Get the inside conversation in your inbox
Leigh Ann Caldwell, Peter Hamby, Julia Ioffe, Marianna Sotomayor, John Heilemann, & Abby Livingston
•
Sunday through Thursday
Puck’s daily political newsletter from Washington—featuring Leigh Ann Caldwell, Peter Hamby, Marianna Sotomayor, Julia Ioffe, John Heilemann, and Abby Livingston—on what’s really happening in this town, from the White House to the Pentagon to Capitol Hill, K Street, the campaign trail, and beyond.
THE LATEST ARTICLES
Peter Hamby
•
August 28, 2023
Band of Outsiders
One of the laughable tragedies about this crop of G.O.P. presidential also-rans is that they all still believe that they’re still the outsiders they were, decades ago—you know, before politics became a batshit crazy spectacle, and they started to look a lot like the people they once disrupted.
Peter Hamby
•
August 21, 2023
Down But Not Out in Iowa
Scenes from the State Fair, where Vivek is the new Buttigieg, DeSantis keeps getting friend-zoned, the Trump-Scott ticket is a veritable conservative fantasy, and voters are decidedly undecided ahead of this week’s G.O.P. debate.
Peter Hamby
•
August 14, 2023
Biden’s Orchestra Pit Paradox
For Biden to win again, he must reach people who aren’t just news junkies, and his advisers are unapologetic about the importance of going around the Washington press to do it, their egos be damned.
Peter Hamby
•
August 7, 2023
The G.O.P.’s Field of Dreams
The bull case for overcoming Trump begins with winning Iowa, consolidating the vote, and then carrying momentum through the primary. But posing with butter sculptures and eating deep-fried Oreos isn’t what it used to be.
Peter Hamby
•
July 31, 2023
DeSantis’s Zombie Comeback Tour
Allies have pointed to McCain’s 2007 campaign comeback as the “perfect example” of why DeSantis shouldn’t be written off. But, as someone who rode the bus with McCain during those bleak days, I can tell you the comparison is perfectly imperfect.
Peter Hamby
•
July 24, 2023
Is Chris Christie Entering the Democratic Petting Zoo?
News and notes on the ecstasies and anxieties of the political class: Chris Christie’s ambitions and Elon Musk’s sub-hype victory.
Peter Hamby
•
July 17, 2023
The Great Tim Scott Fantasy
Scott’s donors are betting on his optimism, his Christian faith, and the American dream. But, of course, they’ve never met real Republican voters.
Peter Hamby
•
July 10, 2023
Biden’s “Double-Hater”-itis
There’s one simple rule of presidential politics: If you lose independents in swing states, you lose the election. And Biden is increasingly vulnerable.
Peter Hamby
•
June 26, 2023
Hunter Splatter Analysis
The president’s sad, delusional, haunted son is no longer a mere fixation for Republican house members and MAGA podcasters. Hunter Biden’s scandal has gone mainstream. Is it a legit ’24 problem?
Peter Hamby
•
June 12, 2023
DeSantis Extinction Theory, Revisited
What if those Scott Walker comparisons are misguided, or at least profoundly premature? Right now, the Republican campaign is in a limbo state until three important unknowns shake out: Republican voters respond to Trump’s indictments, the first G.O.P. debate in August, and whether DeSantis can grow outside of his Florida comfort zone.