like a dog .
Just like a cow .
Just like pigs .
Just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And you could chastise your wife .
But so many women were dying at the hands of their husband beating them that the English common law in the late thirteen hundreds—thirteen-ninety , I don ’ t know the exact year , thirteen-ninety , or something like that—changed the law , and it said , ‘ You can no longer beat your wife with a rod thicker than the circumference of your thumb.
’ But you could beat her , as long as the rod wasn ’ t thicker than the circumference of your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ problem , but we can change it .
That ’ s why I wrote the legislation.
” A number of Biden supporters predicted that he would not perform well in the primary on Tuesday .
At a Biden event on Saturday , Wilbur Glahn , a prominent Manchester-based litigator , told me that Sanders and Elizabeth Warren , as senators from neighboring states , have “ a huge leg up.
” Ned Helms , another former state Party chair , reminded me that the New Hampshire results would not reflect Biden ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We ’ ve got to go out to Nevada , where we finally have a large Latino population , ” Helms said .
“ And then we go down to South Carolina , with an African-American population.
” The most common argument for Biden was that he is best positioned to beat Donald Trump .
“ I just don ’ t want to see Trump get back in , ” Eric Small , a retired town administrator from Seabrook , told me .
“ I think Biden is a moderate and Bernie @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get it .
They ’ re too socialist.
” But , in New Hampshire , Biden seems unable to outmaneuver even the less established moderate candidates .
Buttigieg appears entirely out of reach ; a Boston Globe/Suffolk University poll released on Sunday showed that Klobuchar may have overtaken Biden as well .
At what point will the sense of inevitability finally wear off ?
Martha Fuller Clark , a state senator and a vice-chair of the state Party , told me that Biden “ needs to show a very strong level of support @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t think he has to win in New Hampshire , but I think he has to , you know , mend the wound that he received in Iowa.
” The argument for Biden , Joe Keefe , the former chair of the state Party , said , is that “ we need a candidate who can attract independent voters , and even attract some small percentage of Republican voters who are just repulsed by this rancid Presidency.
” But it ’ s not at all obvious that Biden has the ability to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who is self-employed in the manufacturing industry , attended the event in Hampton .
He wore a green flannel shirt over a maroon turtleneck , and his salt-and-pepper hair was slicked back with gel .
He was a Democrat in his youth , but switched parties around the time that Reagan was running for President .
Health care is a major issue for him .
“ The best thing to happen to me was turning sixty-five—Medicare , ” he said .
In the 2016 primary , McCarthy voted for Jeb Bush .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ at all , ” he said .
“ I was more of a traditionalist , and he was too crazy.
” But , in the general election , he went with Trump .
His taxes have increased under the current Administration , but that doesn ’ t bother him .
“ I ’ m fortunate , ” McCarthy said .
“ I think he ’ s helping lower-income people.
” He also thought that Trump ’ s promises “ about draining the swamp was just another bullshit story , but he ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the economy , he said , is booming : “ I ’ m in building materials .
It hasn ’ t been this good in a long time.
” McCarthy doesn ’ t like Trump ’ s “ bitter tweets , ” and allowed that Biden is “ the most sane ” among the current Democrats .
But , he said , “ I ’ m going to vote for Trump .
He ’ s gotten an awful lot accomplished.
” See the election results from the New Hampshire primary .
The New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ battle .
The Party ’ s candidates will almost certainly have to grind it out until early June , when the final primaries will take place .
“ This victory here is the beginning of the end for Donald Trump !
” Bernie Sanders said , at a primary-night party in New Hampshire .
Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire primary , but his performance was not as impressive as it was in 2016 .
Ahead of the New Hampshire primary , Trump tried to make trouble for the Democrats .
In New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , fundamental change .
But they struggle to conjure a vision of America that aggressively counters Trump ’ s .

After a disappointing fourth-place finish in Iowa, Joe Biden is struggling in New Hampshire. He is polling tied for third in the state, ten points behind Pete Buttigieg and nearly twenty points behind the leader, Bernie Sanders. Among the top candidates in the race, Biden has the least amount of money. On Friday, the Times reported that his campaign had reshuffled its leadership, in part owing to “internal generational tensions.” On Saturday, in the stands at the McIntyre-Shaheen Dinner, a primary-season showcase hosted by the New Hampshire Democratic Party, Biden had one of the smallest contingents of supporters. Bert Weiss, a moderate Democrat who is backing Amy Klobuchar, told me, “I like Joe Biden just fine. But I think he’s vulnerable.”
The New Hampshire primary has traditionally narrowed the field to a moderate front-runner and a progressive insurgent. Sanders, who beat Hillary Clinton here in 2016, remains the anti-establishment candidate. Biden, with strong name recognition, a long résumé, and deep ties to the Party’s leadership, was always the most likely candidate to emerge as the presumptive nominee in 2020. Instead, around a third of New Hampshire’s likely voters remain undecided. For many of the state Party’s most active members, the lack of a clear alternative to Sanders, an independent in the Senate and a self-described democratic socialist, is deeply troubling. “Everyone’s saying the same thing,” Joe Keefe, who chaired the New Hampshire Democratic Party in the mid-nineties, told me. “Someone’s got to first beat Bernie before we beat Donald.”
On Sunday, Biden held a get-out-the-vote rally in a wood-panelled ballroom at Ashworth by the Sea, a weathered beachside hotel in Hampton. Biden wore a navy blazer with shiny brass buttons over a seersucker shirt and blue slacks. It’s been clear since the start of the campaign that he is somewhat uncertain in front of a crowd. What’s surprising is that he hasn’t gotten any better. For long stretches, he addresses the surrogates assembled behind him—in Hampton, there were a half dozen “Fire Fighters for Biden”—rather than the audience. He often delivers concluding thoughts in a manner that sounds like he’s transitioning to a new idea. When the crowd registers an emotional response, he sometimes objects: “No, I’m serious!” When he gets a laugh, he yells, “I’m not joking!”
In Hampton, he brought up the Violence Against Women Act. The measure, which Biden introduced as a senator in 1990, and Bill Clinton signed into law four years later, has contributed to a reduction in domestic abuse in the U.S. by sixty-four per cent. But, after nine months on the campaign trail, Biden still has not found a way to communicate its significance. “You all know what the phrase ‘rule of thumb’ means?” he asked the crowd. The expression originated in English common law, he said, when “your wife was a chattel, a personal property. Just like a dog. Just like a cow. Just like pigs. Just like farm animals. For real. And you could chastise your wife. But so many women were dying at the hands of their husband beating them that the English common law in the late thirteen hundreds—thirteen-ninety, I don’t know the exact year, thirteen-ninety, or something like that—changed the law, and it said, ‘You can no longer beat your wife with a rod thicker than the circumference of your thumb.’ But you could beat her, as long as the rod wasn’t thicker than the circumference of your thumb. We have a serious cultural problem, but we can change it. That’s why I wrote the legislation.”
A number of Biden supporters predicted that he would not perform well in the primary on Tuesday. At a Biden event on Saturday, Wilbur Glahn, a prominent Manchester-based litigator, told me that Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, as senators from neighboring states, have “a huge leg up.” Ned Helms, another former state Party chair, reminded me that the New Hampshire results would not reflect Biden’s ability to attract voters of color. “We’ve got to go out to Nevada, where we finally have a large Latino population,” Helms said. “And then we go down to South Carolina, with an African-American population.”
The most common argument for Biden was that he is best positioned to beat Donald Trump. “I just don’t want to see Trump get back in,” Eric Small, a retired town administrator from Seabrook, told me. “I think Biden is a moderate and Bernie and Warren aren’t going to get it. They’re too socialist.” But, in New Hampshire, Biden seems unable to outmaneuver even the less established moderate candidates. Buttigieg appears entirely out of reach; a Boston Globe/Suffolk University poll released on Sunday showed that Klobuchar may have overtaken Biden as well. At what point will the sense of inevitability finally wear off? Martha Fuller Clark, a state senator and a vice-chair of the state Party, told me that Biden “needs to show a very strong level of support here in New Hampshire. I don’t think he has to win in New Hampshire, but I think he has to, you know, mend the wound that he received in Iowa.”
The argument for Biden, Joe Keefe, the former chair of the state Party, said, is that “we need a candidate who can attract independent voters, and even attract some small percentage of Republican voters who are just repulsed by this rancid Presidency.” But it’s not at all obvious that Biden has the ability to seal up their support. Jay McCarthy, who is self-employed in the manufacturing industry, attended the event in Hampton. He wore a green flannel shirt over a maroon turtleneck, and his salt-and-pepper hair was slicked back with gel. He was a Democrat in his youth, but switched parties around the time that Reagan was running for President. Health care is a major issue for him. “The best thing to happen to me was turning sixty-five—Medicare,” he said.
In the 2016 primary, McCarthy voted for Jeb Bush. “I wasn’t for Trump at all,” he said. “I was more of a traditionalist, and he was too crazy.” But, in the general election, he went with Trump. His taxes have increased under the current Administration, but that doesn’t bother him. “I’m fortunate,” McCarthy said. “I think he’s helping lower-income people.” He also thought that Trump’s promises “about draining the swamp was just another bullshit story, but he’s actually tried to do it.” And the economy, he said, is booming: “I’m in building materials. It hasn’t been this good in a long time.” McCarthy doesn’t like Trump’s “bitter tweets,” and allowed that Biden is “the most sane” among the current Democrats. But, he said, “I’m going to vote for Trump. He’s gotten an awful lot accomplished.”
Latest Coverage
See the election results from the New Hampshire primary.
The New Hampshire results signal a long nationwide Democratic battle. The Party’s candidates will almost certainly have to grind it out until early June, when the final primaries will take place.
“This victory here is the beginning of the end for Donald Trump!” Bernie Sanders said, at a primary-night party in New Hampshire.
Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire primary, but his performance was not as impressive as it was in 2016.
Ahead of the New Hampshire primary, Trump tried to make trouble for the Democrats.
In New Hampshire, Sanders and Warren promise bold, fundamental change. But they struggle to conjure a vision of America that aggressively counters Trump’s.


newyorker--2020-02-12--In New Hampshire, Sanders and Warren Portray Themselves as Fixers, Not Visionaries

The snow is white .
Many of the houses are white .
The majority of the people are white ; this is the third-whitest state in the union .
New Hampshire , especially in winter , is overwhelmingly , inescapably white .
The only nonwhite person I could see at the Salt Hill Pub in Newport was one of Elizabeth Warren ’ s press aides .
The Salt Hill Pub was a between-events stop—not on the schedule , a late addition shared with select members of the media .
People ate quesadillas or chicken wings out of plastic baskets lined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Warren : straight couples with small children , older attendees wearing cable-knit sweaters , a lot of beards , which ranged from blond to white .
Those in the know were told that Warren would arrive at four in the afternoon .
She entered at 4:05 , wearing a long red cardigan .
“ It was exactly three years ago this weekend that Mitch McConnell tried to throw me off the floor of the Senate for reading a letter from Coretta Scott King , ” Warren said .
On February 7 , 2017 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jeff Sessions ’ s nomination as Attorney General , Warren read from a letter that King had written three decades earlier , about Sessions ’ s racism .
At Senate Majority Leader McConnell ’ s instigation , the Republican majority voted to stop Warren , on the grounds that she was impugning a senator ’ s reputation .
Later , Senator Jeff Merkley , of Oregon , was able to finish reading the letter into the record .
The incident is best remembered , however , for a remark McConnell made : “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an explanation .
Nevertheless , she persisted.
” The phrase became a hashtag , a T-shirt , and even the title of a children ’ s book by Chelsea Clinton .
Invoking it at Salt Hill Pub allowed Warren to pivot to the topic of her gender , or , rather , to the question of so-called electability—which seems to be related to the question of why Warren has fallen behind in the polls lately .
“ What is interesting to me , ” Warren said , “ is people asking , ‘ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
.
The world has changed since 2016. .
.
.
Remember what happened the very next day after he was inaugurated ?
” Warren was referring to Trump and the Women ’ s March , which “ is still going on.
” The numbers , she said , showed that women beat men in competitive elections .
“ In the nineteen-sixties , they said we couldn ’ t elect a Catholic , and the Democratic Party nominated a Catholic anyway .
In 2008 , they said we couldn ’ t elect a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nominated a black man anyway.
” Will the Democratic Party nominate a woman in 2020 , to give American voters a chance to redefine “ electability ” once again ?
This is the question she asked , although not in so many words .
Then one of her campaign staffers signalled that it was time to go .
Warren begged to be able to take questions , and got permission to field two .
The routine appeared both well-rehearsed and sincere : Warren loves to take questions .
First up , an older @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a tweed vest , and plaid pants , had more of a comment than a question .
“ I don ’ t think it ’ s that a woman can ’ t get elected , ” he said .
“ It ’ s that something has happened in the electorate.
” Warren responded with a spark of recognition .
“ I think that a country that elects Donald Trump is a country that has serious problems , ” she agreed .
“ It ’ s not like we were on the right track @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s a sense that something doesn ’ t work , and this has been going on for decades.
” The something that doesn ’ t work is the economy , which favors corporations and billionaires and drives tens of millions of others into poverty , and a government that facilitates this growing inequality and injustice .
“ It ’ s this disillusion that just goes deeper and deeper , that the government just isn ’ t working for the people , ” Warren continued .
“ It ’ s not only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it ’ s a democracy that doesn ’ t work .
.
.
.
What Donald Trump has done is he ’ s taken a democracy that was already in trouble and made it so much worse—and it ’ s also an opportunity.
” It ’ s an opportunity to remake the country , introduce free college and universal health care , and cancel most student debt .
Despite the prior agreement with her staffer , Warren took a third question , from Abigail Kier , a health-care administrator and volunteer city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a population of fourteen thousand .
Kier was there with her husband , Matt , a chemistry doctoral student at Dartmouth , and their two-year-old son , Curtis .
She asked about Warren ’ s plans for rural communities .
Warren acted like she had been waiting for this question all her life .
“ What I have loved about being able to run for President is that I have been able to go out and learn stuff , ” she said .
She has learned , for example , that keeping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ part of keeping people living in rural communities , and that the availability of high-speed Internet is essential to creating economic opportunities in rural areas .
And she has also grown ever more convinced that her proposed two-per-cent wealth tax , which would create federal funds for such essential services as child care and schools , would go a long way toward making rural communities more vibrant .
Cancelling student debt would help , too , because it would liberate people from needing to stay near higher-wage jobs in bigger cities , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home .
The fourth , entirely bonus , question came from Birdie , the four-year-old daughter of the local activist and state-senate candidate Jenn Alford-Teaster , who was hosting the event .
“ When this is over , do you know that you are supposed to get into the car ?
” Birdie asked .
This question , apparently unplanned , was Warren ’ s perfect cue to get into a car that would take her to Lebanon , where she would hold her second big rally of the day .
Both Kier @ @ @ @ @ @ @ publicly endorsed Warren .
“ Warren has been here consistently , ” Alford-Teaster said .
“ She has small working groups .
She really knows what she is talking about .
And she is the only one who consistently answers the call.
” Most primary candidates , apparently , don ’ t show up for in-between events at roadside restaurants—though in the final days before the primary , Bernie Sanders , Andrew Yang , and Michael Bennet also stopped nearby .
The Democratic-primary process has existed in more or less its present shape @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or just long enough that Party members can imagine no other way of selecting a nominee .
The process lends itself to a particular kind of coverage .
Journalists approach the primaries the way they approach sports : by making predictions , trailing the presumed winners , and proving their mettle by switching tracks , nimbly , on time .
When polls and conventional wisdom predict that a candidate is likely to win , this begets more coverage , which exerts its own pressure on polls and conventional wisdom , which in turn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reporting is standard practice , and yet it is also standard for voters to disparage it and aspire to an alternative .
A preferred alternative , it is generally agreed , would be to focus on the candidates ’ issues rather than the dynamics of the race .
This is a more complicated proposition than it seems .

The snow is white. Many of the houses are white. The majority of the people are white; this is the third-whitest state in the union. New Hampshire, especially in winter, is overwhelmingly, inescapably white.
The only nonwhite person I could see at the Salt Hill Pub in Newport was one of Elizabeth Warren’s press aides. The Salt Hill Pub was a between-events stop—not on the schedule, a late addition shared with select members of the media. People ate quesadillas or chicken wings out of plastic baskets lined with checkered paper as they waited for Warren: straight couples with small children, older attendees wearing cable-knit sweaters, a lot of beards, which ranged from blond to white.
Those in the know were told that Warren would arrive at four in the afternoon. She entered at 4:05, wearing a long red cardigan. “It was exactly three years ago this weekend that Mitch McConnell tried to throw me off the floor of the Senate for reading a letter from Coretta Scott King,” Warren said. On February 7, 2017, during the Senate confirmation hearings on Jeff Sessions’s nomination as Attorney General, Warren read from a letter that King had written three decades earlier, about Sessions’s racism. At Senate Majority Leader McConnell’s instigation, the Republican majority voted to stop Warren, on the grounds that she was impugning a senator’s reputation. Later, Senator Jeff Merkley, of Oregon, was able to finish reading the letter into the record.
The incident is best remembered, however, for a remark McConnell made: “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.” The phrase became a hashtag, a T-shirt, and even the title of a children’s book by Chelsea Clinton. Invoking it at Salt Hill Pub allowed Warren to pivot to the topic of her gender, or, rather, to the question of so-called electability—which seems to be related to the question of why Warren has fallen behind in the polls lately. “What is interesting to me,” Warren said, “is people asking, ‘Can a woman win?’ . . . The world has changed since 2016. . . . Remember what happened the very next day after he was inaugurated?” Warren was referring to Trump and the Women’s March, which “is still going on.” The numbers, she said, showed that women beat men in competitive elections. “In the nineteen-sixties, they said we couldn’t elect a Catholic, and the Democratic Party nominated a Catholic anyway. In 2008, they said we couldn’t elect a black man, and the Democratic Party nominated a black man anyway.” Will the Democratic Party nominate a woman in 2020, to give American voters a chance to redefine “electability” once again? This is the question she asked, although not in so many words.
Then one of her campaign staffers signalled that it was time to go. Warren begged to be able to take questions, and got permission to field two. The routine appeared both well-rehearsed and sincere: Warren loves to take questions. First up, an older man, wearing a collarless shirt, a tweed vest, and plaid pants, had more of a comment than a question. “I don’t think it’s that a woman can’t get elected,” he said. “It’s that something has happened in the electorate.” Warren responded with a spark of recognition. “I think that a country that elects Donald Trump is a country that has serious problems,” she agreed. “It’s not like we were on the right track and then Donald Trump got elected. It’s a sense that something doesn’t work, and this has been going on for decades.” The something that doesn’t work is the economy, which favors corporations and billionaires and drives tens of millions of others into poverty, and a government that facilitates this growing inequality and injustice.
“It’s this disillusion that just goes deeper and deeper, that the government just isn’t working for the people,” Warren continued. “It’s not only an economy that doesn’t work, it’s a democracy that doesn’t work. . . . What Donald Trump has done is he’s taken a democracy that was already in trouble and made it so much worse—and it’s also an opportunity.” It’s an opportunity to remake the country, introduce free college and universal health care, and cancel most student debt.
Despite the prior agreement with her staffer, Warren took a third question, from Abigail Kier, a health-care administrator and volunteer city councillor from Claremont, a neighboring town with a population of fourteen thousand. Kier was there with her husband, Matt, a chemistry doctoral student at Dartmouth, and their two-year-old son, Curtis. She asked about Warren’s plans for rural communities. Warren acted like she had been waiting for this question all her life. “What I have loved about being able to run for President is that I have been able to go out and learn stuff,” she said. She has learned, for example, that keeping rural hospitals open is the most important part of keeping people living in rural communities, and that the availability of high-speed Internet is essential to creating economic opportunities in rural areas. And she has also grown ever more convinced that her proposed two-per-cent wealth tax, which would create federal funds for such essential services as child care and schools, would go a long way toward making rural communities more vibrant. Cancelling student debt would help, too, because it would liberate people from needing to stay near higher-wage jobs in bigger cities, and allow those from rural areas to return home.
The fourth, entirely bonus, question came from Birdie, the four-year-old daughter of the local activist and state-senate candidate Jenn Alford-Teaster, who was hosting the event. “When this is over, do you know that you are supposed to get into the car?” Birdie asked. This question, apparently unplanned, was Warren’s perfect cue to get into a car that would take her to Lebanon, where she would hold her second big rally of the day.
Both Kier and Alford-Teaster told me that they have publicly endorsed Warren. “Warren has been here consistently,” Alford-Teaster said. “She has small working groups. She really knows what she is talking about. And she is the only one who consistently answers the call.” Most primary candidates, apparently, don’t show up for in-between events at roadside restaurants—though in the final days before the primary, Bernie Sanders, Andrew Yang, and Michael Bennet also stopped nearby.
The Democratic-primary process has existed in more or less its present shape for less than half a century, or just long enough that Party members can imagine no other way of selecting a nominee. The process lends itself to a particular kind of coverage. Journalists approach the primaries the way they approach sports: by making predictions, trailing the presumed winners, and proving their mettle by switching tracks, nimbly, on time. When polls and conventional wisdom predict that a candidate is likely to win, this begets more coverage, which exerts its own pressure on polls and conventional wisdom, which in turn feeds coverage. This kind of horse-race reporting is standard practice, and yet it is also standard for voters to disparage it and aspire to an alternative. A preferred alternative, it is generally agreed, would be to focus on the candidates’ issues rather than the dynamics of the race. This is a more complicated proposition than it seems.
The media scholar Jay Rosen has advocated for what he calls the “citizens agenda in election coverage.” This approach is designed, first, to find out what the community wants the candidates to be talking about; and, second, to tell voters what the candidates think about the issues the community has identified. Such an approach would undoubtedly be an improvement over the horse-race style of coverage, but it is exceedingly difficult to graft onto the protracted and convoluted primary process. It would also leave little room for what I think drives politics, or, at least, what ought to drive politics at this moment: imagination, the ability to talk about ideas that have not yet occurred to many voters, the daring to envision a future that is more appealing than Trump’s promise of a return to the imaginary past. It assumes that voters want candidates only to answer the questions they ask, rather than to make them think about and perhaps want things they have not considered before.
Both Warren and Sanders are running on the promise of transforming, rather than merely fixing, the country. They represent not only what is conventionally referred to as the left wing of the Democratic Party but also the future-oriented wing of the Party. In the 2016 contest, when Trump ran to “make America great again,” Hillary Clinton countered, in effect, with, America is fine as it is. Clinton’s campaign offered up the present as an alternative to the past, and too often ignored the deep pain and dysfunction that was driving the election in the first place. In 2020, the candidates conventionally referred to as centrists—Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar—come from the Clinton mold: they promise to fix things and return them to an imaginary, pre-Trumpian normal, when good management made the country run well. Warren and Sanders reject this premise and promise bold, fundamental changes to the system.


newyorker--2020-02-12--Watching Bernie Sanders Claim Victory in New Hampshire

On Tuesday , at the Bernie Sanders primary-night rally at the Southern New Hampshire University Field House , in Manchester , the mood was jubilant from the beginning .
The day before , volunteers had knocked on some two hundred and fifty thousand doors , the Sanders campaign reported ; Monday night , in Durham , a rally of more than seventy-five hundred people , at U.N.H.
, gave Bernie ’ s ever-fomenting revolution the feel , and sound , of a rock concert .
It had featured , among others , Sunflower Bean , Cornel West , Cynthia Nixon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that is Bernie Sanders !
” ) , Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ( “ FORward !
FORward !
FORward ! )
, Sanders ( “ The entire world is looking at New Hampshire ” ) , and the Strokes ( “ Greetings , people of the great Northeast .
.
.
of these beautiful , stolen American lands ” ) .
The Strokes covered “ Burning Down the House ” and wore fanciful suits—a pink one , a red one , a cartoon-print one , and so on—looking like a bunch of foppish , aging @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for everyone , waving things , crowd-surfing , messing with cops , moshing under swirling colored lights .
Afterward , hundreds of college kids ran outside and burst onto an icy field , whooping , laughing , making out with one another .
Meanwhile , Joe Biden was campaigning at a sports bar .
Sanders ’ s Monday-night rally , thick with impassioned speeches and near-militaristic intensity , had felt like a megachurch making a joyful noise ; the senator ’ s primary party , in contrast , was a buzzy auditorium of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The party was short on talk : no announcements , no preliminary speakers , no audio on the screen showing CNN .
For three and a half hours , the only words we could hear were lyrics from the looping Sanders playlist— “ Keep on Rockin ’ in the Free World , ” “ Talkin ’ Bout a Revolution , ” “ On the Road Again , ” and so on—and from the people , in cheers and chants .
“ Bernie beats Trump !
” “ Green New Deal !
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was in the lead all night .
When the TV went on , at 7:44 , a roar went up : Sanders had twenty-eight per cent to Pete Buttigieg ’ s twenty-two per cent , with Amy Klobuchar not far behind , and the other candidates looking anemic .
Just before 8 p.m. , when the polls closed , a countdown arose , like on New Year ’ s Eve—and another roar , because now Sanders was at thirty-eight per cent .
Soon , Andrew Yang dropped out ; then Michael Bennet did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the crowd , a man near me said , to his friend , “ This is what democracy looks like.
” A young woman in a cute vintage coat with buttons bearing messages like “ FEMINISTS FOR BERNIE ” told me that she was first drawn to Sanders because of “ how seriously he took the student-loan crisis—especially in New Hampshire.
” She said that young people were leaving the state because of low wages , high cost of living , and other economic factors ; she works in data entry and volunteers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , three festively dressed twentysomethings started jumping up and down , shout-chanting , “ We—are—unstoppable !
Another—world—is possible !
” Others joined in , also jumping and yelling , and the cheer spread to the whole room .
After it died down , with everyone beaming , I smiled and asked if they ’ d like to chat .
“ No thanks !
” one said , curt .
Why ?
“ I don ’ t like the press.
” One campaign worker was willing to talk about her face paint , of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jaw .
Her mother ’ s tribe , she said , was the Fort Peck Oglala Lakota , and the handprint is a native symbol of empowerment , worn lately to raise awareness about missing and murdered native women .
Jill Herbers , a writer who lives in New Hampshire , has been canvassing for Bernie in recent weeks .
“ It ’ s a deeply human experience , ” she said .
“ The teacher ’ s speaking , and so is the nurse—and so is the person in the five-million-dollar lake @ @ @ @ @ @ @ want to see the loons damaged .
People love Sanders and love what he ’ s for .
Everyone has been brought up in this system that isn ’ t working anymore.
” Being progressive , to her , “ is just human .
What ’ s radical is five hundred thousand people sleeping on the streets .
Amazon not paying any taxes.
” Sanders ’ s campaign was a serious one , she said , but also fun , and about love .
“ Cornel West says , ‘ Justice is what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ She smiled .
A minute later , Cornel West jogged in , slapping people ’ s hands , to cheering .
The campaign co-chair Nina Turner ’ s entrance got cheers , too .
“ Green New Deal !
” people chanted .
“ No more war !
” When I returned to my seat in the press bleachers , three startlingly preppy white guys in the next section took a selfie with the Bernie scene as a backdrop , then left .
What was that about ?
I wondered aloud .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , looking playful , or grim .
By then , more than half the districts had reported , and the CNN chyron said “ RACE TIGHTENS.
” Now Bernie was leading Pete by only two or three points .
The room got quieter .
When Buttigieg appeared on TV , ready to speak , he was booed like a silent-movie villain .
“ Bernie Beats Trump !
” the crowd chanted .
“ People power !
” At 11:05 , Bernie took the stage , with his wife , children , and grandchildren @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three minutes , at which point Sanders flapped his hands , like , All right , all right .
“ Let me take this opportunity to thank the people of New Hampshire for a great victory tonight !
” he said .
His message was brief and grateful : to his volunteers , to his fellow-candidates .
“ This victory here is the beginning of the end for Donald Trump !
” he yelled .
He also—as Cynthia Nixon had Monday night , when she stopped some anti-Clinton booing—discouraged intra-left divisiveness .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ certainty , and I know I speak for every one of the Democratic candidates , is that no matter who wins , and we certainly hope it ’ s going to be us , we ’ re going to unite together and defeat the most dangerous President in the modern history of this country , ” he said .
Behind him , in the middle of the rows of rafters , a young man in a red shirt waved a small American flag .
On to Nevada and South Carolina .
See the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The New Hampshire results signal a long nationwide Democratic battle .
The Party ’ s candidates will almost certainly have to grind it out until early June , when the final primaries will take place .
Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire primary , but his performance was not as impressive as it was in 2016 .
Ahead of the New Hampshire primary , Trump tried to make trouble for the Democrats .
In New Hampshire , Sanders and Warren promise bold , fundamental change .
But they struggle to conjure a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s .
After a disappointing fourth-place finish in Iowa , Joe Biden is struggling in New Hampshire .

On Tuesday, at the Bernie Sanders primary-night rally at the Southern New Hampshire University Field House, in Manchester, the mood was jubilant from the beginning. The day before, volunteers had knocked on some two hundred and fifty thousand doors, the Sanders campaign reported; Monday night, in Durham, a rally of more than seventy-five hundred people, at U.N.H., gave Bernie’s ever-fomenting revolution the feel, and sound, of a rock concert. It had featured, among others, Sunflower Bean, Cornel West, Cynthia Nixon (“We need a hero and that is Bernie Sanders!”), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (“FORward! FORward! FORward!), Sanders (“The entire world is looking at New Hampshire”), and the Strokes (“Greetings, people of the great Northeast . . . of these beautiful, stolen American lands”). The Strokes covered “Burning Down the House” and wore fanciful suits—a pink one, a red one, a cartoon-print one, and so on—looking like a bunch of foppish, aging Chalamets. The audience cheered like mad for everyone, waving things, crowd-surfing, messing with cops, moshing under swirling colored lights. Afterward, hundreds of college kids ran outside and burst onto an icy field, whooping, laughing, making out with one another. Meanwhile, Joe Biden was campaigning at a sports bar.
Sanders’s Monday-night rally, thick with impassioned speeches and near-militaristic intensity, had felt like a megachurch making a joyful noise; the senator’s primary party, in contrast, was a buzzy auditorium of people waiting to confirm what was suspected. The party was short on talk: no announcements, no preliminary speakers, no audio on the screen showing CNN. For three and a half hours, the only words we could hear were lyrics from the looping Sanders playlist—“Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World,” “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution,” “On the Road Again,” and so on—and from the people, in cheers and chants. “Bernie beats Trump!” “Green New Deal!” “Wall Street Pete!”
Sanders was in the lead all night. When the TV went on, at 7:44, a roar went up: Sanders had twenty-eight per cent to Pete Buttigieg’s twenty-two per cent, with Amy Klobuchar not far behind, and the other candidates looking anemic. Just before 8 p.m., when the polls closed, a countdown arose, like on New Year’s Eve—and another roar, because now Sanders was at thirty-eight per cent. Soon, Andrew Yang dropped out; then Michael Bennet did, too.
In the thick of the crowd, a man near me said, to his friend, “This is what democracy looks like.” A young woman in a cute vintage coat with buttons bearing messages like “FEMINISTS FOR BERNIE” told me that she was first drawn to Sanders because of “how seriously he took the student-loan crisis—especially in New Hampshire.” She said that young people were leaving the state because of low wages, high cost of living, and other economic factors; she works in data entry and volunteers for the campaign. Next to me, three festively dressed twentysomethings started jumping up and down, shout-chanting, “We—are—unstoppable! Another—world—is possible!” Others joined in, also jumping and yelling, and the cheer spread to the whole room. After it died down, with everyone beaming, I smiled and asked if they’d like to chat. “No thanks!” one said, curt. Why? “I don’t like the press.” One campaign worker was willing to talk about her face paint, of a red handprint around her mouth and jaw. Her mother’s tribe, she said, was the Fort Peck Oglala Lakota, and the handprint is a native symbol of empowerment, worn lately to raise awareness about missing and murdered native women.
Jill Herbers, a writer who lives in New Hampshire, has been canvassing for Bernie in recent weeks. “It’s a deeply human experience,” she said. “The teacher’s speaking, and so is the nurse—and so is the person in the five-million-dollar lake house, because they don’t want to see the loons damaged. People love Sanders and love what he’s for. Everyone has been brought up in this system that isn’t working anymore.” Being progressive, to her, “is just human. What’s radical is five hundred thousand people sleeping on the streets. Amazon not paying any taxes.” Sanders’s campaign was a serious one, she said, but also fun, and about love. “Cornel West says, ‘Justice is what love looks like in public.’ ” She smiled.
A minute later, Cornel West jogged in, slapping people’s hands, to cheering. The campaign co-chair Nina Turner’s entrance got cheers, too. “Green New Deal!” people chanted. “No more war!” When I returned to my seat in the press bleachers, three startlingly preppy white guys in the next section took a selfie with the Bernie scene as a backdrop, then left. What was that about? I wondered aloud. “Trump supporters,” a neighbor said, looking playful, or grim. By then, more than half the districts had reported, and the CNN chyron said “RACE TIGHTENS.” Now Bernie was leading Pete by only two or three points. The room got quieter. When Buttigieg appeared on TV, ready to speak, he was booed like a silent-movie villain. “Bernie Beats Trump!” the crowd chanted. “People power!”
At 11:05, Bernie took the stage, with his wife, children, and grandchildren. Ear-splitting screams filled the room for three minutes, at which point Sanders flapped his hands, like, All right, all right. “Let me take this opportunity to thank the people of New Hampshire for a great victory tonight!” he said. His message was brief and grateful: to his volunteers, to his fellow-candidates. “This victory here is the beginning of the end for Donald Trump!” he yelled. He also—as Cynthia Nixon had Monday night, when she stopped some anti-Clinton booing—discouraged intra-left divisiveness. “What I can tell you with absolute certainty, and I know I speak for every one of the Democratic candidates, is that no matter who wins, and we certainly hope it’s going to be us, we’re going to unite together and defeat the most dangerous President in the modern history of this country,” he said. Behind him, in the middle of the rows of rafters, a young man in a red shirt waved a small American flag. On to Nevada and South Carolina.
Latest Coverage
See the election results from the New Hampshire primary.
The New Hampshire results signal a long nationwide Democratic battle. The Party’s candidates will almost certainly have to grind it out until early June, when the final primaries will take place.
Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire primary, but his performance was not as impressive as it was in 2016.
Ahead of the New Hampshire primary, Trump tried to make trouble for the Democrats.
In New Hampshire, Sanders and Warren promise bold, fundamental change. But they struggle to conjure a vision of America that aggressively counters Trump’s.
After a disappointing fourth-place finish in Iowa, Joe Biden is struggling in New Hampshire.