As a reminder, the library is closed on November 11 (Veteran’s Day). On November 18, we’ll take up the topic as agreed last week…the day before the election: an election debrief.
At the time, we thought we’d be discussing a flurry of litigation over who had won a close race for president—I guess that won’t take too much time. Instead, we can discuss some (or all) of the following:
Democrats
- Why did Kamala Harris lose/what would have had to happen for her to win?
- Have Democrats stopped listening to working class Americans as David Brooks suggests?
- What lesson will Democrats take from the election overall:
- Move firmly toward the working class (go to center)?
- Double-down on progressive initiatives (go to left)?
- “Steady as she goes” (perhaps this election was an anomaly and the overall platform is solid)?
- To what degree will they support Republican initiatives on key voter issues (such as immigration)?
Republicans
- To what degree will Trump’s actions be more moderate than his rhetoric?
- To what degree will congressional Republicans push back on the Administration’s most aggressive initiatives?
- How will Republicans manage high public expectations in light of the likely “tri-fecta” (Presidency plus a majority of both houses of Congress)? [Maybe a “quad-fecta” with a conservative majority on the Supreme Court as well.]
- Will the Senate filibuster fall (or be constrained to narrower voting subjects)?