WASHINGTON
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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July 12, 2026
Plat Earthers
After Graham Platner’s flameout in Maine, Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed is the progressive left’s best—and last—chance to prove they can win a Senate seat in a purple state.
Marianna Sotomayor
& Leigh Ann Caldwell
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July 9, 2026
Post-Platner Blame Games & Mike Collins’s Staffing Headaches
As Democrats sift through the wreckage of Graham Platner’s campaign, the blame is falling on Morris Katz, the self-styled wunderkind who helped recruit him. Across the aisle, Mike Collins is on his third chief of staff in six months, a revolving door that has even Republicans questioning his hiring.
Julia Ioffe
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July 9, 2026
Behind Russian Lines
In a conversation from Moscow, Nikita Khrushchev’s granddaughter describes a society adjusting to shortages, tighter government surveillance, blocked cellphone service, and the realization that Putin’s war has reached home.
Leigh Ann Caldwell & Marianna Sotomayor
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July 8, 2026
G.O.P Shutdown Anxiety & McConnell’s AWOL Politics
Senate Republicans are anxious about a possible preelection government shutdown instigated by Democrats. Plus, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear pushes Mitch McConnell’s team on health updates.
Peter Hamby
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July 8, 2026
The Graham Platner Hostage Crisis
The left’s ongoing Platner nightmare reveals all too many of the Democrats’ blind spots—not only offering limitless chances to a white dude with personal issues and Nazi ink, but pinning so many national political hopes on the non-diverse, Berniecratic state of Maine.
Leigh Ann Caldwell & Marianna Sotomayor
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July 7, 2026
Platner Succession Planning & McConnell’s Whereabouts
Amidst allegations and dwindling support, Graham Platner is attempting to control who succeeds him in the Senate race. Meanwhile, an AWOL Mitch McConnell resurfaces post-hospitalization.
Marianna Sotomayor & Leigh Ann Caldwell
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July 6, 2026
Trump’s Red Scare & Platner’s Newest Bombshell
Trump is branding the D.S.A. primary victories a "communist" takeover, reviving a 2018 socialism scare Democrats never quite shook. Plus, notes on the latest allegation threatening to topple Graham Platner’s Senate campaign.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
•
July 6, 2026
America 451
Exclusive focus group data suggests that Americans across the political spectrum have soured on Trump’s second term—with inflation, Iran, and political dysfunction eclipsing the postelection optimism that once buoyed his supporters.
Marianna Sotomayor
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July 2, 2026
Democrats Begin Prepping For a Jeffries–D.S.A. Hostage Crisis
As Hakeem Jeffries fantasizes about the speakership, incoming leftists are already gaming out what it will cost him to get their votes. Meanwhile, moderates are plotting to lock them out of leadership, and A.O.C. has emerged as a critical backchannel…
Julia Ioffe
•
July 2, 2026
Is It Time to Cancel the Annual NATO Summit?
The alliance’s summer meeting, which became a yearly event after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has since devolved into an annual display of Trump-induced disunity. “It’s not productive. It risks being destructive,” said one former defense official. So why keep taking that risk every single year?
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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July 1, 2026
Ossoff’s Suspicious Spending & Bennet Succession Fallout
A review of Jon Ossoff’s advertising suggests a very presidential pattern to his spending. Meanwhile, Michael Bennet’s loss in Colorado is raising questions about what’s next for Reps. Joe Neguse and Jason Crow.
Peter Hamby
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July 1, 2026
Colorado Fight Club
Michael Bennet, Diana DeGette, and the Democratic old guard all learned the same painful lesson on Tuesday: Voters want fighters, and they’re ready to punish any incumbent exhibiting a whiff of complacency.
Leigh Ann Caldwell & Marianna Sotomayor
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June 30, 2026
Tom Kean Revelations & The R.N.C.’s $100M Bazooka
News and notes from the Hill, where rumors are flying about the return of Rep. Kean and Republicans are celebrating their latest political gift from Trump’s stacked Supreme Court.
Leigh Ann Caldwell & Marianna Sotomayor
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June 29, 2026
Hakeem Jeffries’ Mile High Stress Test
While Democrats watch Colorado’s primaries for clues as to whether New York’s socialist surge was an isolated incident, A.O.C. could become a critical peacemaker between the establishment and the party’s new left flank.
John Heilemann
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June 29, 2026
Chris Van Hollen’s Opus
Maryland’s senior senator unloads on Trump’s Iran war, predicts an ugly fight over the midterms, and explains why Gaza will be a defining debate of the 2028 Democratic presidential primary.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
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June 29, 2026
A.O.C. Realpolitik & Sen. Cassidy’s Iran Reversal
A weekend cheat sheet to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s centrist-socialist re-triangulation and Bill Cassidy’s head-spinning decision to reverse his war powers vote.
Leigh Ann Caldwell
•
June 28, 2026
Trump’s Midterm Hostage Crisis
The president has staked everything on passing the SAVE America Act, his divisive voter ID bill. The result: a Republican civil war over whether feeding the base is the best way to win or merely the fastest way to lose.