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When Sarah Hamilton was in high school, Hillary Clinton was running for president, and it made a big impression. Her candidacy made Ms. Hamilton want to become a leader someday too, she said, and maybe even run for office. Four years later, Ms. Hamilton, 21, is no longer interested in leadership. Even though it felt […] More
In the wake of a most untraditional presidency, these shows will keep you up-to-date on what’s happening in Washington and our politically polarized country.A couple of years after Serial sped up podcasting’s move into the mainstream, Donald J. Trump’s election as president changed the game in a different way. It spawned a plethora of audio shows that promised to help Americans process an unexpected and unsettling time. And though Trump is now out of office, there’s still no shortage of political news to try and make sense of: the repercussions of the attack on the Capitol, the continued polarization of the electorate, and the new and ongoing challenges facing his successor, President Biden.These eight shows will keep you up-to-date on what’s happening in Washington, provide context for current events and (maybe) keep you sane along the way.‘Can He Do That?’This Washington Post show was one of the countless podcasts born in the early days of the Trump presidency, when civilians and political experts were regularly stunned by the audacity of the administration’s conduct. As its title suggests, the show’s original remit was digging into the legality of the 45th president’s actions while in office. But in the four years since its debut, the show has evolved into a broader exploration of the executive branch, and how its powers both shape, and are shaped by, the divided electorate of modern America. Since Trump left office, the host, Allison Michaels, and her guests have tackled specific topics like the latest stimulus bill, while also exploring bigger questions — for instance, whether gun reform is actually within the president’s power, or what responsibilities the president has during a national crisis.Starter episode: “The Duty of a President During Crisis”‘U.T.R.’ (Not Its Real Name)If you like your political commentary cynical but not embittered, this relatively new podcast may hit the spot. Beginning in the run-up to the 2020 election, “Unf*cking the Republic” delivers audio essays that are consistently compelling and educational, aiming to challenge conventional wisdom and upend the historical narratives that we’re taught in school. The host, a “quasi-anonymous political writer,” according to the podcast’s synopsis, approaches the show with a playful and often coarse tone that never undermines the rigorous, serious content of its episodes. A recent episode, titled “The American Holocaust,” offered an unflinching discussion of America’s sins against Indigenous nations, or “the most horrific acts the U.S. has ever perpetrated on a people — which is saying a lot.” If the show is sometimes uncomfortable listening, that’s the point.Starter episode: “Culture Cancel: The American Holocaust”‘Political Gabfest’A beloved mainstay for many podcast fans, Slate’s weekly conversational show is roughly the same age as the format itself, having been going strong since 2005. The hosts, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson and David Plotz, break down the latest announcements, leaks and scandals from Washington in an approachable style that feels less like a news report and more like eavesdropping on a smart conversation between friends (all of whom happen to be veteran D.C. reporters). The show’s format has barely changed over its 16-year run, and that comforting consistency has made it an anchor through especially turbulent times.Starter episode: “Midnight Train From Georgia”‘Pantsuit Politics’It’s become common to lament how polarized our political climate has become, and despite President Biden’s professed desire for bipartisanship, the divisions seem as deep as ever in 2021. They’re so deep that any attempt to reach across the aisle is often derided as either naïve or disingenuous, but the hosts of “Pantsuit Politics” are determined to prove that genuine conversations between the left and the right are still possible. Sarah Stewart Holland (on the left) and Beth Silvers (on the right) are Kentucky-based friends who hail from opposite ends of the political spectrum, co-wrote a book entitled “I Think You’re Wrong (But I’m Listening),” and now share down-to-earth conversations on this twice-a-week podcast. Though the hosts’ views are often more similar than this premise suggests, it’s compelling and thoughtful listening.Starter episode: “We’re All Strange Combinations of Things”‘The Weeds’Playfully inverting a well-worn adage (“don’t get lost in the weeds”), this Vox staple thrives on delving into the nitty-gritty of policy and the processes through which it’s created. Hosted by Matthew Yglesias and Dara Lind, alongside a revolving cast of other Vox staffers, “The Weeds” offers a twice-a-week examination of what’s happening in the corridors of power. The main feed sometimes includes limited spinoffs, like “The Next Four Years,” a three-month primer on the new administration’s cabinet appointments and policy plans. More recently, the show has offered detailed but accessible explainers on what the Biden era means for housing, voting rights and immigration policy.Starter episode: “It’s Time for Class Warfare”‘The Skepticrat’Though its scathing tone might sound like a product of the Trump years, this salty-mouthed political comedy has actually been running since 2015. Its hosts — Noah Lugeons, Heath Enwright, and Eli Bosnick — are perhaps better known for their long-running podcast “The Scathing Atheist,” an unapologetically savage and derisive discussion about religion. Here they take a similarly irreverent approach to politics, spotlighting hypocrisy, corruption and incompetence in government while also taking joy in purely ludicrous moments like Rudy Giuliani’s melting face.Starter episode: “Jewish Space Laser Edition”‘Pod Save America’Perhaps the podcast that best defines Trump-era resistance podcasting, “Pod Save America” is the flagship show of Crooked Media, a left-wing podcast empire founded in 2017 by four former Obama staffers, Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Tommy Vietor and Dan Pfeiffer. In twice-weekly episodes, the hosts riff on the latest political news and offer anecdotes and insights from their own time in Washington. Throughout the Trump years, the show was a mix of righteous anger and gallows humor, while also becoming a powerhouse for grass roots activism and fund-raising. The show also features plenty of big-fish guests, like Joe Biden, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Barack Obama, who memorably recorded an interview on the eve of Trump’s inauguration.Starter episode: “Are We Infrastructure?”‘Left, Right & Center’Finding a truly centrist political podcast is hard, and this polarization makes it easy for listeners to stay in their echo chambers. Though it’s been on the air since 1996, KCRW’s “Left, Right & Center” is a timely antidote to this dilemma. Each episode of the show spotlights a “civilized yet provocative” conversation about current events between liberal and conservative commentators. The host, Josh Barro, affably represents the center, alongside a cast of regular panelists that include senators, policy experts and journalists (recently including The New York Times’s Jamelle Bouie). Depending on the rapport between guests, the show can err on the dry side, but it’s a reliable balm in a polarized age.Starter episode: “Carrots Over Sticks” More
In an effort to fend off a challenge from the right, President Emmanuel Macron tries to frame a debate on two issues important to conservatives: the country’s “laïcité” model of secularism, and crime.PARIS — The French government on Tuesday initiated a wide-ranging public debate on France’s model of secularism, seeking to gain the upper hand on a contentious topic that has roiled the nation in recent months and is likely to be a battleground in a presidential election next year.Marlène Schiappa, the minister of citizenship, assembled a small group of intellectuals at a gathering in Paris, kicking off what is expected to be a monthslong series of discussions that she described as the “Estates-General on laïcité’’ — referring to the historic assemblies held in France to debate the fundamentals of French society.Known as laïcité, the French secularism separating church and state has served as the bedrock of the country’s political system for more than a century.“In every country, there are words that are important, that can’t be overlooked,’’ Ms. Schiappa said, describing laïcité as an idea in which “French destiny is found.’’The debate, which Ms. Schiappa announced to a French newspaper over the weekend, caught many by surprise because of its timing and its intentions. It is starting just as lawmakers are wrapping up work on a bill that is intended to reinforce the country’s principles of secularism and to combat Islamism.Led by Ms. Schiappa — a high-profile minister who has espoused a strict view on secularism — the debate comes as President Emmanuel Macron tries to fend off an increasing threat from the right and far right ahead of next year’s presidential election.As Mr. Macron tries to burnish his credentials as a defender of a strict vision of laïcité, he has also moved to seize another issue important to right-wing voters: crime.Following months of attention on the government’s stumbling coronavirus vaccination campaign, Mr. Macron pledged on Monday to be tough on crime, to crack down on recreational drugs and to recruit 10,000 additional police officers by the end of his current five-year term. The promises were made in a long, tough-talking interview he gave to a conservative newspaper, Le Figaro, that another publication described as reminiscent of Rudolph Giuliani, the combative former mayor of New York.On Monday, Mr. Macron visited drug-dealing spots in the southern city of Montpellier, talking to police officers and riding along inside a police car. Even as Ms. Schiappa inaugurated the debate on secularism, Mr. Macron’s prime minister and justice minister visited a prison under construction in eastern France to announce details of the government’s expansion of the prison system.French people across the political spectrum adhere to the concepts of laïcité, which was enshrined in law in 1905. But there have been profound disagreements on how to apply the law, especially since the emergence in recent decades of Islam as France’s second-biggest religion after Roman Catholicism.While Mr. Macron expressed a liberal view toward secularism at the beginning of his term, he has gradually moved closer to supporters of a strict vision of laïcité.A mosque in Ivry-sur-Seine, near Paris, in October. Islam has become France’s second-biggest religion.Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York TimesThe government recently announced the dissolution of the Laïcité Observatory, a government watchdog that supporters of a strict laïcité long criticized as being soft. The government’s bill against Islamism also intends to enforce the country’s principles of secularism by gaining greater control over Muslim and other religious organizations, and by restricting home and private schooling.Appearing inside a church that had been converted into a government building, Ms. Schiappa spoke about the need for a “calm’’ discussion on laïcité. But the heated nature of the debate could be seen as some of the six invited intellectuals — four in favor of a strict laïcité and two against — took barely concealed swipes at one another.Conservative intellectuals said that laïcité was a universalist principle and a useful tool to fight against Islamism and an identity-driven fragmentation of society.Raphaël Enthoven, a philosopher, criticized those who, in the name of tolerance toward religions, favor a liberal version of laïcité, saying it plays into the hands of Islamists. “Laïcité is the object of prosecution and despicable propaganda which consists in presenting it almost as racism,” Mr. Enthoven said.Philippe Gaudin, also a philosopher, said that a discussion on laïcité should take into account a changing world in which more people, including the young, hold religious beliefs. “If we don’t want to understand the world in which we find ourselves, we won’t be able to explain our political choices, especially on laïcité,’’ he said.Ms. Schiappa said that through July, groups throughout the country would work on the link between laïcité and issues such as freedom of speech and women’s rights. Some 50,000 young people will be asked how laïcité affects their daily lives on an online platform launched Tuesday.Even before Tuesday’s gathering, some experts and organizations were dismissing the debate as a publicity stunt.Marlène Schiappa, the minister of citizenship, in Paris on Tuesday. Ms. Schiappa described laïcité as an idea in which “French destiny is found.’’Pool photo by Bertrand GuayPatrick Weil, a historian and expert on laïcité who teaches at Pantheon-Sorbonne University in Paris and at Yale, said that, in the past, big public debates called “Estates-General’’ preceded the work of lawmakers so as to inform the discussion.“Estates-General have a long history in France — one preceded the Revolution,’’ Mr. Weil said in an interview. “They have a lot of power. But here, it’s the opposite. It’s very strange.’’Others were even more critical, accusing Mr. Macron’s government of political theater in an effort to woo the right.Responding to Ms. Schiappa’s invitation to participate in the debate, Frédéric Sève, the national secretary of one of France’s biggest unions, the French Democratic Confederation of Labor, said it was a bad idea to initiate these discussions while the separatism bill had yet to become law.“We must stop making laïcité a permanent object of media agitation,’’ he said in a tweet.Mr. Macron’s two-pronged efforts on laïcité and crime this week come as polls show him neck-and-neck with Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally, in next year’s presidential election. With voters moving to the right and France’s left-leaning parties in shambles, Mr. Macron’s electoral strategy rests on winning over right-leaning voters who might be tempted to migrate to the extreme right.Polls show that while support for Macron has remained steady overall, he has lost support among right-wing voters over the past four months. While 48 percent of conservative voters and 20 percent of far-right supporters said they were satisfied with him in December, according to an IFOP study, that proportion fell to 30 percent and 13 percent in April, according to the same polling firm.Mr. Macron has also been under pressure from the right-controlled Senate, which last week passed a toughened version of his bill against Islamism, adding a series of amendments that critics said risked discriminating against Muslims.Many of the new measures stem from debates over the wearing of the Muslim veil. They include a ban on ostentatious religious symbols or clothing for minors in the public space and in sport tournaments, as well as for parents accompanying children on school outings. They also enable local authorities to ban the full-body swimsuit that some Muslim women wear at swimming pools and empower mayors to ban foreign flags in and around city hall buildings during wedding celebrations.The bill, which was approved earlier by the National Assembly, will now be examined by a cross-party parliamentary commission. If the commission fails to come to an agreement, the National Assembly, which is controlled by Mr. Macron’s party, will have the final say. The Constitutional Council could also revoke some of the new measures. More
Annalena Baerbock, the first Green candidate to have a significant shot at becoming chancellor, will run against Armin Laschet, head of Germany’s largest conservative party.BERLIN — Germany’s top two parties announced their candidates for chancellor on Monday and early Tuesday morning, with the Greens sending their dynamic but inexperienced leader, Annalena Baerbock, 40, into the running against Armin Laschet, 60, the head of the largest conservative party, who triumphed after a divisive public power struggle.Along with Olaf Scholz, 62, who is running for the Social Democrats, the nominations solidified the field of candidates seeking to replace Angela Merkel, who in September will exit the political stage after 16 years as chancellor. The race will for the first time pit a member of the country’s post-reunification generation, Ms. Baerbock, against its traditional political forces.With polls showing the Greens in second place nationally behind the conservatives, with support of around 22 percent, the Greens have a genuine crack at the chancellery for the first time since the party took its modern form in 1993. Ms. Baerbock is the Greens’ first serious candidate for chancellor, although she would most likely have to rely on the support of other parties to build a coalition government.The conservatives’ choice of Mr. Laschet, leader of the Christian Democratic Union and the governor of North Rhine-Westphalia, followed days of divisive debate, reflecting the challenges conservatives face redefining themselves as Ms. Merkel prepares to leave the chancellor’s office.The leadership of the Christian Democratic Union party chose Armin Laschet, the governor of North Rhine-Westphalia, as its candidate for chancellor.Michele Tantussi/ReutersAlthough the conservatives remain the strongest party, with support of just below 30 percent, the bitter dispute over their candidate for chancellor has strained the unity within the bloc, threatening to alienate voters. The party has also suffered from an increasingly rocky response to the pandemic and a slow vaccine rollout, seeing its popularity drop 10 percentage points since the start of the year.But the past week for the conservatives has been dominated by the all-out fight for the nomination between Mr. Laschet and the leader of the smaller Bavarian Christian Social Union, Markus Söder, 54.Mr. Söder was buoyed by his popularity among Germans, and he sought to leverage that to wrest the candidacy for chancellor from Mr. Laschet, whose consensus-orientated style has so far failed to excite voters. Mr. Söder’s challenge upended a decades-old tradition of allowing the leader of the much larger Christian Democratic Union to be the default candidate for the top government post.The leaders of the Christian Democrat executive board voted for Mr. Laschet by a wide margin early Tuesday morning, the party said, hours after Mr. Söder had given a statement in which he agreed to accept the decision of the Christian Democrat leadership while also trying to position himself as the prime candidate.“We must, no matter what the outcome, reconcile, unite, become a common, big, powerful unit in this election campaign,” Mr. Söder told reporters on Monday, hours before the vote for Mr. Laschet.Influential leaders of the Christian Democrats had been concerned by the idea of choosing the maverick Mr. Söder. Others felt that Mr. Laschet’s strong political network and focus on building consensus were the traits needed to steer the country into a post-Merkel future. They voted 31 to nine, with six abstentions in favor of the North Rhine-Westphalian governor, German media reported.By contrast, the naming of Ms. Baerbock over the Greens’ other co-leader, Robert Habeck, 51, was harmonious. The party is positioning itself to appeal not only to Germans drawn to its traditional stance on environmental protection, but also those who seek a more dynamic, youthful presence in a country that has been under the leadership of the same conservative chancellor for 16 years.“I want to make an offer with my candidacy for the whole of society,” Ms. Baerbock said in her acceptance speech, in which she called for improving the situation for Germans in rural regions and for low-wage workers. She also stressed the importance of ensuring that Germany meets its goals for reducing its climate-change emissions, while remaining an industrial power. A co-leader of her party since 2018, Ms. Baerbock is respected for her attention to detail and preference for honest criticism and suggestions for improvement over fawning praise or soaring speeches. In accepting the candidacy on Monday, she acknowledged her lack of experience in political office head-on, casting it as a strength that would help her and her party to revive Germany.“I was never a chancellor and never a minister,” Ms. Baerbock said. “I am running for renewal, the others represent the status quo,” she said, adding, “I believe this country needs a new start.”The Welzow-Sued coal mine near Grossraschen, Germany, in March. Ms. Baerbock has said she wants the country to remain an industrial power while meeting emissions targets.Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesThe conservatives have dominated modern Germany’s political landscape and have held the chancellery for all but seven of the past 30 years, when the Social Democrats led the country, from 1998 to 2005, in coalition with the Greens as the junior partner.Ms. Baerbock, the only woman in the race, was born in 1980 and grew up outside Hanover. She now lives with her husband and their two children in the eastern state of Brandenburg, where she served as the Greens state leader for four years, until 2013.“I come from a generation that is no longer young but also not old, a generation that has grown up in a united Germany and in a common Europe,” she said.Ms. Baerbock has often referred to her experience as a competitive trampolinist as shaping her approach to politics, stressing the importance of courage and teamwork. She has earned a reputation as a tough negotiator, both from talks over Germany’s plan to quit coal and the 2017 negotiations with Ms. Merkel’s party over a potential three-way coalition that collapsed when the Free Democrats, Germany’s traditional free-market party, pulled out.Mr. Laschet’s popularity has been dropping on both the national stage, where he is seen as lacking in charisma, and in his home state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where more than half of the population have said they are not happy with his performance. He prevailed in the race to lead the Christian Democrats with a speech calling for unity and trust that drew on his personal history as the son of a miner growing up in Germany’s industrial heartland, which helped him overcome a largely lackluster campaign.Christopher F. Schuetze contributed reporting. More
División, polarización y violencia discursiva, como sucede ahora en México, rara vez son el final del camino, sino el comienzo del descenso a un abismo.El cuasicancelado Michel Foucault decía que el discurso es tanto capaz de esconder sus intenciones políticas —sobre todo cuando proviene del poder— como de fijar significados. De esa manera puede pretenderse ahistórico o científico y con vocación universal cuando es un producto de una época e individuos particulares. O puede decirse no violento cuando, sin mucha máscara, lo es.Bienvenidos a los días la retórica enmascaradora de Andrés Manuel López Obrador y el discurso violento de Félix Salgado Macedonio. Paso a paso, el gobierno de López Obrador ha ido asentando cimientos autoritarios de manera abierta o sutil para lograr que Morena, su movimiento, se consolide como proyecto hegemónico.Tras cuestionar a numerosas instituciones —como el organismo de información y transparencia— estos últimos días AMLO puso la mira en el Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE) justo cuando México entró en la campaña para las elecciones intermedias. El gobierno parece temer que las autoridades electorales sean un escollo en su deseo de obtener una mayoría determinante que permita a AMLO controlar el sexenio, y diseñar su continuidad.Hace días, Félix Salgado Macedonio amenazó con persecuciones y acosó públicamente a los siete consejeros del INE que votaron contra la validez de su candidatura a gobernador del estado de Guerrero. “Si no se reivindican los vamos a hallar”, dijo. Y fue directo sobre el titular del instituto: “¿No le gustaría al pueblo de México saber dónde vive Lorenzo Córdova? […] ¿Cómo está su casita de lámina negra?”.Hubo ataúdes con las imágenes de los consejeros, una corona de flores junto a una imagen de Córdova y una turba reclamando el final del organismo que vela por la legalidad electoral. Con todo el afán provocador, Félix Salgado Macedonio vociferó sus amenazas enfrente de las puertas mismas del INE. La bravuconada no fue circunstancial: él es una muestra desembozada de un proyecto autoritario oculto bajo el poncho del caciquismo paternalista.La violencia debe ser condenada, en discurso y, sobre todo, en acto. La justicia, por ejemplo, debe actuar de oficio contra Macedonio por amenazas directas de violencia. Y Morena debiera cortar vínculos y expulsarlo del partido. Pero no sucederá, pues Macedonio es Morena.En pocas palabras, Félix Salgado Macedonio desnuda el sentimiento íntimo de la organización: caudillismo conservador hijo de otra época, incapaz de convivir con la prensa, la oposición, la sociedad civil y las instituciones democráticas del siglo XXI.El presidente de México, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, en marzo de 2021José Méndez/EPA vía ShutterstockEste año, AMLO tiene serias chances de obtener mayoría absoluta en el Congreso, pero no ha dejado de sugerir que las autoridades electorales piensan arruinarle el plan. Es un comportamiento paranoico. Ya había señalado al INE como cómplice de su derrota en las elecciones presidenciales de 2006 y por eso cuando Félix Salgado Macedonio los atacó siguió dudando de su probidad: aunque no avalaba las palabras de su aliado, llamó a “luchar contra el fraude”.Hay una línea, visible o no, entre esos comportamientos. La política de símbolos, sugería Foucault, crea política, no ficciones. Produce sentidos. La gente toma decisiones porque los dichos suelen ser sucedidos por actos. La convocatoria al acoso o la violencia no son gratuitos del mismo modo que los ataques a un organismo regulador como el INE pueden minar la creencia social en sus capacidades y enlodar el proceso electoral.Cuando es el poder —o sus aliados— el que prescribe el discurso, esos actos expresan niveles variados de violencia institucional. El último ejemplo: la prórroga del periodo del presidente de la Suprema Corte de Justicia, cercano a AMLO. Es inconstitucional y una provocación: el gobierno cree que la justicia debe ser permeable a las decisiones presidenciales. AMLO ya dejó clara esa vocación cuando anunció que quería someter la continuidad de la candidatura de Félix Salgado Macedonio a una encuesta telefónica después de que fuera cancelada por el INE.El gobierno de México está nervioso. AMLO acusa sistemáticamente a sus críticos de querer derrumbar su autopromocionada Cuarta Transformación. En los últimos tiempos algunas encuestas sugirieron la posibilidad de que no logre una mayoría determinante en las elecciones intermedias de junio, escenario que le obligaría a dialogar con una oposición a la que aborrece (el sentimiento es mutuo).La creciente pérdida de autocontrol del presidente actualiza peligrosas y nada distantes experiencias de autoritarismo abierto. Hace dos años escribí sobre las coincidencias entre AMLO y Donald Trump. El expresidente de Estados Unidos, como ahora AMLO, atacó al sistema desde los márgenes y llevó la discusión política a un territorio dominado por sus ocurrencias y enemistades. Ambos alimentan la idea de que los medios y la prensa independiente son enemigos y abonan antagonismos. Como AMLO, Trump dejaba que sus subordinados lanzaran globos de ensayos para medir la tolerancia de la opinión pública. Como Trump, también AMLO acusa a los organismos de control electoral y a sus opositores de tolerar o preparar un complot contra él.El parecido es evidente porque filosofía y método son similares. Del mismo modo que supremacistas, como Stephen Miller, fueron parte del gobierno de Trump, hombres como Félix Salgado Macedonio tienen cabida natural en Morena. A menudo promueven un personalismo autoritario para ocupar el poder por la vía electoral y luego minan el sistema desde dentro, muchas veces modificando las normas para eternizarse.Es riesgoso dar por seguro que habrá una crisis institucional en México porque la futurología es proclive al error y el ridículo. Pero las señales no pueden desdeñarse; el país está en riesgo. Cuando los funcionarios en el poder plantean la convivencia en términos de enfrentamiento, crece la posibilidad de la violencia. También cuando se aviva la tensión por acción u omisión minando la integridad de los contrapesos instituciones. Salgado Macedonio y AMLO saben lo que hacen: enlodar la imagen de una institución todavía creíble lleva la disputa a su terreno: sin control, gana el poder. El poder, decía Foucault, no es puramente coercitivo sino discursivo.No hay salida fácil para el camino que encara México. Un gobierno autoritario se enfrentará en las elecciones a partidos opositores castigados por el descredito. Las elecciones legislativas de México no se resolverán por el mal menor sino optando por escalones aun más bajos: quién, de todos, es menos peor. División, polarización y violencia discursiva rara vez son el final del camino, sino el comienzo del descenso a un abismo.Diego Fonseca (@DiegoFonsecaDF) es escritor y director del Seminario Iberoamericano de Periodismo Emprendedor en CIDE-México y del Institute for Socratic Dialogue de Barcelona. Voyeur es su último libro. More
Vernon Jones, a Democrat-turned-Republican and former state representative who has called Georgia’s presidential election “fixed,” will oppose Gov. Brian Kemp, one of Donald Trump’s top targets.ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp, the Georgia Republican who ranks high on former President Donald J. Trump’s list of enemies, will face a high-profile pro-Trump challenger in next year’s Republican primary: Vernon Jones, a former Democrat who, echoing the false claims of Mr. Trump, has called Georgia’s November presidential election “fixed” and “tainted.”Mr. Jones, a former state representative and head of government in DeKalb County, tweeted on Thursday that he would formally introduce his candidacy at a news conference the next day, saying that “we need a fighter for Georgia.”Mr. Trump has not endorsed a primary challenger to Mr. Kemp, who is seeking a second term in office. But the former president has vowed to return to Georgia to campaign against the governor, a former ally, to punish him for rebuffing Mr. Trump’s entreaties late last year that he work to overturn Georgia’s election results.Mr. Trump lost the Georgia race by roughly 12,000 votes, a result that was certified by Republican state election officials after two recounts. But he remains popular among members of the party’s base, and their willingness to punish his Republican enemies in 2022 may be an important early sign of his sway over the party heading into the next presidential cycle.Mr. Jones, 60, has a complex and controversial history in Georgia politics, and it is unclear if his entry into the race will turn out to be a serious threat to Mr. Kemp. But his candidacy guarantees that Georgia Republican voters will be forced to reckon with the ugly fight between Mr. Kemp and Mr. Trump as they choose a standard-bearer for the November 2022 general election.Mr. Jones seems eager to emphasize the feud. “If it weren’t for Brian Kemp, Donald Trump would still be President of these United States,” he tweeted in March, saying he was “looking closely” at a primary challenge. “We need courageous conservatives leading our state, not those afraid to stand up to the Radical Left.”Gov. Brian Kemp at a news conference in Marietta, Ga. He has emerged as one of Mr. Trump’s top political targets.Megan Varner/Getty ImagesIf Mr. Jones can earn an endorsement from Mr. Trump, his campaign will most likely force Mr. Kemp to expend precious money and energy in the G.O.P. primary. And that could benefit Democrats, many of whom are expecting another run by Stacey Abrams, the former state House minority leader who narrowly lost to Mr. Kemp in 2018. Ms. Abrams’s stature has only grown since then; as a leading voting rights advocate in Georgia and nationwide, she helped engineer upset victories for Democrats in the presidential election and Georgia’s two Senate races early this year.Mr. Jones is a native of North Carolina who formerly worked as a telecommunications executive. He served for eight years, starting in 2001, as chief executive of DeKalb County, a populous suburb of Atlanta, where he oversaw significant economic development initiatives and capital improvements, and often commanded the local political spotlight with a mix of folksy charisma and domineering style.He was also trailed by controversies, some of which were detailed in an article last summer in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that recapped his career. These included an accusation of rape (which Mr. Jones denied, and was never charged with); an allegation in a lawsuit that he had tried to replace white managers of the county parks department with Black ones; and claims of lavish spending on his security detail.The newspaper reported that a special grand jury looking into corruption in DeKalb County government had found “incompetence, patronage, fraud and cronyism,” and recommended investigations of Mr. Jones and other county officials. But prosecutors eventually said they found no evidence of wrongdoing by Mr. Jones.Mr. Jones’s time as the powerful leader of DeKalb County was book-ended by stints in the state legislature. He also ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House and Senate, and for DeKalb County sheriff.Mr. Jones, a longtime Democrat, announced he was joining the Republican Party in a Jan. 6 tweet. But he has exhibited a streak of political heterodoxy throughout much of his career. At various times, Mr. Jones supported both George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He has kept a picture of the Confederate general Robert E. Lee in his office, and has also sought to remove the Confederate battle flag symbol that once adorned the Georgia state flag.Mr. Jones spoke in November at a “Stop the Steal” rally at the Georgia State Capitol, where Trump supporters protested the results of the presidential election. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty ImagesHe has championed the “flat tax” concept championed by many conservatives — but as a state representative, he also voted against a Republican-backed abortion bill in 2019 that effectively banned the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy.The so-called fetal heartbeat law was struck down by a federal district court and is currently on appeal. But Mr. Jones’s opposition to it could prove to be a dealbreaker for evangelical Christians who are a key component of the Georgia Republican base.On Monday, Mr. Jones, apparently anticipating attacks on the vote, staked out an unequivocal anti-abortion position, tweeting: “Life begins at conception – period. And it should be protected from that point and that point forward.”Mr. Kemp has also been working to improve his standing among conservatives. Last month, he signed a major bill restricting voting in the state. Democrats said the law would adversely affect many Black voters, calling it “Jim Crow 2.0,” an assertion Mr. Kemp has denied. A recent Morning Consult tracking poll showed that Mr. Kemp’s approval among Georgia Republicans had increased from 62 percent on March 25 — the day he signed the voting bill — to 74 percent on April 6.For his part, Mr. Trump has endorsed another loyalist for statewide office in Georgia, Representative Jody Hice, who is challenging Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, in the Republican primary. Like Mr. Kemp, Mr. Raffensperger is a Republican who infuriated the former president when he declined to bend to Mr. Trump’s pressure to overturn the state’s election results. More
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany will exit the world stage in less than six months, and the fight for her seat is pitting the leaders of two sister parties against one another.BERLIN — With less than six months to go before Germans cast their ballots for a new chancellor, the political vacuum Angela Merkel leaves behind after 16 years of consensus-oriented leadership is coming more sharply into focus.A rare and rancorous power struggle has gripped Germany’s conservatives this week as two rivals vie to replace her, threatening to further hobble her Christian Democratic Union, which is already sliding in the polls.Normally, Armin Laschet, 60, who was elected in January to lead the party, would almost assuredly be the heir apparent to Ms. Merkel. Instead, he finds himself unexpectedly pitted against his biggest rival, Markus Söder, the more popular head of a smaller, Bavaria-only party, the Christian Social Union, in a kind of conservative family feud.Experts and party members alike are calling for the dispute to be resolved within the coming days, as it risks damaging the reputation of the two conservative parties, jointly referred to as the Union. Because the two parties operate as one on the national stage, they must choose one candidate for chancellor.“Armin Laschet and Markus Söder must finally understand their responsibility toward the Union,” Tilman Kuban, head of the Young Union, told the Bild daily on Thursday. “If they continue to tear one another apart as they have in the past few days, together they will ensure that there won’t be much left of the Christian Democrats or the Christian Socialists in the future.”Leading Ms. Merkel’s party would have once been seen as an advantage for Mr. Laschet, but it has recently become a drag. With a botched vaccine rollout and a confusing response to the pandemic, support for the conservatives has plunged by 10 percentage points since the start of the year.After a series of personal gaffes, Mr. Laschet’s popularity has been dropping. In his home state of North Rhine-Westphalia more than half of the population have said they are not happy with his performance, and a poll this week showed only 4 percent of Germans nationwide see him as “a strong leader.”For Armin Laschet, leading Ms. Merkel’s party was once an asset, but may now be seen as a liability. Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesAt the same time, Mr. Söder, 54, who is also governor of Bavaria, has artfully used several appearances alongside Ms. Merkel after pandemic-related meetings to burnish his image as a man in charge, capable of tackling tough issues and getting things done.A full 57 percent of Germans said Mr. Söder displayed the qualities of “a strong leader.”Keenly aware of his popularity, Mr. Söder began openly pushing for the candidacy earlier this week, citing his strong, stable showing in the polls over Mr. Laschet, despite warnings from senior conservatives that public opinion could be fickle.“At the end of the day, the conservative parties have to make an offer that will be acceptable to voters and the people, and not just a few party functionaries,” Mr. Söder told Bavarian public television. “Of course polls are not everything, but if after several months a clear trend emerges, it cannot just be ignored.”After leading conservative lawmakers discussed the issue on Sunday, Mr. Söder said he was willing to run, if the Christian Democrats would support him. If not, he added, he would cooperate, “without any grudges.”But on Monday, after the boards of each party had backed their own leader, Mr. Söder suddenly changed his position. He continued to push for his right to run for chancellor during a closed-door meeting of conservative lawmakers on Tuesday. After four hours of discussions, nearly two-thirds of those present expressed their support for the Bavarian leader — including members of Mr. Laschet’s party.Markus Söder is leading Mr. Laschet in polling and has the support of nearly two-thirds of conservative leaders. Clemens Bilan/EPA, via ShutterstockIn a country that views the art of compromise as a valuable skill for a leader, the public game of political chicken could come at a high price. At a time when the environmentalist Greens have rapidly risen in popularity and are now nipping at the conservatives’ heels, they can ill afford such a public display of disharmony.“At the end of the day, both have to decide between themselves. There is no set procedure that clearly defines how this will end,” said Prof. Thorsten Fass, a political scientist at Berlin’s Free University. Regardless of who runs as the candidate, the damage of the fight will still have to be repaired, Professor Fass said. “It is not a good way to start an election year.”Both contenders have said they would like the matter to be decided by the end of the week, and pressure from inside both parties is growing for a quick resolution.Four other political parties are vying to win the most votes on Sept. 26 and seize power by forming a government and naming a chancellor.The center-left Social Democrats, who have been the junior party in Ms. Merkel’s government coalition since 2017, have already named the finance minister and vice-chancellor, Olaf Scholz, as their choice for chancellor. The Greens, currently polling as the second-strongest party ahead of the Social Democrats and close behind the conservatives, are scheduled to announce their candidate on Monday. Not everyone is ready to count out Mr. Laschet yet. He is a politician whose recent successes, winning the governorship of North Rhine-Westphalia over a well-liked incumbent and the monthslong race for the Christian Democrat leadership in January, both saw him grasping victory after coming from behind.Mr. Laschet also has the backing of some of the most senior and influential members of his party, including the former finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble, who has been around since the first time the conservatives split over a chancellor candidate in 1979.“If Laschet has the nerve and still has his party’s leadership behind him, then Söder could say that he accepts this, then use his position to negotiate a strong minister post for his party in a potential future government,” said Ursula Münch, director of the Academy for Political Education in Tutzing.On the other hand, if enough pressure from within the party builds on Mr. Laschet, he could concede to Mr. Söder for the sake of the party and the need to move ahead. That would hand the Bavarian leader a victory that would serve to enforce his reputation as a sharp-witted maverick who will change his policies to fit the public mood. As public favor in Bavaria shifted from the far-right Alternative for Germany party to the environmentalist Greens, he abandoned an anti-immigrant stance and embraced a push to save honey bees, to the ire of farmers who have long formed the grass roots of his party.“He is intelligent, quick and rhetorically strong,” Ms. Münch said of Mr. Söder. “He is able to push people into a corner while keeping a back door open for himself, and in that sense, Laschet can’t hold a candle to him.” More
