Chris Maisano
@cgmaisano.bsky.social
🌹 socialist dad 🌹 | @socialists.nyc | @jacobinmag.bsky.social | @catalystjournal.bsky.social
I’m not sure if the current practice of fusion voting in NY bears out the argument for expanding it further. But totally agreed that the pundits’ debate over the electoral value of issue/ideological moderation (driven primarily by advocates of moderation) is tedious and largely beside the point.
I jump into the moderation debate. I agree with @adambonica.bsky.social and @gelliottmorris.com on the methodology, but I want to draw attention to a bigger issue. The collapse of candidate effects generally.
leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-modera...
leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-modera...
October 30, 2025 at 6:53 PM
I’m not sure if the current practice of fusion voting in NY bears out the argument for expanding it further. But totally agreed that the pundits’ debate over the electoral value of issue/ideological moderation (driven primarily by advocates of moderation) is tedious and largely beside the point.
This is the America I believe in. The neo-Confederates will never, ever win.
September 7, 2025 at 2:55 AM
This is the America I believe in. The neo-Confederates will never, ever win.
My family has been here for less than a century, all four of my grandparents and my dad were born abroad. The GOP's embrace of Blut-und-Boden ideology is an attack on the actually existing USA, an embrace of neo-Confederatism and the most reactionary strands of European-style nationalism too.
"the typical black American has much deeper American roots than the typical white American. Trump himself, whose grandparents were all foreign-born, is an excellent example of relatively shallow white American roots." www.niskanencenter.org/logic-populi...
if they were making a claim about historical origins the logic would push towards the inclusion of blacks, natives and other peoples on the north american continent. but schmitt is fundamentally making a racial claim.
September 3, 2025 at 2:50 PM
My family has been here for less than a century, all four of my grandparents and my dad were born abroad. The GOP's embrace of Blut-und-Boden ideology is an attack on the actually existing USA, an embrace of neo-Confederatism and the most reactionary strands of European-style nationalism too.
It’s a trip to see “Andrew Cuomo (I)” complaining about the Democratic Party on a Fox News chryon. It’s like watching realignment happening in real time.
Andrew Cuomo going on Fox News to accuse Zohran Mamdani of caring about “woke issues” and talk about how much he’s scared of the subway seems like a pretty clear sign that he has abandoned the Democratic Party.
August 23, 2025 at 10:31 PM
It’s a trip to see “Andrew Cuomo (I)” complaining about the Democratic Party on a Fox News chryon. It’s like watching realignment happening in real time.
Some bleak worldviews on display here. Apparently our choices are production for industrial and military warfare or “an economy centered around McKinsey and DoorDash,” as if there were no other possibilities available to us. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/20/u...
Two Days Inside the Movement to ‘Reindustrialize,’ and Rearm, America
www.nytimes.com
July 20, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Some bleak worldviews on display here. Apparently our choices are production for industrial and military warfare or “an economy centered around McKinsey and DoorDash,” as if there were no other possibilities available to us. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/20/u...
“A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday - and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
July 18, 2025 at 12:48 AM
“A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday - and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
What if it’s not “the groups” or progressive activists who are the big problem but uninspiring centrists who don’t have a credible economic program and triangulate on social questions base voters really care about?
EXCLUSIVE: Democratic voters who skipped the 2024 election favor candidates like Bernie Sanders and AOC. Polling shows they believe inequality is at the heart of America’s problems and health care should be available to everyone.
Democratic Voters Who Skipped 2024 Election Want Candidates Like Bernie, AOC
New research suggests the prevailing wisdom in Washington — the idea that Democrats tacked too far to the left last year — might be wrong.
www.rollingstone.com
July 17, 2025 at 7:19 PM
What if it’s not “the groups” or progressive activists who are the big problem but uninspiring centrists who don’t have a credible economic program and triangulate on social questions base voters really care about?
This is Josh Hawley’s whole routine, encapsulated. He’s a run of the mill Republican with a fake “populist” shtick that way too many people fall for.
July 16, 2025 at 12:48 PM
This is Josh Hawley’s whole routine, encapsulated. He’s a run of the mill Republican with a fake “populist” shtick that way too many people fall for.
This study was conducted in 6 European countries, and I'd love to see this kind of research reproduced in the US, but I think this conclusion would hold here as well. There's no necessary tradeoff between economics and culture so long as the economic program has a credible working class appeal.
For SD Parties this means that as long as their program is economically to the left, it does not matter much to working class voters what it includes culturally e.g. on immigration. In contrast, educated middle class voters will punish a program for being less culturally progressive.
July 7, 2025 at 3:03 PM
This study was conducted in 6 European countries, and I'd love to see this kind of research reproduced in the US, but I think this conclusion would hold here as well. There's no necessary tradeoff between economics and culture so long as the economic program has a credible working class appeal.
Trump’s big ugly bill perfectly crystallizes Melinda Cooper’s conception of the neoliberal counterrevolution. Fiscal extravagance for the rich (and the repressive state apparatus), punishing austerity for everyone else. press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Counterrevolution
A thorough investigation of the current combination of austerity and extravagance that characterizes government spending and central bank monetary policy
press.princeton.edu
July 4, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Trump’s big ugly bill perfectly crystallizes Melinda Cooper’s conception of the neoliberal counterrevolution. Fiscal extravagance for the rich (and the repressive state apparatus), punishing austerity for everyone else. press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
I think this piece I wrote a couple years ago holds up pretty well in light of @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social’s historic performance among under-45 voters. Our collective experiences have perfectly primed us for the kind of politics he represents. jacobin.com/2023/10/the-...
The Making of Millennial Socialism
Jacobin has been a flagship publication of “millennial socialism,” a phenomenon that began gathering force around 2010 and first fought its way into the political arena through the 2016 Bernie campaig...
jacobin.com
July 3, 2025 at 12:46 PM
I think this piece I wrote a couple years ago holds up pretty well in light of @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social’s historic performance among under-45 voters. Our collective experiences have perfectly primed us for the kind of politics he represents. jacobin.com/2023/10/the-...
The Republican Party, in a single image. This is what Democratic leaders in Congress should spend their time talking about and rallying people to oppose, not spreading lies and innuendo about @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social for things he never said and doesn’t think.
June 30, 2025 at 2:16 PM
The Republican Party, in a single image. This is what Democratic leaders in Congress should spend their time talking about and rallying people to oppose, not spreading lies and innuendo about @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social for things he never said and doesn’t think.
Reposted by Chris Maisano
Three months ago today, plain-clothes ICE agents abducted Mahmoud Khalil in his apartment building lobby after they'd followed him home.
Free Mahmoud.
Free Mahmoud.
June 8, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Three months ago today, plain-clothes ICE agents abducted Mahmoud Khalil in his apartment building lobby after they'd followed him home.
Free Mahmoud.
Free Mahmoud.
Wow. So you’re telling me this guy constantly lies about everything. I’m hearing about this for the first time.
May 22, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Wow. So you’re telling me this guy constantly lies about everything. I’m hearing about this for the first time.
Canada seems to have effectively imported America's polarized, two-party presidential system despite having a parliamentary system. It's a big reason why third, fourth, fifth, etc. parties have so much trouble catching on in the US, a dynamic the Electoral College strengthens and reinforces.
April 29, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Canada seems to have effectively imported America's polarized, two-party presidential system despite having a parliamentary system. It's a big reason why third, fourth, fifth, etc. parties have so much trouble catching on in the US, a dynamic the Electoral College strengthens and reinforces.
Your average GOP voter had no idea what Critical Race Theory or DEI or "gender ideology" was before their propaganda apparatus started talking about it nonstop. Maybe Slotkin and other centrist Democrats don't want people talking about oligarchy because they don't actually have a problem with it.
Battleground Sen. Elissa Slotkin has a “war plan” for Democrats to beat Trump: Don’t be “weak and woke”
Slotkin has a ‘war plan’ to beat Trump: Don’t be ‘weak and woke’
The Michigan senator will give the first in a series of political speeches on Thursday.
www.politico.com
April 25, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Your average GOP voter had no idea what Critical Race Theory or DEI or "gender ideology" was before their propaganda apparatus started talking about it nonstop. Maybe Slotkin and other centrist Democrats don't want people talking about oligarchy because they don't actually have a problem with it.
Our mayor is telling New Yorkers that if you happen to be kidnapped and sent to an overseas gulag, too bad! You're on your own, and you're probably a gang member anyway. This man's political career can't end fast enough. gothamist.com/news/mayor-a...
Mayor Adams rips Maryland Sen. Van Hollen over ‘tequila drink’ with ‘gang member’
The statement was an apparent reference to Van Hollen's trip to El Salvador last week to meet with a constituent who was mistakenly deported to the country.
gothamist.com
April 23, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Our mayor is telling New Yorkers that if you happen to be kidnapped and sent to an overseas gulag, too bad! You're on your own, and you're probably a gang member anyway. This man's political career can't end fast enough. gothamist.com/news/mayor-a...
Excellent piece by @abenanav.bsky.social making the case for public investment and redistribution, not AI or natalism or fantasies of mass manufacturing employment, in a low growth world: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/o...
Opinion | There’s a Reason the World Is a Mess, and It’s Not Trump (Gift Article)
Global economic stagnation underlies today’s disarray.
www.nytimes.com
April 22, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Excellent piece by @abenanav.bsky.social making the case for public investment and redistribution, not AI or natalism or fantasies of mass manufacturing employment, in a low growth world: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/o...
Reposted by Chris Maisano
BREAKING: Over 50,000 New Yorkers shut down Madison Ave to demand “Hands Off Migrants, Hands Off the Planet”, in the lead up to Earth Day.
Free Mahmoud, Free Kilmar, Free Mohsen, Free Rumeysa, free them all!
#HandsOffMigrants #HandsoffthePlanet
Free Mahmoud, Free Kilmar, Free Mohsen, Free Rumeysa, free them all!
#HandsOffMigrants #HandsoffthePlanet
April 19, 2025 at 5:47 PM
BREAKING: Over 50,000 New Yorkers shut down Madison Ave to demand “Hands Off Migrants, Hands Off the Planet”, in the lead up to Earth Day.
Free Mahmoud, Free Kilmar, Free Mohsen, Free Rumeysa, free them all!
#HandsOffMigrants #HandsoffthePlanet
Free Mahmoud, Free Kilmar, Free Mohsen, Free Rumeysa, free them all!
#HandsOffMigrants #HandsoffthePlanet
@jamellebouie.net if it’s possible to share this mutual aid request it would really help - a working-class community leader in the Bronx lost everything in a fire and needs support to help get her family back on their feet. More details and donation link here: www.gofundme.com/f/help-drum-...
Donate to Help DRUM Family who Lost Everything in Bronx Fire, organized by DRUM - Desis Rising Up and Moving, Inc.
DRUM leaders fight for the working-class. Now, an undocumente… DRUM - Desis Rising Up and Moving, Inc. needs your support for Help DRUM Family who Lost Everything in Bronx Fire
www.gofundme.com
April 19, 2025 at 5:33 PM
@jamellebouie.net if it’s possible to share this mutual aid request it would really help - a working-class community leader in the Bronx lost everything in a fire and needs support to help get her family back on their feet. More details and donation link here: www.gofundme.com/f/help-drum-...
With the Supreme Court set to take up a birthright citizenship case, this article I wrote a couple of years ago has, very unfortunately, become timely once again.
Rolling Back Birthright Citizenship, Rolling Back Democracy
The Right’s recent attacks on birthright citizenship are a further step in their slide toward “postfascism.”
jacobin.com
April 17, 2025 at 8:14 PM
With the Supreme Court set to take up a birthright citizenship case, this article I wrote a couple of years ago has, very unfortunately, become timely once again.
Reposted by Chris Maisano
Which party turned out more in 2024? Official turnout records show registered Republicans had higher turnout rates than Democrats everywhere but DC (avg gap R+7 pts).
That’s hard to square with the narrative that Democrats now benefit when fewer people vote.
That’s hard to square with the narrative that Democrats now benefit when fewer people vote.
April 16, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Which party turned out more in 2024? Official turnout records show registered Republicans had higher turnout rates than Democrats everywhere but DC (avg gap R+7 pts).
That’s hard to square with the narrative that Democrats now benefit when fewer people vote.
That’s hard to square with the narrative that Democrats now benefit when fewer people vote.
Remarkable quotes here from a soybean farmer who says the industry is "still reeling" the first Trump trade war, "lost nearly 10 percent of market share to China that we never regained," and "certainly not thrilled about an extended" second one, but is a 3-time Trump voter anyway. on.ft.com/42nAAkY
Donald Trump’s China trade war a ‘boon’ for Brazil but sends US farmers reeling
Latin America’s largest economy is poised to extend its lead as China’s top food supplier
on.ft.com
April 15, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Remarkable quotes here from a soybean farmer who says the industry is "still reeling" the first Trump trade war, "lost nearly 10 percent of market share to China that we never regained," and "certainly not thrilled about an extended" second one, but is a 3-time Trump voter anyway. on.ft.com/42nAAkY
Reposted by Chris Maisano
Social democratic parties losing their voters to the far right really is the zombie theory of contemporary European politics. It didn't happen to Labour. It didn't happen to the SPD. It didn't happen to the PvdA. We know it's false. We communicate this non-stop. And yet, it somehow survives.
What Farage says about where his votes are coming from is also horseshit, of course. Latest YouGov poll shows Tories have leaked 20% of the 2024 support to Reform, but Labour just 6%. Though that still matters, it’s just a third of what Labour’s losing to Lib Dems and Greens…
Just watched the Home Counties private schoolboy Nigel Farage telling northern voters how he understands steelworkers because he used to work in the “metals business” himself. He was, ahem, a commodities trader at the London Metal Exchange in the City.
April 15, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Social democratic parties losing their voters to the far right really is the zombie theory of contemporary European politics. It didn't happen to Labour. It didn't happen to the SPD. It didn't happen to the PvdA. We know it's false. We communicate this non-stop. And yet, it somehow survives.
Finally watched WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES by Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky on Criterion 4K. It's hard to think of a film that speaks more directly to this moment in time, with such unsettling beauty. There are just so many astonishing images and sequences in it, it's hard to do it justice with words.
April 14, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Finally watched WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES by Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky on Criterion 4K. It's hard to think of a film that speaks more directly to this moment in time, with such unsettling beauty. There are just so many astonishing images and sequences in it, it's hard to do it justice with words.