Toward a Popular Vote

The "Hamilton Electors" and Electoral College protestors didn't succeed on Dec. 19. [AP Photo/Elaine Thompson]

“She has made history. In a nation that is good at so many things but that has made it uniquely difficult for a woman to be elected to federal office. She became the first major party nominee as a woman to be president and last night won the popular vote of Americans. That is an amazing accomplishment.”  -- Tim Kaine, Nov. 9

Almost three million more Americans voted for Hillary Clinton than for Donald Trump last month. This is both true and yet practically meaningless given the Electoral College. 

There are more dimensions to the 2016 presidential election outcome than one can wrap their mind around. The Democratic Party’s reckoning alone will likely last years. 

But the sharp popular vote / Electoral College divergence this year is a big part of what happened. It was decisive. How do we respond to the second split in five elections?

Processing the Unthinkable

It's real.

Like basically everyone else, I’m trying to process the unexpected and devastating election result. My thoughts are a bit of a jumbled mess, but I need to get them out of my own head for self-preservation purposes if nothing else. 

What's Next for the Trans-Pacific Partnership?

The leaders of the prospective TPP member countries in 2010.

The presidential campaign is the focus of the American political universe right now. That focus will only intensify over the next two and a half months as November 8 draws closer.

But despite that hyper-focus, there is actual governing to do after the campaign ends. Five key issues that will shape the post-election political agenda aren’t getting enough attention right now, in my estimation. 

Over the next two weeks I’ll discuss each of them. Today I wrote about the future of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Two-Party Problem

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein (Getty Images)

There are few things more tiresome than the quadrennial exercise of arguing about whether to vote for the lesser of two evils in American presidential elections. The combination of Bernie Sanders’ primary campaign, antipathy towards Hillary Clinton, and the specter of Donald Trump has made this year’s cycle particularly intense.

9 Predictions for 2016

Matt Yglesias of Vox wrote a piece titled “11 bold predictions for 2015” at the end of 2014, and though it’s already January 2, I thought it would be a fun idea to try myself this year. So here are a few (admittedly not especially bold) guesses at what will happen in 2016.