Perry Bacon Jr.

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Adam knows more about the Senate than most of us ever will and often criticizes his own party (the Dems) on strategy, so this is an important perspective. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Yeah, lots of people with more expertise on the Senate than me saying McConnell lost this, Schumer won. But it seems to me that Manchin and Sinema made very strong pro-filibuster statements that would preclude say a major voting rights bill passing in 2021-22. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

RT @bindersab: Minority parties thrive on dividing the majority. In that sense, McConnell secured what he sought: Manchin and Sinema's comm… — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

All of us who cover politics have a lot to learn from this reporter. Love the thoughts on being “pro-truth” and “pro-accountability” and not overusing the term racist. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Covering differences in terms of racial policies makes it easier to understand say black Trump supporters (you can be black and have conservative views on racial issues.) It also captures where the parties are different--which is more about BLM than who has more black friends. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

That said, the broader story is that the parties have different views on racial issues. I would not categorize someone who opposes reparations or Black Lives Matter as racist. But there are way more reparations and BLM supporters on the left than on the right. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

One more issue. The media is struggling to cover the parties' differences on racial issues. In particular, there is a lot of debate over the term racist. There are certainly some political actors who are racist and it seems clear that bloc is larger on the right than left. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Evidence-based and reality-based can be done without being ideological. (I said ideological, not partisan, because if one party's leader in particular is contradicting the evidence a lot, journalists may end up criticizing that party more.) — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

This @jayrosen_nyu piece, written in November, is almost scarily prescient. Read it. And this line is so important. He suggests that the American press "cast its lot with those in both parties who are reality-based." Reality-based. Evidence-based. https://t.co/9XqZv2Z2uN — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

What Rand Paul tried to do this morning ("I am just giving my side," he said essentially) was once the problem with how the media covered climate change. The media eventually started covering climate policy in an evidence-based way. The same should apply to elections and voting. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Journalists have to get clearer about the values of our profession and clearly articulate them. For example, journalists are evidence-based, not just repeating 2 sides (or 7 sides) and treating them as equally valid. "Evidence-based" is an important idea. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

As @Peter_Wehner wrote in 2019, GOP officials who have spent years defending Trump's behavior have some incentive to continue to do that, as they are now in some ways defending themselves and their own credibilty, since they vouched for Trump for so long. https://t.co/ZXurglNNm4 — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Cheney is struggling to remain conference chair (after backing impeachment). McConnell allies had to fight off an anti-McConnell resolution from KY conservatives (he has bashed Trump.) Arizona Republicans passed a resolution attacking Ducey (who certified Trump's loss there.) — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Cornyn is threatening to impeach and convict Dem presidents if the Senate moves forward on the charges against Trump, as if some equivalent of Jan 6 happened at Obama or Clinton's urgings. Wow. As @jonathanchait wrote the GOP reckoning appears to be over. https://t.co/869hhBZFt4 — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

.@jbouie with one of the most clear-eyed analyses of where we are in American politics that you will find. It is an opinion piece, but hints at a core idea that I don't think should be controversial: we should be thinking about Jan 6 as much as Jan 20. https://t.co/4joizDKb9N — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

The Republican conference chair isn't that powerful of a job, even if its current occupant is an interesting person (Liz Cheney.) If she is pushed out of that job, that will be a big story. But the happenings at the state level in GOP politics, like in Georgia, are big too. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Good Politico story here. And this is a big part of the broader story. Editors, I plead to you, your plan for covering the Republican Party in the next two years can't be just covering Republicans in Washington, the Trump family or the 2024 candidates. https://t.co/b4Xaq5w7Ws — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

These numbers of course tie into the unity debate of the past week. Is unity about bipartisanship in Washington (no signs of that), bipartisanship in the electorate (some signs of that) or appealing to "enough of us" (the phrase Biden used in his inaugural speech?) — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

I am not surprised that these policies are fairly popular---Biden ran on doing things that the median voter would like and is now executing that strategy. But these numbers suggest that everything is not polarized by party, since these questions are not getting 50/50 responses. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

69% approve of Biden's handling of COVID-19, 29% disapprove. 71% liked his unity message, 56% percent support reversing Trump policy of excluding non-citizens in Census, 55% percent support ending travel ban, 65% support restarting DACA. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

Biden's agenda is quite popular, per new ABC News-Ipsos poll. 81% percent support mask-wearing requirement on federal property, 77% support government-wide focus on racial equity, 70% percent support rejoining WHO, 65% support rejoining Paris agreement. https://t.co/sz58kgUsHj — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

RT @cd_hooks: Every time one of these clips goes viral, people say “____ gets OWNED by anchor.” No dudes, he won. He got on tv. Nothing any… — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

RT @kylegriffin1: Dallas County, Texas was forced to kill a plan to prioritize vaccinating communities of color after state officials threa… — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

RT @LarryGlickman: The GOP Nah-topsy. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

This is a really sharp, excellent analysis of the current GOP. The Republican who has suffered the most politically from Jan 6 is Liz Cheney. The three camps in the party, as laid out by Jonathan, is a really accurate framing of where the party is. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

I will not be spending the next four years praising the Bidens for being kind. That should be the standard. It should be normal. But watch how many times she says “thank you” in this video. Words are a form of action and they do matter. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

RT @whstancil: @KevinMKruse @ggreeneva Blaming Biden for a failure to unify is both an indictment of media and of Biden. It's not fair, but… — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

I second this. The Dayen daily newsletter about the start of the Biden administration has been excellent. — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

We now have a pretty complete picture of Biden's team and his priorities. And that leaves us with some interesting questions. Can a team of establishment types implement a transformative vision? Can a bunch of Obamaites leave behind Obamaism? https://t.co/zkAzKobK8z — PolitiTweet.org

Perry Bacon Jr. @perrybaconjr

RT @imillhiser: Just a friendly tip to my fellow journalists: When an elected official tells an obvious lie that is wildly inconsistent wi… — PolitiTweet.org