
📖 “A Realingment Must Mean Something,” by Henry Olsen. With Donald Trump and JD Vance taking office next week, Henry Olsen argues in Commonplace that the two GOP leaders need to avoid the perils and pitfalls of other conservative-populist coalitions in Europe who turned their back on new working-class voters.
This conservative-populist coalition does not march in lockstep. The new voters mostly backed President Barack Obama twice, and remain more moderate and supportive of robust government action. The old voters have surely shifted on issues like free trade, but these McCain-Romney backers remain more economically and socially conservative.
Baked in the afterglow of triumph, Trump’s initial agenda will likely make all factions happy. Governing, though, doesn’t stop after the first bills are passed. Events always bedevil even the best politicians, and something is sure to arise over the next four years that will force Trump to choose between these two groups.
When that time comes, Trump should look to what others faced with similar choices have done. For he is not the first leader of a conservative-populist coalition. Two others—Sweden’s Fredrik Reinfeldt and Britain’s Conservative Party—have tried to do what he now attempts. Both failed to meet the test when it came, destroying their new coalition in the process.
Both failed for the same reason: when push came to shove, the leaders chose the old base rather than the new converts. In so doing, they drove the new voters away, irrevocably splitting their coalition and allowing their leftist adversaries to regain power.
🇺🇸 “An Extremely Detailed Map of the 2024 Election,” by The New York Times. Several authors at the NYT put their talents together to produce a real treat for election nerds and concerned citizens. This massive database and interactive map lays out precinct-level results for 2024 from 41 states and shows vote shifts from 2020. Put in your own ZIP code and see how the neighborhood voted this year. Here’s the 2020-2024 shift in the Baltimore-Washington and surrounding area from a middle distance.
🎧 “Tokyo Works: Postcard from the world’s most liveable megacity,” podcast from Noah Sneider. The Economist’s Tokyo correspondent takes listeners on a wonderful 45-minute tour of the world’s largest city examining how Tokyo works so well for its inhabitants (hint: solid urban planning and transportation policies more than culture). The podcast features a look at some of his favorite local spots mingled with good history and modern insights about this fascinating—and massive—urban environment that somehow seems small and manageable to residents.
🍷 “Is Moderate Drinking Okay?” by Derek Thompson. With another snowstorm barreling down on the East Coast and the NFL playoffs hitting their stride, inquiring minds want to know if the beer (or three) they are planning on this weekend will be good for the ol’ ticker and noggin. Journalist Derek Thompson tackles the issue in response to the new Surgeon General recommendation that alcohol should come with a warning label about the increased risks of cancer. As usual, Thompson takes an extremely sober-minded approach to the topic at hand:
I’ve spent the past few weeks poring over studies, meta-analyses, and commentaries. I’ve crashed my web browser with an oversupply of research-paper tabs. I’ve spoken with researchers and then consulted with other scientists who disagreed with those researchers. And I’ve reached two conclusions. First, my seemingly simple question about moderate drinking may not have a simple answer. Second, I’m not making any plans to give up my nightly glass of wine.
🎷 The Way Out of Easy, by Jeff Parker ETA IVtet. This mostly improvisational jam session from four cracking jazz and indie musicians goes extremely well with that glass of wine or beer you may or may not be moderately imbibing this weekend. Parker is a member of Chicago greats Tortoise and has played session guitar with everyone from Andrew Bird and Meshell Ndegeocello to Makaya McCraven and Tom Zé. This album is four long beats-and-rhythm filled tracks with lots of free form solos interspersed. Great on headphones or the record player. Enjoy the weekend!
The Olsen piece is definitely worth a read. I suppose a man sees what he wants to see and disregards the rest but it seems to me to make the case for populist fusion since the Right populists don't have enough weight by themselves. Whether the traditional conservatives are snakes or just dinosaurs is irrelevant to the proposition of making conservative/populist fusion work. There is a lesson here for the Democrats too. The argument for populist fusion is also helped by the fact that both you and Owen Cass linked the article.