If Only We Could Be More Like the UK...

...OMG, What the Hell Am I Saying?!?

When was the last time you envious of British politics? But I bet you are now, right? If only we could trash bin the American right as decisively as the U.K. apparently did the Tory clown show! But look closer and you will see that although a huge number of seats changed hands and Labour under the leadership of new British PM Keir Starmer has a substantial majority, the election was not entirely what it appeared to be.

Indeed, what happened in the UK while Americans were fretting our way through July Fourth wondering if it would be the last we would celebrate as a democracy, contained a number of warning signs. Turnout was low. First past the post system of voting allowed Labour to win many seats with small margins. Election was more of a big Tory loss than a resounding Labour win as Starmer’s party’s share of the vote was relatively underwhelming. Further, although they did not win a lot of seats, Trump fave Nigel Farage’s far right showed considerable strength and their greater presence—featuring as it does racist, anti-European pro-Putinism (sound familiar?)—will not be a welcome development. Here’s a good thread on this.

Here are a few other quick perspectives for you to mull during your long holiday weekend:

• While all eyes will be on the Biden interview with George Stephanopoulos that will take place on Friday, it is not nor should it be the "make or break" event some in the press would like to cast it as. Wherever you stand on the future of Biden’s candidacy, the idea of everything turning on one interview is ridiculous and deeply unserious given the stakes. This is not, must not be, reality TV, the Apprentice 2.0. I addressed why although the question of who the Democratic candidate will be resolve as it must be soon, a quick decision for Biden will not necessarily put this story to rest in a piece I did on Wednesday at The Daily Beast.

• I’m not going to inundate you with recommendations re: all the podcasts we do at Deep State Radio or The DSR Network (though I encourage you to sign up and follow all we do—generally between 15 and 18 podcasts a week, all featuring leading experts doing deep dives on critical policy and political concerns). But on the issue of who is the best person to beat Trump, this discussion from the other day was extremely good.

• (Note: This is one of this week’s two, paid-subscriber only posts. The other will come tomorrow, Saturday.)