I’ve been reporting in Washington DC for over 20 years, which means I was here for the crazy 2000 election and 9/11, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a political news cycle quite like this one. If this episode isn’t published within the next 12-24 hours it may be at risk of expiring. The presidential election is in full swing right now and the wars abroad and the U.S. involvement in them, are on one hand being overshadowed by domestic events, but on the other, playing a role in how Americans view their parties and candidates and their fitness — or lack thereof — for leadership in Washington.
I wanted to bring in the best analysts I know this week who can talk about the politics of the current moment against the backdrop of an extraordinary situation on the world front – two major wars in which the US is directly involved, not with boots on the ground, at least not yet, but with tens of billions of dollars and political and social capital that has put the reputation of the nation’s status as a superpower and moral leader to the ultimate test.
Moreover this week, Vice President Kamala Harris is in the spotlight as she attempts to distance herself from the Biden administration’s policy on Israel-Gaza — at least enough to regain support from progressives and the Michigan vote — while not entirely alienating the pro-Israel members of her coalition. We’ll talk about how she is handling that balancing act against the backdrop of Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Washington and his remarks to Congress on Wednesday.
Matt Purple is a journalist and a writer, currently at Defense Priorities. We worked together at the American Conservative and he is a former editor for the Spectator. Dan Larison is a writer and also a former colleague at the American Conservative. He pens regular articles for me at Responsible Statecraft and writes daily for his own newsletter, Eunomia. This is a special episode in that all three of us launched the Empire has no Clothes podcast at the American Conservative back in 2019, and Dan and I hosted Crashing the War Party from April 2021 to late last year.
More from Matt Purple:
Why Conservatives Should Oppose Bombing Iran
Turkey, Sweden, and NATO’s identity crisis
Don't like radical Houthis? Blame Bush's wars
More from Dan Larison:
Netanyahu’s dishonest propaganda speech
If there is a Harris foreign policy do we call it Biden-lite?
