newyorker--2020-11-11--The Seven Pillars of Biden’s Foreign Policy

The President-elect may prove more popular abroad than he is at home , partly because of his global experience .
Between his first election to the Senate , in 1972 , and becoming Vice-President , in 2009 , Biden did two stints as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee , travelled for decades to conflict hot spots and disaster zones , and met with nearly a hundred and fifty foreign leaders from almost five dozen countries .
The President-elect is a well-known commodity .
So are his views .
“ Certainly Biden is the most well-versed American President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and in terms of learning about every country and how each functions , ” Douglas Brinkley , a scholar of the Presidency at Rice University , told me .
“ Nobody ’ s had the experience on foreign policy that Biden has had.
” Given the political constraints at home , especially if Republicans retain control of the Senate , Biden may also end up having more impact on the rest of the world than he does on the U.S. , Brinkley added .
“ Biden will be hamstrung to move the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opportunity to be one of the greatest foreign-policy leaders , as everyone in the world is extending their elbows because he stands for global democracy , ” Brinkley said .
“ He will be treated as a folk hero in Europe and Asia.
” For all his experience , however , Biden has also backed controversial policies and made bad calls during his decades in foreign policy .
As a senator , he opposed authorizing Operation Desert Storm , to oust Saddam Hussein ’ s Iraq from Kuwait , in 1991 ; it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 ; it was an epic failure that dragged on for years .
In 2006 , he co-authored a widely criticized Op-Ed in the Times that proposed the division of Iraq into autonomous Sunni , Shiite and Kurdish statelets—the kind of territorial split that ISIS achieved by carving out a Sunni caliphate between 2014 and 2019 .
Biden is “ a man of integrity ” who is “ impossible not to like , ” the former C.I.A .
director and Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then said of Biden , “ He has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.
” And Trump didn ’ t get everything wrong .
He was right “ in calling out China for its trade practices , in supplying lethal arms to Ukraine , in striking an updated trade deal with Canada and Mexico , in brokering normalization between Israel and several Arab states , ” Richard Haass , the president of the Council on Foreign Relations , wrote in Foreign Affairs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ announced his full foreign-policy team , the seven pillars of his foreign policy are already well defined .
First , the West is back .
A pragmatic realist on most issues , Biden is almost a romantic about the transatlantic relationship—and Europe wants it that way , especially amid the strains of Britain ’ s impending exit from the European Union .
Most of the twenty-seven nations in the E.U.—with the probable exception of autocrats in Hungary and Poland—are somewhere between relieved and ecstatic about his election .
“ It ’ s time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not walls , ” the mayor of London , Sadiq Khan , tweeted .
The very concept of the West “ has meaning again—in the sense that Biden ’ s pledge to convene a summit for democracy , in 2021 , will be a clarion call for the centrality of protecting ( and sometimes promoting ) democracy in U.S. foreign policy , ” Niblett , of Chatham House , said .
A senior European diplomat in Washington told me that the atmospherics of dealing with the United States are changing completely .
One @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to breathe life back into the eroding transatlantic alliance with Europe , which , until Trump took office , had provided the foundation of U.S. interests since the Second World War .
The Trump doctrine of “ America First ” weakened an alliance that for decades has been Washington ’ s most powerful global tool .
“ We have a lot to do to overcome today ’ s challenges , ” the French President , Emmanuel Macron , tweeted .
“ Let ’ s work together !
” The German Foreign Minister , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We want to invest in our cooperation for a new transatlantic beginning , a new deal.
” The second pillar of Biden ’ s worldview is pooling resources , particularly on shared threats .
He is expected to work quickly to repair relations with NATO—the world ’ s largest military alliance , representing almost a billion people—after four years of bashing by Trump .
He will almost certainly push to adapt and broaden its mission ( and potentially its membership ) for twenty-first century challenges , such as military technology and cyber .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Jens Stoltenberg , “ warmly ” welcomed Biden ’ s election , writing , “ We need this collective strength to deal with the many challenges we face , including a more assertive Russia , international terrorism , cyber and missile threats , and a shift in the global balance of power with the rise of China.
” The third pillar stems from Biden ’ s belief in international treaties and institutions .
He wants to rejoin accords that Trump abandoned .
Among his early acts , Biden intends to return to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ designed to save the planet , and to reëngage with the World Health Organization to shape a stronger global response to the COVID-19 pandemic , one of his foreign-policy advisers told me .
Biden plans to extend New START , the only remaining arms-control treaty with Russia that limits nuclear weapons , which expires in February .
Biden also wants to work with the three European powers—Britain , France , and Germany—as well as Russia and China to strengthen the Iran nuclear deal that was originally negotiated in 2015 , and that Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Iranian President , Hassan Rouhani , said that Biden ’ s election provided “ an opportunity ” for the United States “ to make up for the past mistakes and return to the course of commitment to international obligations.
” The fourth pillar is built around human rights .
Biden has judged countries on their track records , which may make autocrats more hesitant to crack down on dissidents , as Saudi Arabia did with the murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi , and Russia tried to do by poisoning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the U.S. election a “ spectacle ” and a sign of liberal democracy ’ s “ demise , ” Iran temporarily paroled Nasrin Sotoudeh , an imprisoned human-rights lawyer who has been championed in the United States , on the day that the U.S. election was called .
Rival and emerging powers may initially be less expeditionary in forcibly widening their influence , as Russia has been in Ukraine , Syria , and Libya ; China in the South China Sea ; and Saudi Arabia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden ’ s foreign policy is toughness on undemocratic regimes and dictators .
He won ’ t glad-hand autocrats , whatever their resources or power , as Trump did when he made Saudi Arabia his first foreign visit or when he crossed the border into North Korea .
Authoritarians like the Brazilian President , Jair Bolsonaro , and the Philippines President , Rodrigo Duterte , who both supported Trump during the campaign , won ’ t find a friend in the White House willing to look the other way .
During the campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ publicly scolded the Egyptian President , Abdel Fattah El-Sisi , for arresting , torturing , and exiling dissidents , including one who was imprisoned for almost five hundred days just for holding a protest sign .
“ No more blank checks for Trump ’ s ‘ favorite dictator ’ , ” Biden tweeted , in July .
At the same time , the Democratic Party platform states that the Biden Administration does not believe in “ regime change.
” Biden ’ s mix of principle and pragmatism may be best reflected in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ The Russians are not recognizing Biden ’ s victory yet , as that ’ s part of their policy to support as much polarization and division in the U.S. as possible , ” Angela Stent , the director of the Center for Eurasian , Russian and East European Studies at Georgetown University and the author of “ Putin ’ s World , ” told me .
Yet in the final weeks of the campaign , Putin also seemed to be hedging his bets , notably when he said that he saw nothing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dealings , which was something that he didn ’ t have to say .
The Russians know Biden , too .
The President-elect has met Putin several times .
Biden announced the Obama Administration ’ s reset with Russia , at the Munich Security Conference , in 2009 , which worked while Dmitry Medvedev was the President .
Relations deteriorated when Putin returned to the Presidency , in 2012 .
“ Biden has had tough rhetoric on Russia , ” Stent said .
“ So they ’ re wary of him.
” Yet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is willing to restore the traditional diplomatic channels that were disrupted during the Trump Administration .
Stent added , “ Biden will be more predictable , even if he imposes more sanctions and , of course , puts more of an emphasis on human rights and democracy .
”

Anne Hidalgo, the first female mayor of Paris, succinctly framed the global reaction to Joe Biden’s election. “Welcome back America,” she tweeted. For all the past resentment, envy, or fear of American power, most long-standing allies, and even many adversaries, have yearned for an end to the unnerving pettiness, whimsy, and personality-driven policies of Donald Trump. “Almost all countries are happier with Biden than Trump, even those that made it look like they were close to him, like Japan,” Robin Niblett, the director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, or Chatham House, in London, told me. “Trump’s unpredictability and reliance on bilateral bullying to get his way built up deep resentment.”
The President-elect may prove more popular abroad than he is at home, partly because of his global experience. Between his first election to the Senate, in 1972, and becoming Vice-President, in 2009, Biden did two stints as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, travelled for decades to conflict hot spots and disaster zones, and met with nearly a hundred and fifty foreign leaders from almost five dozen countries. The President-elect is a well-known commodity. So are his views.
“Certainly Biden is the most well-versed American President in the sausage-making process of foreign policy, and in terms of learning about every country and how each functions,” Douglas Brinkley, a scholar of the Presidency at Rice University, told me. “Nobody’s had the experience on foreign policy that Biden has had.” Given the political constraints at home, especially if Republicans retain control of the Senate, Biden may also end up having more impact on the rest of the world than he does on the U.S., Brinkley added. “Biden will be hamstrung to move the meter domestically, but he has the opportunity to be one of the greatest foreign-policy leaders,
as everyone in the world is extending their elbows because he stands for global democracy,” Brinkley said. “He will be treated as a folk hero in Europe and Asia.”
For all his experience, however, Biden has also backed controversial policies and made bad calls during his decades in foreign policy. As a senator, he opposed authorizing Operation Desert Storm, to oust Saddam Hussein’s Iraq from Kuwait, in 1991; it succeeded with lightning efficiency. He then supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003; it was an epic failure that dragged on for years. In 2006, he co-authored a widely criticized Op-Ed in the Times that proposed the division of Iraq into autonomous Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish statelets—the kind of territorial split that ISIS achieved by carving out a Sunni caliphate between 2014 and 2019. Biden is “a man of integrity” who is “impossible not to like,” the former C.I.A. director and Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote in his memoir, in 2014. Gates then said of Biden, “He has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”
And Trump didn’t get everything wrong. He was right “in calling out China for its trade practices, in supplying lethal arms to Ukraine, in striking an updated trade deal with Canada and Mexico, in brokering normalization between Israel and several Arab states,” Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in Foreign Affairs this week.
Although Biden has not announced his full foreign-policy team, the seven pillars of his foreign policy are already well defined. First, the West is back. A pragmatic realist on most issues, Biden is almost a romantic about the transatlantic relationship—and Europe wants it that way, especially amid the strains of Britain’s impending exit from the European Union. Most of the twenty-seven nations in the E.U.—with the probable exception of autocrats in Hungary and Poland—are somewhere between relieved and ecstatic about his election. “It’s time to get back to building bridges, not walls, ” the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, tweeted. The very concept of the West “has meaning again—in the sense that Biden’s pledge to convene a summit for democracy, in 2021, will be a clarion call for the centrality of protecting (and sometimes promoting) democracy in U.S. foreign policy,” Niblett, of Chatham House, said. A senior European diplomat in Washington told me that the atmospherics of dealing with the United States are changing completely.
One of Biden’s top priorities is to breathe life back into the eroding transatlantic alliance with Europe, which, until Trump took office, had provided the foundation of U.S. interests since the Second World War. The Trump doctrine of “America First” weakened an alliance that for decades has been Washington’s most powerful global tool. “We have a lot to do to overcome today’s challenges,” the French President, Emmanuel Macron, tweeted. “Let’s work together!” The German Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, chimed in: “We want to invest in our cooperation for a new transatlantic beginning, a new deal.”
The second pillar of Biden’s worldview is pooling resources, particularly on shared threats. He is expected to work quickly to repair relations with NATO—the world’s largest military alliance, representing almost a billion people—after four years of bashing by Trump. He will almost certainly push to adapt and broaden its mission (and potentially its membership) for twenty-first century challenges, such as military technology and cyber. In a statement, the NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, “warmly” welcomed Biden’s election, writing, “We need this collective strength to deal with the many challenges we face, including a more assertive Russia, international terrorism, cyber and missile threats, and a shift in the global balance of power with the rise of China.”
The third pillar stems from Biden’s belief in international treaties and institutions. He wants to rejoin accords that Trump abandoned. Among his early acts, Biden intends to return to the 2015 Paris climate agreement that was designed to save the planet, and to reëngage with the World Health Organization to shape a stronger global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, one of his foreign-policy advisers told me. Biden plans to extend New START, the only remaining arms-control treaty with Russia that limits nuclear weapons, which expires in February. Biden also wants to work with the three European powers—Britain, France, and Germany—as well as Russia and China to strengthen the Iran nuclear deal that was originally negotiated in 2015, and that Trump abandoned in 2018. On Sunday, the Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, said that Biden’s election provided “an opportunity” for the United States “to make up for the past mistakes and return to the course of commitment to international obligations.”
The fourth pillar is built around human rights. Biden has judged countries on their track records, which may make autocrats more hesitant to crack down on dissidents, as Saudi Arabia did with the murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, and Russia tried to do by poisoning the opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Even as the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the U.S. election a “spectacle” and a sign of liberal democracy’s “demise,” Iran temporarily paroled Nasrin Sotoudeh, an imprisoned human-rights lawyer who has been championed in the United States, on the day that the U.S. election was called. Rival and emerging powers may initially be less expeditionary in forcibly widening their influence, as Russia has been in Ukraine, Syria, and Libya; China in the South China Sea; and Saudi Arabia in Yemen.
The fifth pillar of Biden’s foreign policy is toughness on undemocratic regimes and dictators. He won’t glad-hand autocrats, whatever their resources or power, as Trump did when he made Saudi Arabia his first foreign visit or when he crossed the border into North Korea. Authoritarians like the Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, and the Philippines President, Rodrigo Duterte, who both supported Trump during the campaign, won’t find a friend in the White House willing to look the other way. During the campaign, Biden openly warned autocrats. He publicly scolded the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, for arresting, torturing, and exiling dissidents, including one who was imprisoned for almost five hundred days just for holding a protest sign. “No more blank checks for Trump’s ‘favorite dictator’,” Biden tweeted, in July. At the same time, the Democratic Party platform states that the Biden Administration does not believe in “regime change.”


newyorker--2020-11-11--Georgia Republicans Turn Trump’s Baseless Claims of Voter Fraud Into an Electoral Strategy

On Monday , Georgia ’ s incumbent senators , Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue , both Republicans , issued a joint statement calling on Georgia ’ s secretary of state , Brad Raffensperger , who is also a Republican , to resign .
“ The Secretary of State has failed to deliver honest and transparent elections , ” Loeffler and Perdue insisted .
They did not provide any evidence , nor did they question a specific result .
Loeffler—who was appointed to the Senate late last year by Georgia ’ s governor , the Republican Brian Kemp , after the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ candidates in a special election this fall , and finished second , securing a spot in a January runoff , against the Democrat Raphael Warnock .
Perdue , in his race , received about 1.5 per cent more of the vote than the Democrat Jon Ossoff , and about a third of a point less than the fifty per cent threshold required for victory by Georgia election law .
( A libertarian , Shane Hazel , received about two per cent of the vote . )
Perdue is headed to a runoff , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entitled to a recount ; both candidates are already campaigning .
Their statement offered little of substance , but it did lay bare a key part of their shared campaign strategy : cling tightly to the lame-duck President , Donald Trump , and his baseless claims of voter fraud , with the hope of fuelling enough outrage among Georgia ’ s many Trump fans to drive turnout in January .
“ It tells us that the two Senate candidates are gon na try to be attached to the hip of the President , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political science at the University of Georgia , told me on Monday , when I asked him about the joint statement .
“ Their commitment to him is stronger than it is to their fellow-Republican , ” by which he meant Raffensperger , “ who they are throwing under the bus.
” If Perdue and Loeffler both lose , there will be fifty Democrats and fifty Republicans in the next Senate , putting Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris in a position to cast tie-breaking votes .
On Tuesday , the Senate Majority Whip , John @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s role in the Georgia Senate races , “ We need his voters .
And he has a tremendous following out there.
” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that “ the president and his top allies pressured the two Republican senators to take this step , lest he tweet a negative word about them and risk divorcing them from his base ahead of the consequential runoff.
” Raffensperger , meanwhile , issued a response to Perdue and Loeffler , explaining that he was not going to resign , and insisting that , “ from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election in Georgia was “ a resounding success.
” He , too , was “ unhappy with the potential outcome for our President , ” he wrote , adding , “ Was there illegal voting ?
I am sure there was .
And my office is investigating all of it .
Does it rise to the numbers or margin necessary to change the outcome to where President Trump is given Georgia ’ s electoral votes ?
That is unlikely.
” Bullock told me that he wasn ’ t sure how Perdue and Loeffler @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voters .
“ I could see where it could get the hackles of some folks up : ‘ Why are you making our state look bad by levelling these allegations ?
’ But the true Trump folks—this feeds their narrative that the election is being stolen.
” Holding fast to Trump might not seem like the obvious move in a state where Trump lost , particularly given that Republicans not named Trump , including Perdue , did better in Georgia than the President did .
As Bullock put it to me , “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ white women—couldn ’ t bring themselves to vote for the President , so they voted for Biden .
But then they recovered from that apostasy by voting Republican for the rest of the ticket.
” Democrats picked up only a few seats in the Georgia House and one in the State Senate , far fewer than anticipated ; Bullock described the President-elect ’ s coattails as about “ as long as a cutoff T-shirt.
” ( Carolyn Bourdeaux did win her race for Georgia ’ s Seventh District , becoming one of few @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seat . )
Still , one lesson of the Trump years is that Republicans can win by getting white non-voters to go to the polls—and , in an oddly timed runoff election , when the parties can ’ t count on participation from casual voters , goosing the base is essential .
“ We should assume parity between the parties , ” Andra Gillespie , a political scientist at Emory University , told me .
“ And so this race comes down to get-out-the-vote .
It comes down to mobilization.
” To participate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be registered by December 7th .
Early voting begins a week later , on the 14th .
“ People have a greater likelihood of forgetting to vote in this election , just because you ’ re distracted with the holidays , ” Gillespie said .
Both parties will rely on early voting and absentee ballots , despite Trump ’ s oft-stated animosity toward the latter method .
“ If you can get somebody to the polls before they have a chance to forget—to mail in a ballot before they get caught up with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Bullock told me .
He anticipates offers “ for folks to pick people up after the office Christmas party to vote , or ‘ On your way to the New Year ’ s Eve party , how about we run you by to turn in your absentee ballot ?
’ ” Fortunately for Ossoff and Warnock , Democrats in Georgia have an exemplary ground game , partly thanks to the efforts of the former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams .
In 2014 , Abrams founded the New Georgia Project , a nonprofit organization @ @ @ @ @ @ @ later , Georgia implemented automatic voter registration through driver ’ s-license application forms .
Since 2018 , eight hundred thousand new voters have joined the state ’ s rolls .
Nearly half of them are nonwhite and about forty-five per cent are under thirty years old .
As far as turning out these voters goes , it helps , Bullock said , that there will be two contests rather than one .
It also helps , he added , that one of the candidates , Warnock , a pastor at Atlanta ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for public office , is African-American .
Georgia had a runoff election for the Senate in 2008 as well , Bullock pointed out .
“ There was a big drop-off across the board , but African-Americans were less likely to return than white voters .
And , with African-Americans being the core constituency of the Democratic Party , it ’ s critical that they come back in numbers.
” I spoke to Terrence Clark , Warnock ’ s communications director , about the message that Warnock would be taking to voters .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is high-minded and policy-focussed .
The reverend ’ s campaign is about “ the dignity of working people , ” Clark said , emphasizing Warnock ’ s commitment “ to protect preëxisting-conditions coverage , to fight to expand health-care access and to secure a more fair and equitable economy for working families.
” I also spoke to Jon Ossoff , who offered a similar multipart message : “ Beat the virus .
Jump-start the economy .
Build a stronger and more prosperous , more just America.
” Stephen Lawson , Loeffler ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Kelly and David are going to save this country from socialism , ” he told me .
“ That is what ’ s on the line.
” A spokesman for Perdue did not respond to questions about the senator ’ s campaign message , but other Republicans have pushed a similar line .
On Saturday , at an impromptu street party in New York celebrating Biden ’ s victory , the Senate Minority Leader , Chuck Schumer , a relatively moderate Democrat , said , “ Now we take Georgia , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kemp shared a video of the comment on Twitter , describing it as “ Chuck Schumer ’ s radical plan.
” Between Friday night and Tuesday morning , Democrats reportedly raised nearly ten million dollars for Ossoff and Warnock .
The former Presidential candidate Andrew Yang announced that he was moving to the state to help out .
Though Democrats were more cautious than Republicans about door-knocking in the summer and early fall , out of concern about the spread of the coronavirus , Gillespie suggested that such a disparity will diminish moving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ll probably do is ring doorbells , run and get off the porch , talk to people six to twelve to fifteen feet away and then go on about the business , ” she said .
“ I ’ m calling it ‘ ring-and-run.
’ ” Given the stakes , and the national spotlight , record-breaking sums will be spent to mobilize voters .
“ The amount of money is just gon na be incredible , ” Bullock told me .
This is another way in which Republicans are capitalizing on Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election he lost : as a way of driving fund-raising .
Trump ’ s Keep Fighting Fund , for instance , asks supporters for money that will go to the President , the Georgia Senate campaigns , and recounts of House races .
As the Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel put it on Twitter , “ If you cynically think McConnell/Perdue et al are questioning the presidential election results to raise money for the Georgia runoffs .
.
.
well .
.
.
” On Tuesday , the Republican Party of Georgia and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sent a pair of letters to Raffensperger , doubling down on the claims of fraud and irregularities .
Among the signatories was the congresswoman-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene , who has been raising money for herself through an online “ Stop the Steal ” campaign .
On Wednesday , as Marco Rubio warned Republicans in suburban Cobb County of a socialist takeover , Raffensperger ordered a hand recount of the Presidential race , which must be completed by November 20th , the deadline for finalizing election results .
When I spoke to Ossoff , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ admitted the unprecedented nature of the races to come .
“ There had been some joking about what if the Senate majority came down to two runoffs in Georgia , ” he told me , “ but that ’ s not necessarily how I expected the map to shape up.
” “ This , ” he added , with a touch of drama , “ will be the most epic , highest-stakes battle royale in American political history.
” Read More About the 2020 Election • Trump has survived impeachment , twenty-six sexual-misconduct @ @ @ @ @ @ @ His luck may well end now that Joe Biden will be the next President .
• What happens if Trump fights the election results ?
• Here is what you can do if Trump stages a coup .
• For the G.O.P.
, the future may look like Florida , which is becoming less white but not much less conservative .
Can Republicans become a multiracial working-class party ?
• Sign up for our daily newsletter for insight and analysis from our reporters and columnists .

On Monday, Georgia’s incumbent senators, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, both Republicans, issued a joint statement calling on Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, who is also a Republican, to resign. “The Secretary of State has failed to deliver honest and transparent elections,” Loeffler and Perdue insisted. They did not provide any evidence, nor did they question a specific result. Loeffler—who was appointed to the Senate late last year by Georgia’s governor, the Republican Brian Kemp, after the longtime senator Johnny Isakson retired—ran against twenty-one candidates in a special election this fall, and finished second, securing a spot in a January runoff, against the Democrat Raphael Warnock. Perdue, in his race, received about 1.5 per cent more of the vote than the Democrat Jon Ossoff, and about a third of a point less than the fifty per cent threshold required for victory by Georgia election law. (A libertarian, Shane Hazel, received about two per cent of the vote.) Perdue is headed to a runoff, too. Neither Perdue nor Loeffler is entitled to a recount; both candidates are already campaigning. Their statement offered little of substance, but it did lay bare a key part of their shared campaign strategy: cling tightly to the lame-duck President, Donald Trump, and his baseless claims of voter fraud, with the hope of fuelling enough outrage among Georgia’s many Trump fans to drive turnout in January.
“It tells us that the two Senate candidates are gonna try to be attached to the hip of the President,” Charles Bullock, a professor of political science at the University of Georgia, told me on Monday, when I asked him about the joint statement. “Their commitment to him is stronger than it is to their fellow-Republican,” by which he meant Raffensperger, “who they are throwing under the bus.” If Perdue and Loeffler both lose, there will be fifty Democrats and fifty Republicans in the next Senate, putting Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris in a position to cast tie-breaking votes. On Tuesday, the Senate Majority Whip, John Thune, said, of Trump’s role in the Georgia Senate races, “We need his voters. And he has a tremendous following out there.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that “the president and his top allies pressured the two Republican senators to take this step, lest he tweet a negative word about them and risk divorcing them from his base ahead of the consequential runoff.” Raffensperger, meanwhile, issued a response to Perdue and Loeffler, explaining that he was not going to resign, and insisting that, “from an election administration perspective,” the election in Georgia was “a resounding success.” He, too, was “unhappy with the potential outcome for our President,” he wrote, adding, “Was there illegal voting? I am sure there was. And my office is investigating all of it. Does it rise to the numbers or margin necessary to change the outcome to where President Trump is given Georgia’s electoral votes? That is unlikely.”
Bullock told me that he wasn’t sure how Perdue and Loeffler’s move would play with Georgia voters. “I could see where it could get the hackles of some folks up: ‘Why are you making our state look bad by levelling these allegations?’ But the true Trump folks—this feeds their narrative that the election is being stolen.” Holding fast to Trump might not seem like the obvious move in a state where Trump lost, particularly given that Republicans not named Trump, including Perdue, did better in Georgia than the President did. As Bullock put it to me, “Some share of the voters—the well-educated suburban white women—couldn’t bring themselves to vote for the President, so they voted for Biden. But then they recovered from that apostasy by voting Republican for the rest of the ticket.” Democrats picked up only a few seats in the Georgia House and one in the State Senate, far fewer than anticipated; Bullock described the President-elect’s coattails as about “as long as a cutoff T-shirt.” (Carolyn Bourdeaux did win her race for Georgia’s Seventh District, becoming one of few Democrats nationwide to flip a U.S. congressional seat.) Still, one lesson of the Trump years is that Republicans can win by getting white non-voters to go to the polls—and, in an oddly timed runoff election, when the parties can’t count on participation from casual voters, goosing the base is essential. “We should assume parity between the parties,” Andra Gillespie, a political scientist at Emory University, told me. “And so this race comes down to get-out-the-vote. It comes down to mobilization.”
To participate in the Georgia runoffs, voters must be registered by December 7th. Early voting begins a week later, on the 14th. “People have a greater likelihood of forgetting to vote in this election, just because you’re distracted with the holidays,” Gillespie said. Both parties will rely on early voting and absentee ballots, despite Trump’s oft-stated animosity toward the latter method. “If you can get somebody to the polls before they have a chance to forget—to mail in a ballot before they get caught up with holiday stuff, all the better,” Bullock told me. He anticipates offers “for folks to pick people up after the office Christmas party to vote, or ‘On your way to the New Year’s Eve party, how about we run you by to turn in your absentee ballot?’ ”
Fortunately for Ossoff and Warnock, Democrats in Georgia have an exemplary ground game, partly thanks to the efforts of the former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. In 2014, Abrams founded the New Georgia Project, a nonprofit organization devoted to registering voters; two years later, Georgia implemented automatic voter registration through driver’s-license application forms. Since 2018, eight hundred thousand new voters have joined the state’s rolls. Nearly half of them are nonwhite and about forty-five per cent are under thirty years old. As far as turning out these voters goes, it helps, Bullock said, that there will be two contests rather than one. It also helps, he added, that one of the candidates, Warnock, a pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church waging his first campaign for public office, is African-American. Georgia had a runoff election for the Senate in 2008 as well, Bullock pointed out. “There was a big drop-off across the board, but African-Americans were less likely to return than white voters. And, with African-Americans being the core constituency of the Democratic Party, it’s critical that they come back in numbers.”
I spoke to Terrence Clark, Warnock’s communications director, about the message that Warnock would be taking to voters. In Clark’s telling, that message is high-minded and policy-focussed. The reverend’s campaign is about “the dignity of working people,” Clark said, emphasizing Warnock’s commitment “to protect preëxisting-conditions coverage, to fight to expand health-care access and to secure a more fair and equitable economy for working families.” I also spoke to Jon Ossoff, who offered a similar multipart message: “Beat the virus. Jump-start the economy. Build a stronger and more prosperous, more just America.”
Stephen Lawson, Loeffler’s communications director, took a different tack. “Kelly and David are going to save this country from socialism,” he told me. “That is what’s on the line.” A spokesman for Perdue did not respond to questions about the senator’s campaign message, but other Republicans have pushed a similar line. On Saturday, at an impromptu street party in New York celebrating Biden’s victory, the Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer, a relatively moderate Democrat, said, “Now we take Georgia, and then we change America.” Brian Kemp shared a video of the comment on Twitter, describing it as “Chuck Schumer’s radical plan.”
Between Friday night and Tuesday morning, Democrats reportedly raised nearly ten million dollars for Ossoff and Warnock. The former Presidential candidate Andrew Yang announced that he was moving to the state to help out. Though Democrats were more cautious than Republicans about door-knocking in the summer and early fall, out of concern about the spread of the coronavirus, Gillespie suggested that such a disparity will diminish moving forward. “What I think they’ll probably do is ring doorbells, run and get off the porch, talk to people six to twelve to fifteen feet away and then go on about the business,” she said. “I’m calling it ‘ring-and-run.’ ” Given the stakes, and the national spotlight, record-breaking sums will be spent to mobilize voters. “The amount of money is just gonna be incredible,” Bullock told me. This is another way in which Republicans are capitalizing on Trump’s spurious legal challenges to the election he lost: as a way of driving fund-raising. Trump’s Keep Fighting Fund, for instance, asks supporters for money that will go to the President, the Georgia Senate campaigns, and recounts of House races. As the Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel put it on Twitter, “If you cynically think McConnell/Perdue et al are questioning the presidential election results to raise money for the Georgia runoffs . . . well . . .”
On Tuesday, the Republican Party of Georgia and the state’s Republican House delegation sent a pair of letters to Raffensperger, doubling down on the claims of fraud and irregularities. Among the signatories was the congresswoman-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has been raising money for herself through an online “Stop the Steal” campaign. On Wednesday, as Marco Rubio warned Republicans in suburban Cobb County of a socialist takeover, Raffensperger ordered a hand recount of the Presidential race, which must be completed by November 20th, the deadline for finalizing election results. When I spoke to Ossoff, he sounded calm, even as he admitted the unprecedented nature of the races to come. “There had been some joking about what if the Senate majority came down to two runoffs in Georgia,” he told me, “but that’s not necessarily how I expected the map to shape up.” “This,” he added, with a touch of drama, “will be the most epic, highest-stakes battle royale in American political history.”
Read More About the 2020 Election


newyorker--2020-11-11--New Trump Lawsuit Seeks to Overturn Obama’s 2008 Election

WASHINGTON ( The Borowitz Report ) —In his latest legal action , Donald J. Trump has filed a lawsuit to @ @ @ @ @ ’ s election in 2008 .
Throwing out Obama ’ s win seems like a @ @ @ @ @ scholars , who note that the former President won in 2008 by more than nine @ @ @ @ @ three hundred and sixty-five Electoral College votes in a resounding landslide .
Further complicating Trump @ @ @ @ @ his lawsuit refers to no tangible evidence of voter fraud in 2008 , other than @ @ @ @ @ there were a lot of bad things going on.
” Reached at his office at @ @ @ @ @ by the prospect of his 2008 election being overturned .
“ Look , I ’ @ @ @ @ @ ” he said .
“ I ’ ve got scripts to read and rough cuts @ @ @ @ @ ’ t have the kind of free time that Donald Trump has .
”

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In his latest legal action, Donald J. Trump has filed a lawsuit to overturn former President Barack Obama’s election in 2008.
Throwing out Obama’s win seems like a long shot to most legal scholars, who note that the former President won in 2008 by more than nine million votes and racked up three hundred and sixty-five Electoral College votes in a resounding landslide.
Further complicating Trump’s case is that his lawsuit refers to no tangible evidence of voter fraud in 2008, other than a cryptic statement that “there were a lot of bad things going on.”
Reached at his office at Netflix, Obama seemed unconcerned by the prospect of his 2008 election being overturned. “Look, I’m a TV producer,” he said. “I’ve got scripts to read and rough cuts to watch. I don’t have the kind of free time that Donald Trump has.”


newyorker--2020-11-11--William Barr Can Stop Donald Trump’s Attempted Coup

Twelve days before the election , an associate of William Barr ’ s argued to me that the Attorney General deserved credit for his performance during the final six weeks of the Presidential campaign .
The associate contended that Barr , rather than reinforcing wild claims from Donald Trump that would have served the President ’ s reëelection effort , had gone quiet .
In some ways , the associate was correct .
In October , after President Trump publicly demanded that Barr launch a criminal investigation into Hunter and Joe Biden , the Attorney General took no action .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of an investigation by a federal prosecutor , John Durham , into the F.B.I.
’ s probe of the 2016 Trump campaign .
This spring , in a move that infuriated Trump , Barr cleared Barack Obama and the elder Biden of any wrongdoing in 2016 , stating , “ I don ’ t expect Mr. Durham ’ s work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man.
” The associate insisted that Barr ’ s comments—and his silence—were intentional , and said , “ The real October surprise is Bill Barr.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ unsure of what to believe , I didn ’ t write a story about the conversation .
On Monday night , Barr ’ s apparent silence ended .
The Attorney General issued a memorandum authorizing federal prosecutors to investigate the President ’ s specious claims of nationwide voter fraud , involving tens of thousands of ballots and , it seems , thousands of election officials in multiple states .
The memo boosted the Trump campaign ’ s fantastical claims that the election fraud had occurred under the watch of two Republicans : the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city commissioner overseeing the vote count in Philadelphia .
Barr hedged in the memo , writing that “ while serious allegations should be handled with great care , specious , speculative , fanciful or far-fetched claims should not be a basis for initiating federal inquiries.
” Richard Pilger , the Justice Department official who oversees investigations into election crimes , immediately quit .
“ Having familiarized myself with the new policy and its ramifications , ” he wrote in an e-mail to colleagues obtained by the Times , “ I must regretfully resign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Election Crimes Branch.
” Barr ’ s memo , despite the caveats , violates a long-running Justice Department practice of not investigating election fraud until after local officials have completed counting and certifying the vote .
The practice is designed precisely to prevent federal prosecutors from pressuring local officials to change the outcome of an election .
In short , it is intended to prevent unhappy incumbents from subverting the democratic process .
Barr released his memo on the same day that he met Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , who , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defended the President ’ s right to challenge the election results .
Just before McConnell ’ s speech , Trump had fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper , who has been viewed as insufficiently loyal since he failed to back Trump ’ s calls to deploy troops in American cities , against citizens protesting the police killing of George Floyd , last spring .
Trump also appointed Michael Ellis , a partisan loyalist , to be the general counsel of the National Security Agency .
Rumors swirled that Trump also plans to fire the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and C.I.A .
director , Gina Haspel .
Meanwhile , Emily W. Murphy , a Trump appointee who is the administrator of the General Services Administration , said that the results of the election were not “ clear ” and blocked Biden aides from using office space in federal buildings to begin planning the transition of power .
Throughout the Trump Presidency , journalists have debated how to respond to the President ’ s conspiracy theories , provocations , and lies .
Some advocated ignoring them , on the ground that reporting on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the President ’ s false claims should be taken seriously , that ignoring them normalizes his behavior and inures Americans to the risks it represents .
The President ’ s actions since Election Day are unprecedented .
As my colleague Masha Gessen wrote , Trump is trying to achieve an “ autocratic breakthrough ” and to discredit the election results that would end his rule .
His chances of succeeding appear low , but it is important to state that the President of the United States is attempting to carry out a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spoke with a current Administration official .
Echoing comments that Trump ’ s former chief of staff Mick Mulvaney had made to the Wall Street Journal , the official said that the President needs some time to process his defeat .
In earlier conversations , the official had told me that Trump believes that career government officials are politically biased against him—and that Trump ’ s claims of a “ deep state ” coup are sincere , and not simply political posturing .
The official added that he personally believes that although the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has no path to victory ; he thought that some voter fraud would be found in Pennsylvania—such as ballots cast using the names of dead people—but not on any scale that would reverse Biden ’ s victory .
He speculated that , though Trump may never concede , he will voluntarily leave the White House , once he has lost in the courts .
On Tuesday , I spoke again with the Barr associate , who argued that the Attorney General was still defying the President ’ s will .
The associate highlighted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prosecutors to not launch investigations into “ fanciful ” or “ far-fetched claims.
” A former senior national-security official was less charitable , telling me on Tuesday that Barr had issued the memo to appease Trump .
“ I ’ m assuming he was under pressure from the White House to do something , and he wants to remain , ” the official said .
“ I think he ’ s just doing the minimum to comply with Trump , but not actually doing anything .
I think it ’ s theatre more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s actions are politically dangerous .
A new Politico/Morning Consult survey finds that seventy per cent of Republicans do not think the 2020 election was “ free and fair.
” False voter-fraud claims are gaining enormous audiences on Facebook , energizing and enraging the President ’ s supporters .
And Barr , along with other Republican officials , is enabling it .
By any measure , he is abdicating his responsibility , as the country ’ s chief law-enforcement officer , to uphold the rule of law , and violating his oath to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ McConnell ’ s lead , he is recklessly dumping the problem on the judicial branch .
At best , Barr is humoring the President , playing for time , and expects state and federal judges to stand up to Trump and dismiss his false claims .
Odds are that the judges , particularly those with lifetime appointments , will do so .
Still , there is no excuse for allowing a sitting President to flirt with authoritarianism .
Since Barr took office , I ’ ve hoped that he would prove his critics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can still do so .
No other Administration official has the power to discredit the President ’ s false legal claims .
Barr will deserve praise if he proves to be the November surprise that Trump does not want—and the one that American democracy needs .
Read More About the 2020 Election • Trump has survived impeachment , twenty-six sexual-misconduct accusations , and thousands of lawsuits .
His luck may well end now that Joe Biden will be the next President .
• What happens if Trump fights the election results ?
• @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump stages a coup .
• For the G.O.P.
, the future may look like Florida , which is becoming less white but not much less conservative .
Can Republicans become a multiracial working-class party ?
• Sign up for our daily newsletter for insight and analysis from our reporters and columnists .

Twelve days before the election, an associate of William Barr’s argued to me that the Attorney General deserved credit for his performance during the final six weeks of the Presidential campaign. The associate contended that Barr, rather than reinforcing wild claims from Donald Trump that would have served the President’s reëelection effort, had gone quiet. In some ways, the associate was correct. In October, after President Trump publicly demanded that Barr launch a criminal investigation into Hunter and Joe Biden, the Attorney General took no action. Barr also declined to announce the results of an investigation by a federal prosecutor, John Durham, into the F.B.I.’s probe of the 2016 Trump campaign. This spring, in a move that infuriated Trump, Barr cleared Barack Obama and the elder Biden of any wrongdoing in 2016, stating, “I don’t expect Mr. Durham’s work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man.” The associate insisted that Barr’s comments—and his silence—were intentional, and said, “The real October surprise is Bill Barr.” Unable to corroborate the claims and unsure of what to believe, I didn’t write a story about the conversation.
On Monday night, Barr’s apparent silence ended. The Attorney General issued a memorandum authorizing federal prosecutors to investigate the President’s specious claims of nationwide voter fraud, involving tens of thousands of ballots and, it seems, thousands of election officials in multiple states. The memo boosted the Trump campaign’s fantastical claims that the election fraud had occurred under the watch of two Republicans: the secretary of state in Georgia and the city commissioner overseeing the vote count in Philadelphia. Barr hedged in the memo, writing that “while serious allegations should be handled with great care, specious, speculative, fanciful or far-fetched claims should not be a basis for initiating federal inquiries.”
Richard Pilger, the Justice Department official who oversees investigations into election crimes, immediately quit. “Having familiarized myself with the new policy and its ramifications,” he wrote in an e-mail to colleagues obtained by the Times, “I must regretfully resign from my role as director of the Election Crimes Branch.” Barr’s memo, despite the caveats, violates a long-running Justice Department practice of not investigating election fraud until after local officials have completed counting and certifying the vote. The practice is designed precisely to prevent federal prosecutors from pressuring local officials to change the outcome of an election. In short, it is intended to prevent unhappy incumbents from subverting the democratic process.
Barr released his memo on the same day that he met Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who, in a speech on the Senate floor, defended the President’s right to challenge the election results. Just before McConnell’s speech, Trump had fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who has been viewed as insufficiently loyal since he failed to back Trump’s calls to deploy troops in American cities, against citizens protesting the police killing of George Floyd, last spring. Trump also appointed Michael Ellis, a partisan loyalist, to be the general counsel of the National Security Agency. Rumors swirled that Trump also plans to fire the F.B.I. director, Christopher Wray, and C.I.A. director, Gina Haspel. Meanwhile, Emily W. Murphy, a Trump appointee who is the administrator of the General Services Administration, said that the results of the election were not “clear” and blocked Biden aides from using office space in federal buildings to begin planning the transition of power.
Throughout the Trump Presidency, journalists have debated how to respond to the President’s conspiracy theories, provocations, and lies. Some advocated ignoring them, on the ground that reporting on them risks amplifying them. Others felt that the President’s false claims should be taken seriously, that ignoring them normalizes his behavior and inures Americans to the risks it represents. The President’s actions since Election Day are unprecedented. As my colleague Masha Gessen wrote, Trump is trying to achieve an “autocratic breakthrough” and to discredit the election results that would end his rule. His chances of succeeding appear low, but it is important to state that the President of the United States is attempting to carry out a coup.
Over the weekend, I spoke with a current Administration official. Echoing comments that Trump’s former chief of staff Mick Mulvaney had made to the Wall Street Journal, the official said that the President needs some time to process his defeat. In earlier conversations, the official had told me that Trump believes that career government officials are politically biased against him—and that Trump’s claims of a “deep state” coup are sincere, and not simply political posturing. The official added that he personally believes that although the tally has not been finalized, Trump has no path to victory; he thought that some voter fraud would be found in Pennsylvania—such as ballots cast using the names of dead people—but not on any scale that would reverse Biden’s victory. He speculated that, though Trump may never concede, he will voluntarily leave the White House, once he has lost in the courts.
On Tuesday, I spoke again with the Barr associate, who argued that the Attorney General was still defying the President’s will. The associate highlighted the parts of the memo that urged prosecutors to not launch investigations into “fanciful” or “far-fetched claims.” A former senior national-security official was less charitable, telling me on Tuesday that Barr had issued the memo to appease Trump. “I’m assuming he was under pressure from the White House to do something, and he wants to remain,” the official said. “I think he’s just doing the minimum to comply with Trump, but not actually doing anything. I think it’s theatre more than reality.”
Trump and Barr’s actions are politically dangerous. A new Politico/Morning Consult survey finds that seventy per cent of Republicans do not think the 2020 election was “free and fair.” False voter-fraud claims are gaining enormous audiences on Facebook, energizing and enraging the President’s supporters. And Barr, along with other Republican officials, is enabling it. By any measure, he is abdicating his responsibility, as the country’s chief law-enforcement officer, to uphold the rule of law, and violating his oath to protect and defend the Constitution. Following McConnell’s lead, he is recklessly dumping the problem on the judicial branch. At best, Barr is humoring the President, playing for time, and expects state and federal judges to stand up to Trump and dismiss his false claims. Odds are that the judges, particularly those with lifetime appointments, will do so. Still, there is no excuse for allowing a sitting President to flirt with authoritarianism.
Since Barr took office, I’ve hoped that he would prove his critics, including me, wrong. He can still do so. No other Administration official has the power to discredit the President’s false legal claims. Barr will deserve praise if he proves to be the November surprise that Trump does not want—and the one that American democracy needs.
Read More About the 2020 Election


newyorker--2020-11-12--For One Second, I Feel Normal

For One Second, I Feel Normal

For one second , I feel normal , as I lean my head back into a porcelain sink with a curve hollowed out for my neck .
Warm water soaks my hair .
My stylist ’ s hands are as strong as ever , scrubbing my scalp with lather I can ’ t see but can feel tingling with tea-tree oil .
I ’ m sometime in the past .
I ’ m getting a haircut .
Then the customers around me explode into laughter at a story with a punch line I didn ’ t catch .
Back in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how melodious laughter can sound when it ’ s not a garbled mess , glitching out on my low-connectivity Zoom call .
For one minute , everything feels fine , as I stare at a fat lemon—bright , bumpy , and spotless .
Perched on the top of the stack , it begs me to take it home .
Its insides want to be squeezed and whipped into something , anything—a custard , a pasta sauce .
Its rind wants to be zested into a beautiful curl .
I ’ m planning a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the roll of thin plastic bags and freezes .
I can ’ t open those things while masked .
Back in 2020 , I put the lemon on the child ’ s seat of my shopping cart and spend ten minutes at home scrubbing it .
For one whole night , I sleep deeply .
I dream about something that awakens me with laughter , the sound in my ears and my lips in motion .
I decide to try to hold on to this feeling—arms and legs still heavy with the lingering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intention .
Then I inhale deeply and notice it immediately .
It ’ s not so much a smell but more that the air itself is too dry , unnatural .
Back in 2020 , I check my phone and the Air Quality Index confirms : unhealthy .
For five minutes , I chat with Sammy , who owns a bodega in my neighborhood .
I primarily buy wine there .
As always , Sammy pretends to need to see my I.D .
and we talk about nothing other than how young we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the bottles clanging in my bag .
Then I reach the storefront two doors down .
The space has been transformed : although it previously offered comfy-chic clothes and fancy candles , it ’ s now a vacant rental , a gaping hole .
Back in 2020 , I try and fail to remember the name of the woman who ran it .
For a half hour , I look at Halloween decorations .
Several houses fail to scare me with their skeletons reaching out from flower beds .
Some manage to startle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or a thunderclap as I walk past .
But I actually jump as I round the block and an enormous Frankenstein ’ s monster appears .
A brilliant trick , the angle of two trees hides him from view until he ’ s instantly , alarmingly close .
I step back to admire this house on the corner .
Along with the monster , ghosts sway from branches , six jack-o ’ -lanterns flicker , a black cat sits in one window and , back in 2020 , a somehow-not-rhetorical Black Lives Matter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hours , I eat at a restaurant .
My small table is nestled against the building , and I have a view of the park , where people are unloading food from thick canvas bags and spreading it out across blankets .
They take their time and swipe their fingers through the dewy grass as they picnic .
All around me , I can see people ’ s mouths curve , can observe their crooked teeth , can see their noses crinkle .
Looking sadly at my empty plate , I dip my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it to my mouth .
Back in 2020 , it tastes rich and peppery , with just a hint of hand sanitizer .
For thirty seconds , I squint at my screen , at an e-mail from Corporate reminding employees of both our year-end goals and the upcoming expiration of our vacation time .
My Slack explodes with messages from co-workers quoting lines from the e-mail .
Reflexively , I rise , as though to meander over to someone else ’ s desk to talk about it .
But , back in 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ living room , not a water cooler in sight .
For one evening , I stand in a line so long and so energized that I forget what it ’ s for .
It does not feel like a toilet-paper line , but like a line from before—a line for tickets , for chocolate-almond croissants , for a concert .
Free pizza makes its way around .
This is a line for a time machine .
Everything now is a time machine—be it a lemon or a haircut—but , trust me , those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This one , I am told , could work for four years .
So we wait to feel normal .

For one second, I feel normal, as I lean my head back into a porcelain sink with a curve hollowed out for my neck. Warm water soaks my hair. My stylist’s hands are as strong as ever, scrubbing my scalp with lather I can’t see but can feel tingling with tea-tree oil. I’m sometime in the past. I’m getting a haircut. Then the customers around me explode into laughter at a story with a punch line I didn’t catch. Back in 2020, I’m stunned by how melodious laughter can sound when it’s not a garbled mess, glitching out on my low-connectivity Zoom call.
For one minute, everything feels fine, as I stare at a fat lemon—bright, bumpy, and spotless. Perched on the top of the stack, it begs me to take it home. Its insides want to be squeezed and whipped into something, anything—a custard, a pasta sauce. Its rind wants to be zested into a beautiful curl. I’m planning a meal. Then my hand moves to the roll of thin plastic bags and freezes. I can’t open those things while masked. Back in 2020, I put the lemon on the child’s seat of my shopping cart and spend ten minutes at home scrubbing it.
For one whole night, I sleep deeply. I dream about something that awakens me with laughter, the sound in my ears and my lips in motion. I decide to try to hold on to this feeling—arms and legs still heavy with the lingering relaxation. I’m setting an intention. Then I inhale deeply and notice it immediately. It’s not so much a smell but more that the air itself is too dry, unnatural. Back in 2020, I check my phone and the Air Quality Index confirms: unhealthy.
For five minutes, I chat with Sammy, who owns a bodega in my neighborhood. I primarily buy wine there. As always, Sammy pretends to need to see my I.D. and we talk about nothing other than how young we both look. I leave smiling, the bottles clanging in my bag. Then I reach the storefront two doors down. The space has been transformed: although it previously offered comfy-chic clothes and fancy candles, it’s now a vacant rental, a gaping hole. Back in 2020, I try and fail to remember the name of the woman who ran it.
For a half hour, I look at Halloween decorations. Several houses fail to scare me with their skeletons reaching out from flower beds. Some manage to startle me with a witch’s cackle or a thunderclap as I walk past. But I actually jump as I round the block and an enormous Frankenstein’s monster appears. A brilliant trick, the angle of two trees hides him from view until he’s instantly, alarmingly close. I step back to admire this house on the corner. Along with the monster, ghosts sway from branches, six jack-o’-lanterns flicker, a black cat sits in one window and, back in 2020, a somehow-not-rhetorical Black Lives Matter sign rests in another.
For two hours, I eat at a restaurant. My small table is nestled against the building, and I have a view of the park, where people are unloading food from thick canvas bags and spreading it out across blankets. They take their time and swipe their fingers through the dewy grass as they picnic. All around me, I can see people’s mouths curve, can observe their crooked teeth, can see their noses crinkle. Looking sadly at my empty plate, I dip my pinkie into some remaining sauce and put it to my mouth. Back in 2020, it tastes rich and peppery, with just a hint of hand sanitizer.
For thirty seconds, I squint at my screen, at an e-mail from Corporate reminding employees of both our year-end goals and the upcoming expiration of our vacation time. My Slack explodes with messages from co-workers quoting lines from the e-mail. Reflexively, I rise, as though to meander over to someone else’s desk to talk about it. But, back in 2020, I’m alone in my living room, not a water cooler in sight.
For one evening, I stand in a line so long and so energized that I forget what it’s for. It does not feel like a toilet-paper line, but like a line from before—a line for tickets, for chocolate-almond croissants, for a concert. Free pizza makes its way around. This is a line for a time machine. Everything now is a time machine—be it a lemon or a haircut—but, trust me, those only work for a second or so. This one, I am told, could work for four years. So we wait to feel normal.


newyorker--2020-11-12--The Work of Saving Democracy Must Go On After Trump

The 2020 election , however , failed to produce a thoroughgoing repudiation of Trumpism and its race-based , grievance-driven brand of politics .
Even amid a devastating pandemic and economic downturn , roughly seventy-two million Americans voted for the President , nine million more than voted for him in 2016 .
The Trump campaign managed to activate millions of new voters—stark evidence of the enduring appeal of Trump ’ s nationalistic , populist message .
Democrats had believed that the great tide of immigration that is dramatically changing the country , the huge numbers of people going to the polls—this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ highest percentage of Americans voting in a hundred and twenty years—and widespread revulsion toward the President could tip a wave of traditionally Republican states in their favor .
But it became clear relatively early on Election Night that this hope had failed to materialize .
In Texas , the Biden campaign made a late push , counting on turning out supporters in the state ’ s booming cities and diversifying suburbs .
Trump wound up winning easily , however , mostly because of his strength in rural areas and small towns , where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ four years ago .
Similarly , Democrats invested heavily in Ohio , where Barack Obama won the vote in 2008 and 2012 but Hillary Clinton lost to Trump in 2016 .
Trump ’ s eight-point victory in the state , matching his 2016 margin against Clinton , was so complete that he even defeated Biden in Mahoning County , in northeastern Ohio , a place with deep union roots—the aging industrial town of Youngstown is the county seat—where a Republican Presidential candidate had not triumphed in nearly half a century .
Nationally , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ toxicity would sweep them to victory in down-ballot races , but the Party lost several seats in the House , and the near-certainty that many Democrats had felt about taking back the Senate has evaporated .
Though , if Democrats are able to eke out a Senate victory in January , via two runoff races in Georgia—a challenging task without alarm about Trump driving voters to the polls—the Party will achieve a fifty-fifty split in the chamber , with Vice-President Kamala Harris able to cast deciding votes .
The election results reinforce just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ divisions have become .
The nation ’ s most fundamental racial , ethnic , religious , geographic , and cultural divisions are now interwoven with the identities of its two major political parties .
The G.O.P .
has become increasingly reliant on voters in America today that resent the ways the country is changing around them .
They are overwhelmingly white , religious conservatives , people without college degrees , and residents of small towns and rural areas of the country .
By contrast , groups that support the Democratic Party—the young ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and transgender people ; the college-educated ; and city dwellers—largely celebrate these social and cultural shifts .
Exacerbating matters , the members of the opposing parties are increasingly cut off from one another .
They live in different neighborhoods ; they get their news from different sources ; they spend their Sundays differently .
Voting preferences today are driven as much by intense loathing for the opposing party as they are by genuine policy differences .
This combustible situation resembles the manner in which the country was riven by disagreements over slavery @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ How Democracies Die , ” published in 2018 , the political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt document the ways in which President Trump resembles authoritarian leaders around the world with his undermining of democratic institutions and norms .
A cornered , unhinged Trump , unwilling to concede the election , remains a dangerous prospect for the Republic over the next few months .
But Trump ’ s exit , though restorative , will not cure American democracy of its implacable partisanship .
A worst-case scenario for the country , as sketched @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in which partisan rancor continues to rise , turning America into a democracy without guardrails , in which “ partisan rivals become enemies , political competition descends into warfare , and our institutions turn into weapons.
” This is how liberal democracies have crumbled around the world .
A long list of priorities awaits the Biden Administration .
Bold measures are needed to address the twin crises of the pandemic and the economy .
During his campaign , Biden outlined an expansive agenda on health care , immigration , education , policing , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eager to begin the work of reforming a political system that increasingly thwarts the will of the electorate .
If Democrats succeed in taking back the Senate , the Party ’ s leadership in Congress and the White House might prioritize any number of steps toward a lasting progressive agenda , including expanding the number of seats on the Supreme Court ; ending the filibuster ; statehood for Washington , D.C. , and Puerto Rico ; and new protections for voting rights .
But a Republican-controlled Senate would likely extinguish hopes for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the great uncertainty for American democracy is what happens next to a country that seems irretrievably polarized .
Since the Trump Presidency began , a progressive ferment has bubbled in communities across the country .
The Women ’ s March , on January 21 , 2017 , which may have been the largest single-day protest in the country ’ s history , launched four years of demonstrations in response to the moral crisis of the Administration .
Ordinary citizens , many of whom had never protested before—particularly college-educated , middle-aged , suburban white @ @ @ @ @ @ @ organizing represented an inflection point in civic engagement , which had been declining in this country for years .
Many of the groups that formed after Trump ’ s Inauguration redirected their energy to campaigning for Democrats during the 2018 midterm elections , helping the Party retake the House .
They have now helped to expel Trump from the White House .
The emergency that roused so many of them from their complacency has ended , but the work of saving democracy must go on .
Lara Putnam and Theda Skocpol , academics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ groups that sprang up during the Trump Presidency , have highlighted the surprising ideological and geographic diversity of participants .
Many of the groups deliberately sought to be inclusive across party lines .
According to findings published by the American Communities Project , at George Washington University , the groups were not confined to big cities and blue states but had a significant presence in swing states such as Florida , Wisconsin , Michigan , Pennsylvania , Nevada , and Arizona .
They can be found in all manner of communities—counties with large @ @ @ @ @ @ @ socioeconomic spectrum , exurbs , and small towns .
These regular Americans , awakened by the Trump cataclysm , were compelled less by any particular issue than by a broader concern for the future of their country .
Putnam , a historian at the University of Pittsburgh , writes in “ Upending American Politics , ” published last year , that the motivation she heard over and over from those groups was “ centered on protecting American democracy and reclaiming citizen ownership on public life.
” Their aspirations were more democratic , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them the potential , in a world without Trump , to draw partisans from both sides .
Social-psychology studies have long shown that contact between hostile groups can reduce tensions .
More recent research , focussed specifically on political rancor , confirms that finding and , notably , identifies forging a sense of commonality as a key mechanism in defusing partisan hostilities .
One experiment found that just having people read an article that extols the virtues of America and Americans , and then writing a brief paragraph about the positive aspects of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , was enough to soften people ’ s views about the opposing party .
Biden , in his victory speech on Saturday , in Wilmington , Delaware , pledged “ to be a President who seeks not to divide but to unify , who doesn ’ t see red states and blue states , only sees the United States.
” It is a message he staked his campaign on and now plans to make a central theme of his Presidency .
“ We have to stop treating our opponents as our enemies , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They are not our enemies .
They are Americans.
” He is hardly the first politician to make such an appeal , and Republicans , inevitably , will view him as an avatar of the Party they loathe .
But ordinary citizens , conveying Biden ’ s sentiment to their friends , neighbors , co-workers , and family members , might actually succeed in rekindling an American identity that is resolute against intolerance and injustice , promotes inclusion and respect for all , and brings us closer to the ideal of one nation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2020 Election • Trump has survived impeachment , twenty-six sexual-misconduct accusations , and thousands of lawsuits .
His luck may well end now that Joe Biden will be the next President .
• What happens if Trump fights the election results ?
• Here is what you can do if Trump stages a coup .
• For the G.O.P.
, the future may look like Florida , which is becoming less white but not much less conservative .
Can Republicans become a multiracial working-class party ?
• Sign up for our daily newsletter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and columnists .

In the end, bigotry, mendacity, and narcissism lost. Decency and reason won. Despite Donald Trump’s refusal to acknowledge the election results, after four chaotic years, the country will escape the ordeal of his Presidency. Seventy-seven million people voted for Joe Biden, the most ever for a Presidential candidate—an estimable accomplishment in the face of an incumbent President. Biden’s leads, too, in Georgia and Arizona, once reliably Republican states, instill hope that Democratic efforts to construct a lasting majority coalition that capitalizes on America’s demographic transformation may finally be emergent.
The 2020 election, however, failed to produce a thoroughgoing repudiation of Trumpism and its race-based, grievance-driven brand of politics. Even amid a devastating pandemic and economic downturn, roughly seventy-two million Americans voted for the President, nine million more than voted for him in 2016. The Trump campaign managed to activate millions of new voters—stark evidence of the enduring appeal of Trump’s nationalistic, populist message. Democrats had believed that the great tide of immigration that is dramatically changing the country, the huge numbers of people going to the polls—this election is ultimately expected to record the highest percentage of Americans voting in a hundred and twenty years—and widespread revulsion toward the President could tip a wave of traditionally Republican states in their favor. But it became clear relatively early on Election Night that this hope had failed to materialize.
In Texas, the Biden campaign made a late push, counting on turning out supporters in the state’s booming cities and diversifying suburbs. Trump wound up winning easily, however, mostly because of his strength in rural areas and small towns, where he actually improved on his performance from four years ago. Similarly, Democrats invested heavily in Ohio, where Barack Obama won the vote in 2008 and 2012 but Hillary Clinton lost to Trump in 2016. Trump’s eight-point victory in the state, matching his 2016 margin against Clinton, was so complete that he even defeated Biden in Mahoning County, in northeastern Ohio, a place with deep union roots—the aging industrial town of Youngstown is the county seat—where a Republican Presidential candidate had not triumphed in nearly half a century. Nationally, Democrats had hoped that Trump’s toxicity would sweep them to victory in down-ballot races, but the Party lost several seats in the House, and the near-certainty that many Democrats had felt about taking back the Senate has evaporated. Though, if Democrats are able to eke out a Senate victory in January, via two runoff races in Georgia—a challenging task without alarm about Trump driving voters to the polls—the Party will achieve a fifty-fifty split in the chamber, with Vice-President Kamala Harris able to cast deciding votes.
The election results reinforce just how entrenched the country’s partisan divisions have become. The nation’s most fundamental racial, ethnic, religious, geographic, and cultural divisions are now interwoven with the identities of its two major political parties. The G.O.P. has become increasingly reliant on voters in America today that resent the ways the country is changing around them. They are overwhelmingly white, religious conservatives, people without college degrees, and residents of small towns and rural areas of the country. By contrast, groups that support the Democratic Party—the young; African-Americans; immigrants; gay, lesbian, and transgender people; the college-educated; and city dwellers—largely celebrate these social and cultural shifts. Exacerbating matters, the members of the opposing parties are increasingly cut off from one another. They live in different neighborhoods; they get their news from different sources; they spend their Sundays differently. Voting preferences today are driven as much by intense loathing for the opposing party as they are by genuine policy differences. This combustible situation resembles the manner in which the country was riven by disagreements over slavery prior to the Civil War.
In “How Democracies Die,” published in 2018, the political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt document the ways in which President Trump resembles authoritarian leaders around the world with his undermining of democratic institutions and norms. A cornered, unhinged Trump, unwilling to concede the election, remains a dangerous prospect for the Republic over the next few months. But Trump’s exit, though restorative, will not cure American democracy of its implacable partisanship. A worst-case scenario for the country, as sketched by Levitsky and Ziblatt, is one in which partisan rancor continues to rise, turning America into a democracy without guardrails, in which “partisan rivals become enemies, political competition descends into warfare, and our institutions turn into weapons.” This is how liberal democracies have crumbled around the world.
A long list of priorities awaits the Biden Administration. Bold measures are needed to address the twin crises of the pandemic and the economy. During his campaign, Biden outlined an expansive agenda on health care, immigration, education, policing, and climate change. Progressives are also eager to begin the work of reforming a political system that increasingly thwarts the will of the electorate. If Democrats succeed in taking back the Senate, the Party’s leadership in Congress and the White House might prioritize any number of steps toward a lasting progressive agenda, including expanding the number of seats on the Supreme Court; ending the filibuster; statehood for Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico; and new protections for voting rights. But a Republican-controlled Senate would likely extinguish hopes for a transformational Presidency. Under either scenario, the great uncertainty for American democracy is what happens next to a country that seems irretrievably polarized.
Since the Trump Presidency began, a progressive ferment has bubbled in communities across the country. The Women’s March, on January 21, 2017, which may have been the largest single-day protest in the country’s history, launched four years of demonstrations in response to the moral crisis of the Administration. Ordinary citizens, many of whom had never protested before—particularly college-educated, middle-aged, suburban white women—propelled that movement. Collectively, their organizing represented an inflection point in civic engagement, which had been declining in this country for years. Many of the groups that formed after Trump’s Inauguration redirected their energy to campaigning for Democrats during the 2018 midterm elections, helping the Party retake the House. They have now helped to expel Trump from the White House. The emergency that roused so many of them from their complacency has ended, but the work of saving democracy must go on.
Lara Putnam and Theda Skocpol, academics who have researched the thousands of resistance groups that sprang up during the Trump Presidency, have highlighted the surprising ideological and geographic diversity of participants. Many of the groups deliberately sought to be inclusive across party lines. According to findings published by the American Communities Project, at George Washington University, the groups were not confined to big cities and blue states but had a significant presence in swing states such as Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Arizona. They can be found in all manner of communities—counties with large numbers of retirees, suburbs across the socioeconomic spectrum, exurbs, and small towns. These regular Americans, awakened by the Trump cataclysm, were compelled less by any particular issue than by a broader concern for the future of their country.