 | | Brendan Smialowski/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
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If Donald Trump were ahead in the polls, he wouldn’t shut up about it. Every tweet, every quip or comment would be about his lead over Joe Biden. He would gloat and brag from here until Election Day. |
Of course, Trump is not winning. He trails Biden by seven points in FiveThirtyEight’s national average and by an average of six points in the three states (Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania) that will determine the election. He’s tied or slightly behind in must-win states like Florida and Ohio, and he may well lose competitive states like Arizona and North Carolina. More important, Biden is consistently above 50 percent support in national polling, and Trump struggles to outperform his historically low disapproval. |
The president is in bad shape, which is why he spends all of his time attacking the election itself. It’s why he’s on a crusade against mail-in ballots. And it’s why his campaign is plotting ways to install Trump as president in defiance of the will of the voters. One of those plots, reported Barton Gellman in The Atlantic, involves Republican legislatures in contested states unilaterally assigning electoral votes to President Trump. |
According to sources in the Republican Party at the state and national levels, the Trump campaign is discussing contingency plans to bypass election results and appoint loyal electors in battleground states where Republicans hold the legislative majority. With a justification based on claims of rampant fraud, Trump would ask state legislators to set aside the popular vote and exercise their power to choose a slate of electors directly. |
There’s no denying this is scary, as is President Trump’s clear desire to throw the election to a Supreme Court stacked with his appointees. But it is important to remember, as my colleague Michelle Goldberg notes, that Trump is working from a position of weakness. These are the last graspings of a desperate would-be autocrat. They’re still dangerous — perhaps even more dangerous than what you would see if Trump were stronger — but they’re also a sign that the president’s opponents have the upper hand. Trump and his allies, to borrow from the rap group Mobb Deep, are shook. |
My Tuesday column was a call to weaken the power of the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution: |
If Democrats are willing to treat a Republican-dominated Supreme Court as a partisan and ideological foe, if they’re willing to change or transform it rather than accede to its view of the Constitution — two very big ifs — then they’re one important step along the path to challenging judicial supremacy, the idea that the courts, and the courts alone, determine constitutional meaning. |
My Friday column was a look at the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the current Supreme Court fight and the underlying dispute over the nature of the Constitution: |
There is no one-to-one comparison from the past to current events; there never is. But drawing on the Missouri controversy, I do have an observation to make about our present situation. Once again, under the guise of ordinary political conflict, Americans are fighting a meta-legal battle over the meaning of both the Union and the Constitution. |
James Oakes on slavery and capitalism at The Economic Historian. |
Jefferson Cowie on the differing meanings of “freedom” in The Boston Review. |
Mae Ngai on immigration reform in Dissent magazine. |
If you’re enjoying what you’re reading, please consider recommending it to friends. They can sign up here. If you want to share your thoughts on an item in this week’s newsletter or on the newsletter in general, please email me at jamelle-newsletter@nytimes.com. |
 | | Jamelle Bouie |
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This is from my personal archive, a shot from the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico. I think we took this vacation in 2017, although it may have been 2016. Time has lost all meaning these days. |
Now Eating: Red Bean Stew |
In the Bouie household, cold weather is soup and stew weather and specifically bean weather. This is a simple and tasty stew, best served with a drizzle of good olive oil, a dollop of sour cream and warm, crusty bread. A glass of red wine (maybe a Cabernet Franc) wouldn’t hurt either. Recipe from The New York Times’s Cooking section. |
- 1 pound (2¼ cups) red beans, washed, picked over and soaked for 6 hours or overnight in 2 quarts water
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium or large onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 large or 2 small green bell peppers, diced
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 bay leaf
- salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- Pinch of cayenne
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- Freshly ground pepper
- ½ cup minced fresh parsley, or a combination of parsley and dill
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Drain the beans through a strainer set over a bowl. Place the beans in a large soup pot or Dutch oven. Measure the soaking water in the bowl, and add enough water to it to measure 2½ quarts. Add this to the pot with the beans, turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a gentle boil. Skim off any foam and/or bean skins. |
Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet and add the onions, carrots and peppers. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are tender and fragrant, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add 2 of the garlic cloves and continue to cook for another minute or so, until the garlic is fragrant. Season to taste with salt, add another tablespoon of oil and add the paprika. Cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes, until the vegetables are well coated with paprika and the mixture is aromatic. Add a ladleful of simmering water from the beans to the pan, stir with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan to deglaze, then stir this mixture into the beans. Add the tomato paste and bay leaf, reduce the heat, cover and simmer 1 hour. |
Add the oregano, the remaining garlic cloves, salt to taste, cayenne, vinegar and sugar, and continue to simmer for another hour. The beans should be thoroughly tender and the broth thick and fragrant. Taste and adjust salt, and add more cayenne if desired. For a thicker stew, strain out 1 heaped cup of beans with a little liquid and purée. Stir back into the stew. |
Just before serving, stir in the parsley. |
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