Politics and Government

Subterms

    More stories

    • 88 Shares159 Views

      in Elections

      The Harris Campaign Bets on Prairie Progressives

      by

      The Minnesota governor was not just in Wisconsin to sound folksy and talk about hunting.Sandee Kosmo was in her car today, inching along a backed-up county road on the way to Vice President Kamala Harris’s rally in Eau Claire, Wis., grinning about the prospect of seeing Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.“He’s so Midwest,” she gushed, after I asked to interview her as she crawled along. She praised his wry sense of humor. His hunting background. Even his ever-so-Midwestern faith.“I’m a Lutheran pastor,” Kosmo, 78, said. “And Walz is a Lutheran!”The Harris campaign chose Walz partly in the hope that he would connect with voters in critical states like Wisconsin. And the crowd that gathered in Eau Claire today — at least 10,000 people on event grounds surrounded by cornfields — was eager to claim him as its own.“Kamala made a good pick,” Wisconsin’s secretary of state, Sarah Godlewski, told the cheering crowd, “not just because Tim understands our love for a good Friday fish fry, but he also embodies our shared beliefs.”Eau Claire is a deep blue college town, and it’s far from clear that the appeal of the governor from the other side of the St. Croix will translate beyond liberal bastions like this one and expand his ticket’s competitive terrain. But as I wound my way through the crowd today, it occurred to me that the Eau Claires of the world might be the main point.In recent years, Wisconsin Democrats have notched major victories by running up their numbers in strongholds like Madison, La Crosse and Milwaukee. That means Walz was here not simply to sound folksy, talk about hunting and reach out to rural voters. His purpose, electorally speaking, is to fire up Wisconsin progressives who wish their state was a just little more like his.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 150 Shares109 Views

      in Elections

      Harris and Walz Hold First Rally in Philadelphia: Takeaways From Their Speeches

      by

      A glittering night aimed to energize Democrats and banish the doldrums that have gripped the party.The campaign to defeat former President Donald Trump is going to be fun.That was the message from Vice President Kamala Harris and her new running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, as they took the stage together for the first time in Philadelphia on Tuesday night. The glittering rally was intended to introduce a heretofore obscure Midwestern governor — and hype up Americans for the sprint to November.“So, we’ve got 91 days. My God, that’s easy,” Walz said during a zesty debut in which he marveled at the crowd, joyfully clasped his hands and went for the jugular, at least where Trump and his running mate were concerned. “We’ll sleep when we’re dead.”The night was aimed at electrifying voters and banishing once and for all the doldrums that had gripped the Democratic Party during the doomed re-election effort of President Biden, who was not mentioned by either candidate. But it also highlighted some of the challenges Harris and Walz will face in a race that Trump is still favored to win.Here are five takeaways from a raucous night in Philly.Walz showed why Harris picked himIt was only this morning that the vice president called Walz, 60, and asked him to join her ticket. As he took the stage, it seemed as if he could not quite believe he was there. But after the two shared the spotlight for 50 minutes, their chemistry seemed obvious.“Thank you,” Walz said, directly addressing Harris in the opening moment of his speech, “for bringing back the joy.”Walz, who bowed toward Harris before beginning his speech, came off as delighted to speak on her behalf, with no reservations about playing second fiddle. His oratory never soared, but Harris reacted with obvious delight as he rattled off plain-spoken zingers.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 100 Shares199 Views

      in Elections

      Can Freed Russian Dissidents Help Energize Opposition Movement?

      by

      The release of activists like Ilya Yashin gives new hope to an movement in which various groups are often at war with each other. But many have doubts.Among Russians who oppose Vladimir V. Putin and his brutal Ukraine invasion, hopes are high that the Russian dissidents freed last week as part of a prisoner exchange with the West will breathe new life into a fragmented opposition force.But if it promises an injection of energy into a movement struggling to effect change inside of Russia, it reignites a question older than the Russian Revolution — where is the more effective place to advocate for democratic change: from a prison cell inside of Russia, or in exile?Either way, the challenge is daunting. For years, decades even, Russia’s opposition has been divided and beset with infighting; the Ukraine invasion has only exacerbated the grievances. And that was before the most influential opposition leader, Aleksei A. Navalny, died in an Arctic penal colony in February.The most prominent dissidents who remained — Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza, both freed last week — were serving long sentences, but they gained credibility from their willingness to forego the comforts of exile to speak their minds as inmates in Russia’s harsh prison system.They were exchanged along with Andrei S. Pivovarov, who ran Open Russia, an organization founded by the exiled former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and three regional politicians with ties to Mr. Navalny. Its mission is to support Russian civil society.In an interview over the weekend, Mr. Yashin lamented that he had not wanted to leave Russia, and that his release, which he called an “illegal expulsion,” deprived his words of the moral authority they carried from prison. But his supporters expressed cautious optimism in the days after the exchange, because of his unifying power and that of Mr. Kara-Murza, who won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for commentary for columns he had written in prison for The Washington Post.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 163 Shares169 Views

      in Elections

      Peggy Flanagan Would Be MN’s First Female Governor if Harris and Walz Win

      by

      If Kamala Harris is elected president alongside Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, who has been chosen as her running mate, the state’s lieutenant governor would get a history-making promotion. Under the succession plan laid out in Minnesota’s Constitution, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, 44, would become the state’s first female governor, as well as the first Native American person to assume the role. Ms. Flanagan, who was first elected to her current post in 2018, served on the Minneapolis school board from 2005 to 2009 and spent years training liberals who wanted to run for office. Among the rookie politicians she mentored was Mr. Walz, a former social studies teacher from the small city of Mankato, who got his start in politics in 2006 after winning a congressional seat in a largely rural, conservative district. Ms. Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, has championed improving relations between state government and leaders of the 11 tribal nations in the state. A native of St. Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis, Ms. Flanagan was a vocal critic of Minnesota’s old flag, which was retired this year. She argued that the flag’s depiction of a Native American man and a settler was racist. In recent days, as it became apparent that her boss was being vetted as a vice-presidential candidate, Ms. Flanagan made clear she was rooting for him — and happy to serve out the remainder of his term, which ends in 2027. “I think Governor Walz would be honored to be selected to be the vice president, and I have been honored this entire time to serve the people of Minnesota,” she told the local news site Minn Post. “That would not change.” If she becomes governor, Bobby Joe Champion, president of the State Senate, would become lieutenant governor. Mr. Champion would be the first Black person to serve in that role. More

    • 125 Shares109 Views

      in Elections

      Six images that tell the story of Trump’s wild summer

      by

      Six images that tell the story of Trump’s wild summer.Good evening! Look, before you ask — I don’t know who Vice President Kamala Harris is going to choose as her running mate, but we are all going to find out soon. Tonight, we’re looking at former President Donald Trump’s topsy-turvy summer with someone who has literally seen it all: my colleague the photographer Doug Mills.Over the last month, former President Donald Trump has been shot at and crowned for the third time as the Republican presidential nominee. He has watched his opponent, President Biden, get forced out of the race, and has struggled to find his footing as he sizes up his new competition, Vice President Kamala Harris.And let’s not forget that he was convicted of 34 felonies this year.My colleague Doug Mills has been there for all of it. In recent weeks, the drama of the Biden campaign may have been the biggest story in politics. But Doug, a photographer who has been taking pictures of presidents since the 1980s, says that what he is witnessing is a campaign unlike anything he has covered before.So today, while the political world waits for the final, veep-shaped puzzle piece in the newly reset race between Trump and Harris, we’re going to do something a little different. I called Doug, who was spending a rare day off the trail painting a bedroom in his house, and asked him to tell us about the images he thinks will define Trump’s roller coaster of a summer. Our conversation was edited for length and clarity.Doug! You have been there for every huge moment that has shaped the Trump campaign in the past few months, from his criminal trial, through the assassination attempt, to today. How does he change when your camera comes out?Every politician — everybody who is very image-conscious, like he is — is aware of every camera whenever they’re around. He’s looking at camera angles and what the light is like, and he’s very particular about light.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 113 Shares99 Views

      in Elections

      Bangladesh Back Under Curfew After Protests Leave Dozens Dead

      by

      Expanded student protests this weekend, after more than 200 people were killed in a government crackdown in July, have plunged the country into a particularly dangerous phase.At least 40 people were killed in clashes between security forces and protesters on Sunday in Bangladesh, as the country’s leaders imposed a new curfew and internet restrictions to try to quell a growing antigovernment movement.Revived and expanded student protests, after a deadly government crackdown late last month, and a call by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s governing party for its own supporters to also take to the streets, have plunged the country of over 170 million into a particularly dangerous phase.At least 40 people were killed on Sunday across Bangladesh, according to a diplomatic official based in Dhaka, adding to the more than 200 people killed in the crackdown on protests in July. Tallies by local news media, as well as a statement from coordinators of the student protests, put Sunday’s death toll at over 50. At least 13 of the dead were police officers, the country’s Police Headquarters said in a statement.What began as a peaceful student protest last month over a preferential quota system for public-sector jobs has morphed into unprecedented anger at Ms. Hasina’s increasingly authoritarian turn and her management of the economy.While the crackdown, which included the arrests of more than 10,000 people and the lodging of police cases against tens of thousands more, temporarily dispersed the protesters, the demonstrations have been back in full force since Friday.The protesters’ anger over the more than 200 deaths has solidified their demands to a single point: On Saturday, at a rally of tens of thousands, they demanded the resignation of Ms. Hasina, who has been in power for 15 years.In response to the resignation call, her Awami League party called on its supporters to join counterprotests — setting up the tense situation that unfolded on Sunday.In a statement sent to the news media on Sunday, as internet restrictions went into effect, leaders of the student movement called for the protests to continue uninterrupted.“If there is an internet crackdown, if we are disappeared, arrested or killed, and if there is no one left to make announcements, everyone should continue to occupy the streets and maintain peaceful noncooperation until the government falls in response to our one demand,” Nahid Islam, one of the movement’s leaders, said in the statement.As the chaos escalates, with both the protesters and Ms. Hasina’s governing party digging in their heels, and as opposition parties take the opportunity to pile on, all eyes are on the country’s military.While the army and other security forces were deployed during the crackdown in July, the army’s chief, Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman, gathered his senior officers on Saturday for a meeting that was seen as an attempt to quell concerns over the army’s position in the crisis and reinforce its neutrality.In a statement issued after the meeting, the army said its chief had reiterated that “the Bangladesh Army will always stand by the people in the interest of the public and in any need of the state.” More

    • 125 Shares119 Views

      in Elections

      Florida Retirees Flaunt Loyalties to Donald Trump and Kamala Harris

      by

      In The Villages, Florida’s retirement mecca, pro-Trump residents have been galvanized by a surprising showing of support for Kamala Harris.The golf carts lined up by the hundreds, festooned for Trump fandom: a teddy bear with orange hair and a red tie. A surprisingly realistic Trump mask. A Trump rubber duck. An inflatable Trump tube, depicting his mouth open and fists pumped in the air.On Saturday afternoon, The Villages, Florida’s retirement mecca, was abuzz with a parade for former President Donald J. Trump — even as Tropical Storm Debby menaced.The Villages is a sprawling planned retirement community northwest of Orlando and a solidly Republican stronghold.Nicole Craine for The New York Times“If Trump could take a bullet,” said Tommy Jamieson, the parade organizer, referring to last month’s assassination attempt, “then we can take a little rain.”The people of The Villages, a sprawling planned retirement community northwest of Orlando and a solidly Republican stronghold, know that they live in Trump Country. But a week earlier, supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, held a golf cart rally of their own, drawing widespread attention, to the chagrin of Trump-supporting Villagers.So Mr. Trump’s backers — with some donning T-shirts that read “I’m voting for the felon” and “I’m voting for the outlaw and the hillbilly,” referring to Mr. Trump’s running mate, JD Vance — set out to show them up.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    • 100 Shares129 Views

      in Elections

      St. Lucia and Dominica Win First-Ever Olympic Medals

      by

      If it feels like the same countries are winning most of the Olympic medals every two years, that’s because it’s largely true.Even though more than 150 countries and territories have claimed a medal since the modern Games began in 1896, the list of winners is top-heavy. Entering the Paris Summer Games, the United States has the most, by far, with 2,975 medals, according to the International Olympic Committee’s research wing. A group of usual suspects follow: the former Soviet Union (1,204), Germany (1,058), Great Britain (955), France (898).Nearly 70 countries and territories, though — roughly a third of the parade of nations — cannot boast an Olympic medalist in any discipline, summer or winter. Some, like South Sudan, which sent its first team to the Olympics in 2016, have only just begun trying. Others, like Monaco, have been at it for more than a century.“It’s frustrating, definitely,” said Marco Luque, a member of the Bolivian Olympic Committee’s board and the president of his country’s track and field federation. “And you feel impotence, of not being able to do better.”Every once in a while, though, a nation breaks its maiden. On Saturday night at the Stade de France, Thea LaFond-Gadson, 30, of the Caribbean island of Dominica, won the gold medal in women’s triple jump. And soon after, Julien Alfred, 23, of St. Lucia, also in the Caribbean, won the gold medal in the women’s 100-meter sprint.“It means a lot to the small islands,” she said. “And seeing how we can come from a small place but also be on the biggest stage of our career.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More