Friday mailbag!

You have questions! I have answers!

Happy Friday! Earlier this week I asked for your questions — about anything and everything — for this Friday mailbag post. And boy did you respond!

Below I tried to answer most of the questions you asked. If your question didn’t get answered, never fear — we are going to do this every Friday!

Let’s get to it!

Q: Lace (!),

So I get all your arguments about how Kamala's in fine shape for 2024 (if she ends up running), but didn't she try to run for President before? How'd that go? Has she really improved since she flamed out before reaching the first primary back in 2020??

A: I did make that argument — here. You are unquestionably right that when Harris ran in 2020, it didn’t go super well. She started off really, really well and then just sort of fell off. The argument I would make is that she will be in a very different place in 2028 (let’s just say for the sake of argument) than she was in 2020. She will have spent eight years on the national level, in the public eye — and with all the scrutiny that comes with it. She will have universal name ID among Democrats. She will have a national donor base. And, sitting vice presidents have a pretty solid record of winding up as the nominee. (Since 1972, every sitting or former VP who has run for the Democratic nomination has won it.). I just think all of these worries about Harris right now are a little overblown; she is not the perfect candidate by any means but I think would be a favorite to be the nominee.

Q: Hey Chris! Curious on your thoughts here.

I know he’s gotten “some” buzz, and it remains to be seen if he’d go against Trump, but why hasn’t Tim Scott gotten more 2024 fanfare? He cruised to reelection with a wider margin of victory than Desantis. He’s extremely popular with no enemies within the GOP. He’s the only black Republican Senator in a party that desperately needs to make gains in the black community. He has a conservative voting record but has shown a willingness to work across the aisle. And, he presents as a decent, moral, well-intentioned individual to a good number of independents and democrats. Isn’t he a home run candidate for the GOP?

A: I TOTALLY agree. Compared to the likes of Nikki Haley or Mike Pence or Mike Pompeo, Scott has been pretty low-key about all the 2024 stuff to date. But that’s not to say he isn’t looking at it. He’s going to be in Iowa later this month and, well, he’s from South Carolina which is always a nice leg up in a presidential primary fight. I think Scott has a very high ceiling — he’s charismatic, a gifted speaker and, as you mention, he’s the only black Republican Senator in the GOP. My question about Scott is whether he has the relentless ambition you need to run and win a presidential nomination fight. These races are always really ugly but with Trump’s demonstrated way of campaigning — bullying his opponents, name-calling etc. — this election is going to be even worse. Does Scott have the heart for that kind of race? Or does he want to wait until 2028 or 2032? At 57, he still has some time.

Q: Why do you think Nancy Pelosi is endorsing Adam Schiff so early for Feinstein's seat?

Two pronged: early in terms of potentially preempting Feinstein, and early in terms of before the field fully forms....

A: Well, remember that Pelosi’s endorsement was conditional — she is endorsing Schiff ONLY if DiFi decides not run.

I tend to think Feinstein’s retirement is a foregone conclusion so I do think Pelosi winds up behind Schiff in an open seat Senate race.

So, why did Pelosi do it? Personal loyalty mostly. She and Schiff have been close allies in the House for quite a while now and I am sure they have talked about the possibility of his candidacy. And he likely secured her endorsement for that race a while back. This is her making good on that promise.

Q: Chris,

I love the work you are doing on here. My question has to do with Nikki Haley's near entry into the 2024 Presidential Election. How do you think her entry impacts the dynamics of the race? Does she go after Trump, or play things safe for awhile?

A: It’s a great question and, if I am being totally honest, I don’t know the answer. Here’s my working theory: Haley wants to position herself as a credible alternative if the fight between Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gets too ugly. If that is the case, then she isn’t likely to directly criticize either of them — at least at the start of the campaign.

I am not sure if that’s the right move, honestly. It seems to be that the election will come down to Trump and a not-Trump, which means that Haley, DeSantis and everyone else running is really competing in their own primary. DeSantis is clearly the early frontrunner there and I think Haley has to find ways to make herself relevant in that anti-Trump convo.

Q: Not sure I understand the reasoning behind the media amplifying Trump. All. The. Time. 2016 was the beginning and it was disgustingly corrosive, however, he was a presidential candidate and seemed to be a joke. No one thought he could win and yet he did. Then he became president and he needed to be covered, I get it. I also understand that what happened after the election was needed to be covered. However, it seems as though the former guy sneezes and the media all reports it. Now he’s running again and it seems like here we go again. How much does the media really need to cover? Does every waking moment, or middle of the night “truth” need to be made into something that the media talks about all day long? What are your thoughts on how much and when to cover the former guy? BTW, not talking about the legal aspect of things, those things need to be covered.

A: So, I get this argument — and hear it a lot. I think we all need to be very aware of how much attention Trump gets and, maybe more importantly, what he gets attention for. For example, I don’t cover everything (or almost anything) he puts on Truth Social because I think that often magnifies his false claims and conspiracy theories much further than he could do alone.

BUT, the reality is this: He is the favorite to be the Republican presidential nominee in 2024. And, at the moment, he is the only announced candidate. If Trump was at 5% or lower in polling at this point, I think the whole “ignore him” thing might make more sense. He’s not. And so I think we have to cover him like we would cover any frontrunner for one of the two major party’s presidential nomination.

Q: Chris, you’re great on The TK show. Would you ever consider moving into sports full time?

A: THANK YOU. (For people who don’t know, I am a regular on the Tony Kornheiser show podcast.)

I don’t think I will ever leave politics totally behind as it really is my passion. But my plan with this newsletter is to roam a lot more widely than I did when I was at CNN or even WaPo. I am really hoping that broader mandate will include sports as well. And I will keep going on Tony’s show for as long as he’ll have me.

Q: Why is it so hard to pass legislation that in theory should have bipartisan support? For example, there were discussions about how to address uncompetitive practices by social media companies (when Mark Zuckerberg was invited to the committee hearings) and both sides of the aisle seemed to want to do something but nothing ever materialized.

A: I think this is a really good— and tough — question. I am continually amazed, for example, how there are clear bipartisan majorities on ways to strengthen gun law and make gun ownership safer that never even get a hearing in Congress. I mean we are talking about proposals with approval of upwards of 80% of the public!

I think part of the answer lies in the fact that we have a two party system in Congress that has been fed on polarization. The people on the other side of the aisle are well-meaning folks with different views than you. They are malignant and are committed to enacting policies that are bad for America. When that is your starting point, it’s hard to see places where there can be compromise.

Plus we have a political system that rewards extreme behavior. I give you Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Q: You have written recently about how Trump has eschewed email and electronic communication for years but has now taken to texting. Do you know (or have a theory) as to why he made an exception for tweeting and social media in general?

A: I think Trump, to his credit, realized very early on that he could have a huge impact on the day to day story of the political campaign by using Twitter. Remember that he was an avid Twitter user even before he decided to run for president in 2015.

The allure of exerting that much control was intoxicating for Trump. He expressed wonderment during the 2016 campaign that he would tweet something and minutes later it would be on all the cable networks. As an attention hog, he can’t resist that sort of thing.

Texting or emailing doesn’t scratch that same itch. It’s a person to person conversation without the massive megaphone that Twitter provided him.

Which, by the way, is why I am convinced he is going back to Twitter at some point during this campaign.

Q: I’ve often commented that if Trump wins again in 2024, democracy in this country is finished. Am I overstating matters?

A: Slightly yes. Remember that Trump tried to overturn a presidential election and failed because the people put in place to keep the guardrails on our democracy stood up and did the right thing.

That said, we were one Mike Pence capitulation away from Trump possibly succeeding in his efforts to overturn the election so I also don’t think you are panicking without ANY reason.

What Trump made clear in the 2016 and 2020 elections is that he will do anything and everything to win — and to remain in power. He has little interest in the idea of big “D” democracy — he recently said we should get rid of the Constitution! — and I think we always have to keep that in mind when covering him.

Q: Which WrestleMania was the best from the old WWF days?

A: Easy. Wrestlemania III. Hogan slamming Andre with Jesse Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon on the call. Iconic.

Q: Who is Georgetown’s next coach?

A: If I had my way? Ed Cooley of Providence. I love him. I could live with Richie Pitino from New Mexico too. At this point, honestly, I would take anyone but Ewing.

Q: Hey, I miss your music recommendations! Any chance that you might resume those?

A: Absolutely. I am thinking of doing a regular weekend music thread with the music I liked from that week.

In the meantime, some of the stuff I loved from 2022:

• Florist, “Florist”

• Wild Pink, “ILYSM”

• Alvvays, “Blue Rev”

• Danger Mouse and Black Thought, “Cheat Codes”

• Big Thief, “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You”

• Johann Johannson, “Drone Mass”

• MJ Lendermann, “Boat Songs”