Perry Bacon

@perrybaconjr.bsky.social

Government and policy writer. Views are my own. [email protected]

@youdontknowjill.bsky.socialReposted by @perrybaconjr.bsky.social

The number of people who read the headline and apparently thought "Oh, that's a question that Perry obviously wants me to answer" is way too goddamn high. The article is excellent and maybe don't get too stuck on the headline, folks.

@mcopelov.bsky.socialReposted by @perrybaconjr.bsky.social

The people who told you that Democrats must Only Talk about Kitchen Table Issues and not the Authoritarianism were deeply unserious (not least because this is a false dichotomy) & we should benchmark this when they give advice now & in 2028.

11/18/24 post: pundits and Dem hopefuls insisting Dems must talk only about kitchen table issues
@leemarvinoswald.bsky.socialReposted by @perrybaconjr.bsky.social

“The overall product is a factually accurate portrayal of American politics that misses the big story: The Republican Party is a far-right entity at war with democracy; the Democrats are a normal party in a liberal democracy.”

@aaronhuertas.bsky.socialReposted by @perrybaconjr.bsky.social

Excellent to see this case made in another outlet policymakers and campaigners read. I’d add that I think a lot of the NYT’s influence among Dems comes from donors, not necessarily rank and file supporters.

@rodinal.bsky.socialReposted by @perrybaconjr.bsky.social

Got introduced to Perry Bacon's work in his 538 days and this dude really locks the hell in. One of my favorite working politics writers.

@sunshowerlearning.bsky.socialReposted by @perrybaconjr.bsky.social

Thank you, Perry. So important. "The problem is the paper’s coverage approach combined with its huge influence on Democrats and liberals." Bingo: Correct way to practice politics in 26 is to read NYT but remember that much of the essential news to save our democracy has been fit to print elsewhere.

The Times has the right to cover America in 2026 this way. And there is nothing inherently wrong with centrist, nonideological media, or coverage that doesn’t use blunt language to describe today’s Republican Party. The problem is the paper’s coverage approach combined with its huge influence on Democrats and liberals. The mistakes that Democrats have made in fighting the MAGA right have been numerous and deeply costly: believing that Trump won in 2016 largely because of economy anxiety, trusting that Joe Biden’s conciliatory approach would bring politics back to normal, refusing to push Biden to stop fully supporting Israel’s war in Gaza, spending much of last year not fighting hard against Trump’s destruction of federal agencies and radical immigration policies. In my view, the Times helped lead Democrats to all of those fateful decisions. The paper’s coverage hints that the Republican Party is reasonable and parts of the Democratic Party base are unreasonable. That approach pushes Democrats away from the reality: The MAGA right must be defeated, not negotiated with.
@0xdaeda1a.bsky.socialReposted by @perrybaconjr.bsky.social

This is really good. “The correct way to practice politics in 2026 is to read The New York Times but remember that much of the essential news to save our democracy has been fit to print elsewhere.”

@biblioracle.bsky.socialReposted by @perrybaconjr.bsky.social

Hear! Hear! I read the Times. I'm glad the Times exists. If the Times were an object, I'd sometimes want to throw it out the window, but this impulse would be less strong or frequent if we had alternatives to the Times that mattered as much as the Times.

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