Joe Biden Writes Me a Letter
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As we do every Friday, let’s open up Ye Olde Wide World of News Mailbag and see what’s on the minds of the readers.
Spoiler alert: There is a lot of interest in the midterms!
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Dear Mark,
As a relatively new first-time dad, I find balancing work and family a bit of a struggle. My job used to be even more demanding, as my bosses would insist that the rhythm of my work be largely dictated by – and this is going to sound insane – the tweets of one person. And this guy tweeted, like, a lot.
I don’t want to waste your time going through all the circumstances, but, for a long time, he wasn’t tweeting, and now he might start again. And my sense is that, as much as he used Twitter before, he has stored up inside himself a torrent of things to say. And now, with the baby and everything, I just almost can’t imagine how I will handle the return of a situation about which I belatedly realize I have PTSD.
Any thoughts would be really helpful.
Sincerely,
J Swan
Washington, DC
Dear Ms. or Mr. Swan,
As a relatively new parent myself, I know how stressful this kind of situation can be. I can understand why this man’s return to Twitter might be upsetting to you. But I believe there is a new owner there, and I’m sure that whatever chaos those old tweets caused before will be reined in by the incoming management team.
Pro tip: Turn off any alerts!!
It is all going to be fine.
Mark
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Mr. Halperin,
I talk loud. I talk loud on the Metroliner. I talk loud at Chinese restaurants. I talk loud on tarmacs. So sue me.
As always, my staff can clean up any mess I make. That’s what I pay them for.
No question here. Just wanted you to know I talk loud.
Sincerely,
Chuck from Brooklyn
Dear Chuck,
My sense is you might be feeling some stress. The prospect of an unexpected (and unwanted) job change can be unsettling even for those who have been around the block a time or two. How about this: If things don’t go as planned for you in the next fortnight, if the number 52 (or even 53 or 54) starts to become the reality of your employment, why don’t the two of us have dinner on Long Island with our mutual friends Joe and Eileen Bailey. I bet they will have plenty to say about crime and inflation. We can do something you have been too busy to do for the last two years – some soul searching about what really matters.
Mark
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Dearest Mark,
People are alarmed at the cost of things. They are afraid of crime. They don’t like what they see of the schools. These are personal, intimate issues. They have to do with how you live your life. You don’t want to be the parents who can’t buy the kids what they need and the other kids make fun of them. You don’t want the emotional mood of your house dictated by your fear that you can’t make rent. You don’t want to be hit on the head on the way to the store—what would you do if you were carjacked, what’s the right way to act?—and you don’t want to be constantly doubting your kids are safe. And the schools are swept by weirdness of all kinds. Just teach them math and history so they can go on and get a good job and not always be afraid of the rent.
All my best,
Dearest Peggy,
As a wise lady recently wrote:
These three things, plus illegal immigration, will defeat a lot of Democrats on Nov. 8, as will one other factor: The Democrats don’t have a plan. This leaves voters thinking: We can’t turn it around with them. Their party is committed to ideologies that are causing or contributing to these problems, and they’re afraid to break free of those commitments because the leftward edges of their base won’t vote for them if they do. So they’re stuck talking doubletalk.
So I think you are probably right. But I also read this quote in the Washington Post:
“You’ve got this unique cycle where both sides appear to have a high energy and enthusiasm level,” said Tom Bonier, CEO of TargetSmart, a Democratic political data firm. “We see polls in New York showing [the governor’s race] being a close race. We see polls in Oklahoma showing the Democrat winning [the governor’s race]. What election year can you recall when you can look at both of those things?”
As you chronicle every week, these are odd times indeed in the old US of A. Let’s call what we anticipate “a Red wave with a twist.” Expect the unexpected.
Oh, one last thing: In writing about Lee Zeldin, you said this:
He has this in common with a lot of the male post-Trump-presidency generation of GOP politicians: There is a sense of unease in them, something at once aggressive and furtive. They glower and simmer, grrr grrr, as if it’s a concession to your fancy ideas of civilization to be personable. Here an angry conservative will say, “Our country’s a dumpster fire and you want charm? You want winsome?”
No, I’d like normal. Politics is a game of addition. Attract those who don’t equate a glower with wisdom. What does good nature cost you?
We should be able to conduct our lives without a constant air of menace. Our politics, also.
Let’s hope incoming Speaker Kevin McCarthy reads that. He’s potentially poised to lead like Newt Gingrich, but without the charm.
Mark
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Mr. Halperin:
The two of us are very different, but we have some things in common, including that we are up for the same job! Also, both of us have dedicated our lives to the Lord, which makes it hard to see how this thing will turn out. Any guidance, divine or otherwise, you can provide, would be very helpful.
All our best,
R. Warnock and H. Walker
Atlanta
Gentlemen,
I don’t know if you follow the history of the United States Senate very much, but one of the leaders there not too long ago, a guy named George Mitchell (a Yankee in every respect), famously said this:
Although he's regularly asked to do so, God does not take sides in American politics.
So it’s going to be up to the negative ads and Governor Kemp’s coattails.
Mark
PS: My suggestion is that you not make any big plans for Thanksgiving.
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Mark,
You often include stories you label “essential reading” in the newsletter. Love those. I’m guessing, so close to Election Day, that Friday’s edition will include many such articles. Really looking forward to it!
Thanks for all you do,
Acme Jones
Everywhere, USA
Dear Acme,
Actually, much to my surprise, after spending a long time perusing the news, there is just one such piece today, a write-up of a quartet of New York Times polls in four key congressional districts, the type of quality data we don’t often see in public.
Here’s how it starts:
President Biden is unpopular everywhere. Economic concerns are mounting. Abortion rights are popular but social issues are more often secondary.
A new series of House polls by The New York Times and Siena College across four archetypal swing districts offers fresh evidence that Republicans are poised to retake Congress this fall as the party dominated among voters who care most about the economy.
Democrats continue to show resilience in places where abortion is still high on the minds of voters, and where popular incumbents are on the ballot. Indeed, the Democrats were still tied or ahead in all four districts — three of which were carried by Mr. Biden in 2020. But the party’s slim majority — control could flip if just five seats change hands — demands that it essentially run the table everywhere, at a moment when the economy has emerged as the driving issue in all but the country’s wealthier enclaves.
The poll results in the four districts — an upscale suburb in Kansas, the old industrial heartland of Pennsylvania, a fast-growing part of Las Vegas and a sprawling district along New Mexico’s southern border — offer deeper insights beyond the traditional Republican and Democratic divide in the race for Congress. They show how the midterm races are being shaped by larger and at times surprising forces that reflect the country’s ethnic, economic and educational realignment.
You will want to read it all.
Mark
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Mr. Halperin:
As large as my head is, it can’t possibly control all of the ambition inside of me, especially after a week from Tuesday, when I will be the King of the World and all eyes will be on me. It is the moment I’ve been waiting for and, at long last, all that I deserve will be mine mine mine.
What could possibly go wrong?
Let me know,
Rick
Florida
Rick,
I hate to break it to you, but even if your side gets to 55 seats, I am pretty sure you are going to find yourself right where you started, behind two other guys who, it so happens, are your constituents. Their names are Donald and Ron. The national media and the major donors and consultants can close their eyes and see them as the party nominee; that is not what they see in you. And your efforts to change that perception are going to be hampered by the fact that you have stumbled into a knife fight with a guy from Kentucky (who will bring not just his knife but some Bluegrass nunchucks as well).
Beating some of those Democratic incumbents is likely to turn out to be the easy part.
Best of luck!
Mark
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Dear Mark,
I’ve tried everything I could think of. I’ve saved the nation from COVID, monkeypox, port strikes, baby formula shortages, Mitch McConnell and Joe Manchin, and a whole lot more. Still, we are behind. I am wondering if you think it is a good idea to bet the whole election on Donald Trump’s return to Twitter. Let me know in the newsletter!
Ron
Washington, DC
Dear Ron,
What worked in 2020 might not work in 2022 but this is the quickest way to get the media back on your side, covering chaos over crime (and inflation). I don’t know if you yourself like using Twitter, but it wouldn’t hurt to try to rev this thing up. Just stay away from doing anything explicitly political.
Mark
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Mark,
Hey, buddy. Thanks for reading my letter. Literally, I truly mean it. No joke.
F*ck Bakari Sellers, Lis Smith, David Axelrod. F*ck ‘em all.
If they think Barack Obama is so f*cking amazing, then why did he get less done in eight years than I have done in under two?
Ok, why is he in Georgia today and I’m not?
No f*ckin’ idea, man.
C’mon,
Joe
Rehoboth Beach, DE
Dear Mr. President,
Maybe watch on what is likely to be more live cable coverage than you typically get these days and you will see some clues.
Mark