How the Democratic Party Crashed in Florida
Plus: What the Debt Limit Deal Means for the Defense Department—and for Ukraine
Recently in The Bulwark:
CHARLIE SYKES: Trump’s Smoking Tape?
ADDISON DEL MASTRO: Is the Mall a City or Is the City a Mall?
JOE PERTICONE: Big Bipartisan Moment Hurt the Freedom Caucus’s Feelings🔐
You can support The Bulwark by subscribing to Bulwark+ or just by sharing this newsletter with someone you think would value it.
STEVE SCHALE: Anatomy of a Murder: How the Democratic Party Crashed in Florida.
I set out to write a piece about Florida and the Democratic party several months ago. I didn’t think it would be that hard. I was wrong.
Because it’s hard to watch something you helped build get torched to the ground.
So I decided instead to tell you a story: the political story of Florida, told by a guy who was directly in the middle of a lot of it—and an observer of all of it.
Go ahead and pull up a bottle of whiskey, or maybe a bottle of champagne, depending on your party ID, and let’s get started.
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
Bulwark+ members can listen to an ad-free version of these podcasts on the player of their choice. Learn more at Bulwark+ Podcast FAQ.
DOV S. ZAKHEIM: What the Debt Limit Deal Means for the Defense Department—and for Ukraine.
THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION is evidently satisfied that its 2024 national security budget request, which totals $886 billion for fiscal year 2024 and amounts to a 3.3 percent increase over the 2023 budget, survived the debt ceiling negotiations. It looks as if, for once, the president’s budget request might resemble what Congress appropriates. Whereas non-defense discretionary spending was effectively capped at current levels for next year, the text of the bill reflects that Congress agreed to grant President Joe Biden what he asked for. That bipartisan compromise will likely come back to bite us.
BILL RYAN: Cormac McCarthy and the World’s Horrible Unknowability.
For many years, fans and admirers of the writer Cormac McCarthy wondered if he would ever publish another novel. He was getting on in years (he’s currently 89), and he’d hit such a professional peak with his previous book, The Road (2006), that it was hard to avoid the sinking feeling that, as great as his fiction tended to be, we might have seen the last of it.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Driving out to Hot Springs… I noticed an abandoned hotel in Afton right where Skyline Drive ends. Turns out it has an interesting backstory. (Here’s a video.)
How we can try to make sure news enlightens... rather than enrages us.
Ben Dreyfuss breaks down… The letter and advice that Slate retracted.
The “Trump Bucks” scam… On some level, people don’t mind getting grifted by Trump, like some people are proud of their timeshare, but the NESARA-type scams are quite old, actually. Who could have guessed a Trump-themed alternate currency system was a scam?
“You can’t bluff Tom…” A crypto-bro tried to bluff a poker ace, and paid through the nose for it.
Matt Labash… On the Nerf Trump's launch, plus, a Slack Tide booty giveaway!
Biden falls in Colorado… Democrats didn’t want to talk about it, but now they’re going to have to. (The president, who tripped on a sandbag, is fine.) What is it with military graduations?
FOX came and took Tuck’s Maine studio… A vindictive, yet funny, move.
Richmond ‘till we die! Farewell, Ted Lasso.
—30—
Tech support questions? Email members@thebulwark.com. Questions for me? Respond to this message.
Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.