Nate Cohn

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

good thing there's not a more compelling visual representation of this https://t.co/fyyDRyGxZO — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@jamalgreene I’m in the car so I’m not positioned to find textual evidence quickly, but I think that’s a fairly standard interpretation of liberalism’s state at the end of 1968, in the most standard “center did not hold” kind of way, as both radicals and reactionaries ate it alive — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@jamalgreene And it wasn’t just killed by white backlash politics, though that was obviously the single largest part. The rise of the new left—including the Black left—and a vigorous Dem primary challenge, along with the unrest and so on betrays this deeper failure — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@jamalgreene And it wasn’t just killed by white backlash politics, though that was obviously the single largest part. The rise of the new left—including the Black left—and a vigorous Dem primary challenge betrays the broader political failure. The unrest of the era betrays the deeper failure — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@jamalgreene The LBJ political failure is of a higher order; it’s political aims were more than the sum of its legislative parts and its failure was more than electoral defeat, which is inevitable. The center didn’t hold. Liberalism was a casualty of his term. — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@jamalgreene As I said, I’m open to a different way to describe what I’m talking about. But the failure I’m talking about is most certainly political, it was fundamental, and I don’t think there’s a ton of ambiguity of what I’m talking about — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

This is a silly heuristic, but one of the easiest tests that it's a political failure is it would have been on me to cover! Low approval ratings, a Democratic primary from the left, a third party bid from the right, a GOP presidential win, etc. https://t.co/RooBu77IO9 — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

If liberalism appears discredited at the end of a democratic president's term... that's a pretty profound political failure. you can call it what you want, but i don't think it's mysterious what we're talking about here — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

I'm open minded about the best way to describe it (it's a weird presidency), but... there's a fundamental failure of a liberal D president's political project if they can't run for reelection, Ds lose 5 of next 6 elections and 'the center will not hold' https://t.co/1x9vho2SsJ — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

The only time my friends have ever exercised their right to take away my Twitter was during the 2014 championship game btwn SEA v. SF https://t.co/kVkVndUyww — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@aoxamaxoa @danpfeiffer @SeanMcElwee i think i did list him in another thread as the last politically successful president — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@danpfeiffer @SeanMcElwee no, i don't think we've had many politically successful presidencies as of late, and i don't think that should be terribly surprising? it is at once a cause and reflection of the deterioration of american political life over the same period — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@AJentleson @SeanMcElwee exactly? — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

And that's where the analogy to LBJ lies. Biden's approach just isn't going to address his problems, much like the Great Society wasn't going to make LBJ popular in spite of his challenges https://t.co/hYa51MZBUH — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

The key argument in the article, which has definitely been lost in this tangent about who is successful, is not so fuzzy: voters don't think Biden's focused on the issues that matter to them, and it's a big part of his political problem — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

All that said, given the fuzziness of the idea I don't really want to defend it too vigorously. If you want to call Clinton a success bc he ended with a high approval rating, I wouldn't tell you that you're stupid/wrong or something. It's pretty debatable in a lot of cases — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

But I am still fundamentally talking about electoral outcomes, public opinion and the national mood, not whether you have a successful legislative agenda, for ex. — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

I don't think it's as simple as electoral outcomes. Someone like Bush Jr, for ex, I think is a pretty unmitigated political failure, even though you could say he won reelection and had a good midterm there. — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

So what's a politically successful president? I'll admit it's fuzzy. A few heuristics: did your party win a third term; did your agenda inspire backlash; did your opposition need to to shift to return to power; did you redefine the meaning of your party/ideology favorably? — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

(and I think LBJ's political failure is a great example of how legislative successes, even massive ones like medicare/medicaid, are just no substitute for being able to address immediate challenges that loom first for voters (Vietnam/unrest, etc.) — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

One basic matter of clarification: I see political and policy success as distinct questions, just as policy and political analysis are different genres. No one encapsulates that better than LBJ: unmatched accomplishments, yet didn't run for reelection and Dems lose 5 of next 6 — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

Lots of (negative lol) feedback, so it's hard to go through it all. But one recurring question: what's a politically successful president? And who is one? — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@jamalgreene https://t.co/jRyDZ6nBFr — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@_waleedshahid @mattyglesias i don't think there's any doubt that voting rights/civil rights contributed to partisan polarization. so did gay rights, women's rights, immigration, secularization, and more. but the full scope of polarization required more than an increasingly diverse country — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@johnmanuelNC @SpecialPuppy1 @SeanMcElwee coolidge inaugurated an era of total GOP political dominance, includng the *two* largest popular vote landslides in history. you don't have to like the patroits to see that they won a few super bowl! — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@tbonier i'm not trying to make any kind of judgment about how to balance popularity and policy--sometimes, it's absolutely worth it to burn your political strength in pursuit of something big. i suppose an opinion writer can weigh in on whether this is worth it — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@_waleedshahid @mattyglesias partisan polarization is partly a function of polarizing presidents, who for much of the last-50 years have increasingly catered to their party's activist base and tried to enact the most ambitious agenda they could — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

This @rickhasen gets to the big question on any ECA reform push (besides whether the GOP will play ball): will it include the anti-subversion and integrity-type measures, or just tame the role of the VP and make it harder to contest an electoral slate? https://t.co/JFE2W4IauI — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@BrendanNyhan well, you're right--i should apologize. i did interpret your initial tweet as a personal attack, and looking back now, it was not one. so i'm sorry for my subsequent statements here — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

And a big part of why there are so many politically unsuccessful presidents over the last fifty years https://t.co/UC7A9d8ABX — PolitiTweet.org