3 Stories You Should Read 7/01/2020: Lauren Boebert, Trumpism, Hong Kong
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In the category of: Preview??
Protests break out in Hong Kong as first arrest made under new security law
In the category of: The Crazy Train
“This outcome is a policy choice. The unnecessary lives lost. The long-term effects we don’t even know about yet on our vital organs. It’s all a policy choice.”
There are two types of polarization worth separating out here: I’ll call them structural polarization and discretionary polarization.
Structural polarization stems from the core incentives of American politics. Elections are zero-sum affairs, and voters reward the majority party for successful, popular governance. The minority party’s default tendency to oppose the majority party’s signature initiatives is an example of structural polarization. It can be resisted or overcome, but it flows from the basic structure of our political system.
Discretionary polarization reflects the idiosyncratic decisions leaders make. Take face masks, for example. In an alternative universe, where President Mitt Romney is in the final year of his second term, would there be a politicized culture war over face masks? I doubt it. President Romney would be wearing a mask and urging others to do the same, just as Sen. Romney, and many of his colleagues, are doing now.
In the category of: Q is in the house
A QAnon Supporter Just Beat A Republican Congressman in Colorado
“Not even multiple endorsements from President Trump could save Congressman Scott Tipton from his extreme, QAnon caucus challenger,” she said. “Washington Republicans should immediately disavow Lauren Boebert and her extremist, dangerous conspiracy theories.”
Boebert is the third QAnon supporter to take first place in a GOP primary vote this cycle, following Jo Rae Perkins’ victory in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Oregon and Marjorie Greene’s first-place finish in a primary for a deeply conservative House seat in northwest Georgia. (Greene still needs to win an Aug. 11 runoff election to claim the party’s nomination.) But Boebert is the first QAnon supporter to win in a potentially competitive seat.
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