Perry Bacon Jr.

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Well said. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

So the Dem debate over keeping or ditching the filibuster isn't just about norms, rules and bipartisanship. The policies that Dems could enact in a world without the filibuster are probably more important to AOC than Joe Manchin. So this is an ideological/policy debate too. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

It's not just that the filibuster prevents Dems from enacting many of their priorities. The 60-vote threshold pushes the party toward fiscal issues that can be done through reconciliation and away from non-fiscal issues (say abortion rights.) https://t.co/k1H4vhRVjn — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

I can't pick one section to highlight from this great conversation between @farai and @trymainelee. If you care about journalism, politics and/or racial issues, you should definitely read two of the country's leading black journalists speaking so honestly. https://t.co/yFzYrKxdbP — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

The other thing @froomkin gets so right is that while political journalists have been perhaps too unwilling to write about today's GOP honestly and directly, we were probably not critical enough of Obama (in the right ways) either. https://t.co/n2aa9TC1Pk — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

So much good stuff in this @froomkin piece. But this is perhaps the most important, "Our presumed readers – the ones we worry about not offending – are white, male, affluent, and centrist." This is I think an unstated assumption in much of political journalism. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

One thing @froomkin proposes that I had already done: stop thinking of my job as covering "politics." I really try to think of myself as covering government, elections and the two parties but not that every story is inherently about politics, which often really means elections. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

The political media shifted during the Trump era (less both sides-ism), essentially conceding its critics were right. Two of the most prominent critics were @froomkin and @farai. So very much worth reading their latest thoughts. https://t.co/n2aa9TC1Pk and https://t.co/yFzYrKxdbP — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

We had a lot of bipartisanship bills passed in Congress last year and America still seem pretty divided to me. I don’t think we are going to have unity until we figure out if we actually want a true multiracial democracy and how that actually works. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Romney has been saying for a while that Biden’s stimulus proposal is too large and too soon after the last COVID package. That seems like a serious argument. It would be helpful to our discourse if people debated this stimulus proposal on its policy merits not its unity effects. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

It is also worth remembering that Republican senators are political actors too. It would be useful for Romney, Murkowski, and Collins, if they plan to remain in the Republican Party, to vote against the Biden stimulus if they are going to vote to convict Trump. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Elections and polling aside, it could also be the case that Biden truly believes the nation should seek unity but also that his policies will help people and move us toward unity, even if Republicans on the Hill do not support them. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Was framing his inaugural around unity politically savvy? Probably yes, if the goal was to speak to the broader electorate. Perhaps not, if he knew his first item out of the gate was a proposal that would get little GOP support. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Biden has implied his definition of unity is support for his vision and policies from a majority of Americans. “Enough of us” was his phase in the inaugural. He has subsequently said unity means to “eliminate the vitriol” in politics but not necessarily bipartisanship. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Biden gave a major speech invoking the idea of unity and did not say explicitly that unity is not a synonym for bipartisanship. So it is not surprising that Republicans are, cynically in most cases, basically implying that unity cannot be achieved without bipartisanship. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Correct. No one actually thinks Rounds and Tillis in particular (fairly partisan Republicans) will embrace anything that can be cast as a political win for Biden. If Biden does not adopt this wholesale, most of signers will vote no. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

RT @LarryGlickman: Says the guy who voted In partisan fashion to cut taxes for the rich and to take health care away from millions, and who… — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

RT @froomkin: Gaaaah. @danbalz should leave the Post and start writing first drafts for @TheOnion. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

RT @jaketapper: GOP officials from coast to coast doing nothing to sanction those who spread the Big Lie or incited violence at the Capitol… — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

RT @soledadobrien: When we talk about bias in media, this would be a good thing to consider. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

So minimum wage increases, Medicaid expansions and other policies backed by Dem pols and opposed by GOP pols get passed by referendum in states that vote red. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

But another part of the story is that it increasingly seems like Democratic policies are popular but Democratic politicians are not. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Biden's early executive actions are quite popular. Part of the story is simply that Trump implemented a lot of policies that he believed in but were unpopular with the public--so Biden could walk in and do popular things simply by ending Trump's policies. https://t.co/e593kwe7uL https://t.co/WJZbNjevkJ — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

RT @chrislhayes: The central story of American politics right now is that one of the two parties is *radicalizing against democracy* in fro… — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Worth thinking: was McConnell really ever going to vote to convict Trump? Was there a real fissure in the GOP in the days after Jan 6, as so much coverage suggested? Was the fissure closed (possible) or is the media looking for a story about a party divided that isn't there? — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

There was not much suspense before in my view, but yes, basically down to zero now. The trial now becomes largely a potential way for Dems to give a public accounting of what Trump did in the weeks after the election to overturn the results, culminating on Jan 6. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

RT @AndrewDesiderio: The five GOP senators who voted with Dems that the trial is constitutional: Collins, Murkowski, Romney, Sasse, Toomey.… — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

RT @TheAtlantic: "The Biden era presages a return to typical presidential dishonesty, without the cult of personality that defined the Trum… — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

RT @AdamSerwer: We're gonna go with the Abu Ghraib model of justice with the Capitol Riot, which is that the small fries involved get time… — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Manchin really matters and every political junkie will know it's spelled Kyrsten (Sinema) very soon. But here is our look at about 25 other members of Congress to watch over the next 2 years. https://t.co/PAd21mNKqB — PolitiTweet.org