Astead

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@AsteadWH

Host, America, Actually! @voxmedia
Weekly midterms newsletter @Substack
Editorial director @voxdotcom
Political analyst @cnn
Former @nytimes @bostonglobe

New York, NY podcasts.voxmedia.com/show/america-a… Joined August 2011

2.9K Following 198K Followers 66K Posts

Latest posts 5

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Astead @AsteadWH Apr 11

!!!! First day of our new podcast, America Actually (w/ Astead Herndon). It's going to be about the upcoming elections and America's road to a post-Trump future.

But as we got started I wanted to write something about why I landed on that theme and what I saw as the our mission in a landscape of a lot of media choices

0:07

Astead @AsteadWH 2d

Why I’d urge caution on declaring the Trump era over. The second term project hasn’t just been about retribution, but also unchecked presidential power — with Miller and Project 2025 its architects.

They didn’t really try and sell their agenda to the public. They tried to gerrymander a win before voting started. And they worked hard to empower the executive, and to minimize the role of Congress/Courts altogether.

So in a weird, undemocratic way, the WH has been building to this moment for two years.

Kaitlan Collins Verified account @kaitlancollins 2d

Trump announces Stephen Miller will become his new chief of staff.

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Astead @AsteadWH 2d

The moment I knew Republicans were cooked this midterms: when PA voters at an Allentown gas station were name checking the Strait of Hormuz.

Tariffs were the original policy sin of this administration, and that’s only been magnified by a needless war. Trump did this to himself

On @CNN with @JohnBerman + @ForecasterEnten:

1:08

Astead @AsteadWH 3d

Silver lining: At least we’re finally acknowledging this was all about 2028 the whole time

Astead Verified account @AsteadWH Oct 6

First, Piker's connection to El-Sayed was supposed to cost him the primary. Then the small margin of victory supposedly proved he couldn't win the general. Now he's polling better, and the goalposts have moved again.

Why? As I wrote this summer, it was never just about the streamer. It was also about 2028, and the left's growing ability to go around traditional gatekeepers to get its message out. That was clear from our interviews. It's clear in the reaction to AOC's fundraiser comments.

But "moderates" essentially agree with what she said: El-Sayed's performance does have a direct effect on the potency of the "electability" argument in the 2028 primary.

That's why they've been so invested in litigating what counts as a win in the first place!
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Astead @AsteadWH 3d

Angie Nixon didn’t win her Democratic primary because of a weak state party. Voters chose her over a candidate who outspent her 10 to 1.

Also no one outside of the national media bubble saw her through the lens of “DSA,” which is part of the reason she beat back the GOP caricature of that label, and shows the limits of this sort of analysis.

Actual people chose an actual person — let’s start there

Clipping Wings Verified account @ClippingWings 3d

Ezra Klein on the electoral performance of El-Sayed, Peggy Flanagan and Angie Nixon:

Angie Nixon—I don't think there's any reason to look at the results and say it was a brilliant strategic move to run the DSA candidate in Florida.

Sometimes people take statements about electoral performance as moral statements about the worth of a candidate or the ideas. That's crazy in my view.

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