Still on the air @NPR. Author of Differ We Must, a NY Times bestseller. https://teapawt.net/t.co/l9DXNpdKdO
Washington, DC
Joined February 2010
- Tweets50.8K
- Following4K
- Followers328K
- Likes11.6K
Presidential press secretary Dana White?
Trump says he “offered” the job, not that White accepted. But let’s consider this possibility, because it says something about the nature of the task.
1/2
White told me a few months ago he was done with politics. Here are some thoughts on the job and links to our interview:
2/2
steveinskeep.substack.com/p/…
Steve Inskeep retweeted
“One of the most important legacies of the 1800 election, and this is where Jefferson is right that it is a 'revolution,' is that there was a peaceful transfer of power from one political party to the next.” - Frank Cogliano
“Was there really a corrupt bargain? I don’t know … but the country perceived it that way. And not only did it doom [John Quincy] Adams’s one-term as president, it doomed Henry Clay who would run for president three times and never win. And you can kind of trace it back to that original sin of that ‘corrupt bargain’ with John Quincy Adams.” - Bob Crawford on the 1824 election
“This peaceful transfer [of power] is the secret of the whole thing. It is the most important thing. It is more important than whoever is president for the next four years … It is a great inheritance from the people who went through these difficult elections and came out on the other side.” - Steve Inskeep (@NPRinskeep)
#GWSymposium
ALT This image is a promotional poster for a symposium titled "Contested Transitions" held at George Washington's Mount Vernon. It features headshots of three speakers: a professor of American History at the University of Edinburgh, a bassist from The Avett Brothers and history podcaster, and the host of NPR’s Morning Edition. The event is moderated by Susan Swain, Former President and Co-CEO of C-SPAN. The event date and website are also included.
ALT A panel discussion is taking place in an auditorium with four people seated on stage. Behind them is a backdrop featuring an image of George Washington's Mount Vernon. American flags and portraits of George Washington are displayed on either side. The audience is seated, viewing the speakers.
“There is no voice in all America which has the faintest authority when the ballot speaks.”
- Andrew Carnegie, 1886
“In the campaign to come, [Republicans] must battle over what their party stands for, if not trade wars on friend and foe, shooting wars in the Middle East, state capitalism, public debt, self-enrichment in office and unchecked executive power.”
economist.com/united-states/…
Interesting argument here.
This is a total hoot.
About the only thing it gets correct is that 2024 Trump voters were "pissed." As the polls spell out, very clearly, they were angry about tariffs--a word weirdly not found in this post, but which exit polls showed 65% of voters dislike. There's a straight line between those punishing costs and Senate losses in Kansas, Iowa, Ohio (farm areas) and beyond.
Angry the WH instead spent this past year talking about ballrooms and the Kennedy center. Frustrated by the complete absence of a next-two-year agenda (85% are concerned by healthcare costs. Where is the GOP plan?)
They are also unhappy about the war, though the numbers might be different if the president been clear about an exit strategy. And not sure where the "smartest" (and most anonymous) pollster in the world got the Israel argument. Exit polls show that of the 51% of voters who said our support for Israel was "too strong," only 19% of even that subset of respondents were Republican. The vast majority of GOP voters said our support for Israel was "just right" or "not strong enough."
Amusing to claim the problem here was traditional conservatives, as they were sidelined. Tillis was run out of the party, dooming NC. As was Cornyn. The WH had a pure expression of its second-term Trump/Vance agenda and loyalty in its chosen candidate of Ken Paxton. That would be the smoking carcass sitting on a 12-point loss in. . . Texas of all places. Meanwhile, who exactly is even talking about "asylum"? That's just a smear-y effort to preemptively shut down valid criticism.
The GOP strength has always been in its coalition--free-marketers, defense hawks, cultural conservatives. Trump's first-term success came from largely following that Reagan playbook. The second-term leaned into me-too progressive populism--at the veep's urging--and it ain't working.
The weird thing is that the veep remains more obsessed with remaking the party than with winning. Winning will require a lot better understanding of what happened yesterday than what is on offer in this alternate-universe view.
Steve Inskeep retweeted
as much as anything, this is still really, truly incredible
"Let's do it. Let's try to call the president." @DashaBurns did that earlier in the evening, and Trump picked up:
We had a talk on Morning Edition with Michigan senate winner Abdul El-Sayed:
npr.org/2026/11/04/nx-s1-602…
Elon Musk moved from California to Texas in order to live in a red state, and wakes up this morning in what looks (for the moment) like a blue state.
GOP senator Trump pushed out in a primary in favor of Paxton, who lost.
If the next generation inherits nothing else but the vote, they will have a chance to fix whatever problems are left to them.
1/2
Thoughts on the vote while watching the count:
2/2
steveinskeep.substack.com/p/…
“If our kids can inherit just that one thing from earlier generations—the I Voted sticker, and the ballot that you cast to get one—they have a chance to fix whatever problems we may leave for them. Just that one thing.
Okay, some money would also help.”
1/2
2/2
My proposition to you as we await election results:
steveinskeep.substack.com/p/…
At this link, what we heard when going door do door and finding random people in NC and GA:
2/2
steveinskeep.substack.com/p/…
From @petridishes: “Maybe he is trying to spin the ‘blue wave’ as something positive that he has done to remove algae from the Reflecting Pool?”
theatlantic.com/newsletters/…
Analysis
Tick Tock --> How Trump put the Senate in play
- Picked JD Vance as his running mate, opening up tough expensive special election that GOP could lose. DeWine appointed Husted, who originally wanted to run for governor. Close race that wouldn't have been up til '28 otherwise
- Tangled with Tillis over healthcare cuts in 2025, prompting his retirement. Thune said then Tillis "knew how to run and win in North Carolina." Trump cleared field for Whatley, who is down by large margin.
- Cold-shouldered Cornyn then backed Paxton. Cornyn: “Texas was an unforced error, I think, on the part of the president... if I won the nomination, then that would be a layup in November. That’s all off the table.”
- Backed Sen. Darline Graham in crowded SC race, most senators thought she'd be an interim senator. Now in toss-up race against Annie Andrews with state GOP divided. Andrews: "Darline was going to be easier for me.”
- Tried to oust Kemp in '22; when Georgia race came up this cycle, Kemp passed on the race. Trump backed Rep. Mike Collins over Kemp's pick Dooley, now huge underdog to Sen. Ossoff
- Tariffs, filibuster pressure and of course, the Iran War: “Every negative for the GOP this cycle is a downstream effect of Iran"
w/ @ShelbyTalcott
semafor.com/article/11/02/20…
Steve Inskeep retweeted
Jim Messina on midterm hopes: "We're Democrats, we can screw up free beer on a Friday night"
To @NPRinskeep on Morning Edition