Matthew Yglesias

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

I think this mostly shows that having good judgment about how real world events will play out in the future is really valuable. Politicians also seem to struggle with it — ARRA too small, ARP too big — governing is hard. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

By the same token, if Hillary Clinton had been clairvoyant about the actual course of the war then the obvious politically expedient move would have been to vote “no” on the AUMF. She’d have won in 2008! But she wasn’t clairvoyant. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

As for the war itself and political judgment — I assume George W Bush signed off on those invasion plans because he thought they would work out really well and reflect well on him. It wasn’t “oh we should do a huge fiasco and ruin the political dynasty forever.” — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

But then the left over-interpreted the support for Bernie. Lots of mainstream Democrats (Barack Obama! Nancy Pelosi! A *majority of congressional democrats*) opposed the war. Rejecting the war didn’t require rejecting the whole aughts-vintage Democratic Party. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

I think the fact that Bernie opposed the war and Hillary supported it plays a larger role in support for him in the 2016 primary than anyone wants to acknowledge. The establishment forgot how mad people were about this and that it’s why Obama beat her in the first place. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Thinking about @chrislhayes’s points about neocentrism and Iraq. I think it’s true, factually, that the fiasco of the war discredited moderate Democrats in the eyes of a big cohort of people. It did a lot to push me to the left. I also think it gets misread by various factions. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

A new life awaits you in the off-world colonies. https://t.co/yt7hpvAKUQ — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

@MattZeitlin @MattBruenig @rmc031 He wants to defund the screen time police. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

@MattZeitlin @MattBruenig @rmc031 I handle this by being the least-leftwing person in my family, so I get to have a clear conscience about being on good terms with everyone. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Good research, ugly conclusion. https://t.co/aJAIQCda7i — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

@alon_levy Yes. She should have stood up for her endorsement of Boudin’s opponent. But that has nothing to do with “activists” or my private views — you have no idea what those are and I’m not telling. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

@alon_levy I’d be interested in an example of me saying that — I like to think my public expressions of annoyance at progressive activists are quite restrained relative to my private feelings. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Second-term W also at least started out with this idea of “spending” his accumulated “political capital” on sweeping welfare state rollback after a first term featuring expansions of SNAP eligibility and Medicare benefits. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

There’s also term-limited presidents but that’s a smaller sample. Obama clearly broke left after winning re-election signaling to me that his “true” views were probably to the left of his political persona all along. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

One thing people disagree about is whether “the establishment” is made up of ideologues who trim their sails for political reasons or weenies who need their feet held to the fire by issue-activists. Probably testable by looking at the behavior of members who are retiring. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

@EricLevitz I wish this were true but there was is in fact one side loudly insisting that swing voters don’t matter and public opinion is important just insofar as it impacts base mobilization. The argument is tragically real. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

RT @rmc031: @mattyglesias Thank you, but I don't think it's right to say they're simply following the groups. (though I do think the groups… — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace https://t.co/zvURwz5RxX — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Possibly the only defense-first player to be a true face of the franchise — a fitting choice. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

This is a great piece from @rmc031 but I feel like Vox tanked the headline which should be "Major pro-choice groups' post-Roe legislative strategy doesn't make sense and Senate Democrats should stop following their lead." https://t.co/wpNYq5P6FJ — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

@nataliemj10 Even worse! — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

@nataliemj10 I think the more relevant issue in the US is that it’s relatively easy here for “outsider” figures to sweep into primaries — something like AOC knocking off a member of leadership (to say nothing of Trump!) wouldn’t be feasible in most systems. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Like if you’re sitting in the United States proposing a law of politics whose counterexamples include Canada and Mexico, I think you are not trying very hard. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

I want to vote for a third party whose sole platform item is forcing Americanists to acknowledge that Duverger’s Law doesn’t withstand even cursory comparative scrutiny. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

@dandrezner Yes but I’m saying liberals misinterpret the significance of this, especially as they’ve become increasingly rigorous in their own demands for clear position-taking — imagine a politician being a progressive hero without a clearly articulated view on abortion rights. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Guy who’s skeptical about American involvement in wars 😀 The war is World War 2 😬 — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

@dmk1793 @lionel_trolling All true. Plus we have new papers with fancier math now. https://t.co/rLgB3lK7NM https://t.co/tPW37wftGR — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

This to me is the most frustrating part of the debate — critics will point out that the view is unoriginal, that it doesn’t engage with intellectually stimulating academic controversies, etc and that’s all correct. It’s a really boring but true idea. https://t.co/SV0CDjj7qs — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

I agree that popularism is about following rather than leading and also that it’s tedious — you win elections by following public opinion and winning elections is an important discrete task in political life. — PolitiTweet.org

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

I would simply crush the virus https://t.co/YJDtA6kuKq — PolitiTweet.org