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What do we suppose was going through Hakeem Jeffries’s mind when he agreed to meet in secret with Jared Kushner? Here’s a theory that doesn’t posit any conspiracy theories not in evidence but does draw on recent history. It also matches Democratic Party temperament to a T. Jeffries says he and Kushner met to “discuss the affordability crisis that exists, that is not a hoax.” I don’t get the sense that many people find this version of events terribly satisfying.

(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) Phil Schumacher: How much support do you think Hakeem Jeffries has in the caucus for his meeting with Kushner? Is it like ending the filibuster in 2021 where Manchin and Sinema were vocal in opposing it but several others were silently supporting them? What can Democratic voters do to force Democratic leadership to grow a spine? I suspect the median caucus member feels a bit like I did and do: Not surprised; concerned; intent on learning more.

(Photo by: Wild Horizons/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Public backlash to the relentless data-center buildout has upended politics just in time for the election. This is, I would guess, mostly good news for Democrats. Donald Trump is president; Republicans are incumbent; the A.I. boom is driven by Trump-aligned tech oligarchs; and because of how badly he’s corrupted and mismanaged the economy, a dramatic slowdown in data-center construction could send the country into recession.

(Photo by Jack Gruber - Pool/Getty Images) Thursday’s mailbag focused heavily on the question of whether congressional Democrats were prepared for adversarial relations with the Trump administration in a new majority next year. I argued the outlook was dim, and this reporting from the New York Times, about a secret meeting between House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Jared Kushner, dims it further.

(Photo by Florida News Bureau/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) The thread is open for members.

(Photo by Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images) Let’s peer into a future where Democrats come to power in 2029 with a governing trifecta. In this crystal ball, the only thing we can’t see is how large their majorities will be. We just know they’ve won two national elections in a row. They will try to pull this off. It’s what parties and candidates exist to do. And—thanks to Donald Trump and a decent roster of wannabe presidents—I think the odds are in their favor.

Thanks to everyone who watched in real time, and to those who left questions. Think we’ll do these about once a month going forward, not counting special impromptu streams. Especially now that I’ve moved my home office into a room with decent lighting and gotten out from in front of the dreaded Brown Curtain. Leave a comment Support Off Message

(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) The illusions of mastery and forward motion are essential to the Trump project. If the movement weakens, and begins to flag, its internal contradictions become much easier to detect, and everyone who’s signed up to operate its machinery is exposed. They weren’t swept along by some irresistible juggernaut; they were fully in control of their own faculties. They knew the difference between right and wrong, and chose wrong.

(Photo by MPI/Getty Images) I remember getting to autumn of 2019 and thinking we might be home free. That was a long way to have come from the sense of dread that pervaded liberal politics three years earlier. If you work in government, or cover it closely for a living, you gain real appreciation for the fact that the systems that allow most Americans to lead carefree lives are simultaneously robust and fragile. I use the term “carefree” advisedly. Many people are deprived.

(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) Normalization is a dirty word in the pro-democracy movement, because we associate it with the many ways elites and institutions under-reacted to authoritarianism and corrupt conduct when Donald Trump brought them to the center of national politics. “Normalization” was when cable news networks treated candidate-Trump as an entertaining or colorful figure rather than a dangerous one. You’re normalizing him. Stop normalizing him.