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Leigh Ann Caldwell, Peter Hamby, Julia Ioffe, Marianna Sotomayor, John Heilemann, & Abby Livingston
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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
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October 21, 2025
Independent Voters Are Turning on ICE
New data from Echelon Insights suggests that Trump’s ICE raids have actually broken through with voters, unlike any other storyline in the current political moment. But as the president doubles down on unpopular arrest and deportation tactics, he may come to regret it.
Peter Hamby
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October 14, 2025
Newsom Player Haters & The ’28 Proxy War
Democrats have poured more than $140 million into the off-cycle ballot initiative to gerrymander California, counter Trump’s efforts to manipulate the midterms, and—perhaps most importantly—hand Gavin Newsom the political trophy he needs to cement his status as the presumptive Democratic frontrunner in 2028. But there are plenty of voters who don’t trust Gavin, too.
Peter Hamby
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October 7, 2025
How Democrats Finally Won the Internet
After years of churning out digital cringe, Democrats finally seem to have found a human message during the government shutdown, leveraging the left’s messy creator ecosystem to beat the Trump meme machine.
Peter Hamby
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September 30, 2025
Virginia Is for Locker-Room Talk
Abigail Spanberger’s muddled response to an attack on trans issues has once again highlighted Democrats’ inability to articulate a coherent response—a full year after Kamala faced the same campaign scrutiny.
Peter Hamby
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September 23, 2025
The Book of Isaiah
The Democratic Party’s overdue embrace of new media is yielding mixed, if consistently entertaining, results. Texas congressional candidate Isaiah Martin has advice for his party on harnessing the internet outrage machine.
Peter Hamby
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September 16, 2025
What College Students Really Think of Charlie Kirk
New data from Generation Lab undercuts Trump’s mythmaking about his murdered ally, who was unquestionably a savvy organizer, even if he wasn’t at all popular on the campuses he loved to visit.
Peter Hamby & John Heilemann
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September 2, 2025
Trump’s Crime Wave & A ’28 Trojan Horse
The president’s vow to send National Guard troops into blue cities beyond D.C. has Democrats on the back foot, even as Gavin and JB (and Wes Moore, and Josh Shapiro…) are jockeying for position as the face of the resistance.
Peter Hamby
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May 20, 2025
McMahon Hard Truths & ‘Original Sin’ Ripple Effects
A candid conversation on the Biden “cover-up” book that’s got everyone talking. Plus, the latest chatter surrounding the abrupt “resignation” of CBS News chief Wendy McMahon.
Peter Hamby
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May 13, 2025
Dem & Dumber
Despite Trump’s unpredictable, anxiety-provoking, market-rattling, ethics-pulverizing first 100 days, the latest Puck/Echelon poll shows he’s still more popular than Democrats with voters.
Peter Hamby
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May 6, 2025
The Virginia Monologues
A Republican scandal has upended the Virginia governor’s race—but not in the way that anyone expected, with the MAGA base flocking to John Reid, an openly gay Trump supporter, and turning on Glenn Youngkin for trying to push Reid out. “Trump broke the evangelical stuff,” said a campaign operative in Richmond. “There is purity, and there is winning. And they are both drugs, but one of them is a lot more addictive.”