On the menu:
COVID-19 at root of Gen Z move to the right;
Vivek readies battle for Ohio;
Kemp brushes back Greene;
A very big fish story
It may be fitting that President Trump has been in a Napoleonic mode of late.
Trump is a little less than a third of the way into his first 100 days in office, a measurement common in American politics since former President Franklin Roosevelt used it for his first administration in 1933. FDR took office in March of that year and called Congress back into session for a whirlwind of work in which much of the New Deal was put in place.
The frenzy of activity included some things that are with us still today (the repeal of prohibition and, astonishingly, the Tennessee Valley Authority), some things that were popular (the Civilian Conservation Corps and subsidized mortgages), and some major failures that no doubt prolonged and worsened the Great Depression, particularly in rural America.
However it turned out, they were all very busy in Washington in spring 1933. To a country that was in the grip of pure economic misery — 25 percent unemployment and crippling bank failures — busy no doubt seemed appropriate. Since then, though, every newly elected president has used or been abused by the 100-day standard, whether the world was on fire or not.
But before “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” Napoleon Bonaparte was the most famous man of 100 days. That was the period between his restoration as ruler of France in March 1815 after his exile on Elba to his defeat at Waterloo. And he was busy, too, in a series of bold, audacious moves against his gathering enemies. It all went very well, right up until it didn’t.
Democrats now contemplate their current miserable state and wonder what to do about a Trump administration that is mowing them down like they were Prussian cannon fodder. The Blue Team is out there protesting on behalf of government workers, not the most sympathetic victims to the broader electorate, and dreaming of a day when they can impeach Trump for a third time.
How’s that going? While Republicans only kind of dislike the way their members of Congress are doing their jobs, Democrats are pretty well disgusted. While the congressional GOP managed a 79 percent approval rating with their voters nationally in a new Quinnipiac poll, Democrats could only get to 40 percent among their own people.
Trump, meanwhile, seems to be having the time of his life.
How Democrats should respond to this frenetic moment in American history depends on which hundred days they think Trump is having. Is Trump fundamentally changing the function of the federal government and its relationship to the citizens as Roosevelt did? Or is Trump racking up early, feel-good victories but will ultimately be undone by his hubris?
It’s probably going to end up somewhere between the two, but which end of the spectrum is Trump heading toward?
Think again about those low approval numbers for congressional Democrats. Why are they doing only half as well as Republicans? First, Republicans haven’t gotten to any of the hard parts yet. Pumping out press releases acclaiming every utterance of Trump is easy money in bright-red districts. Passing a budget? Not so much.
But Democrats right now are just plain bummed out and very much down on their party less than four months after a galling presidential defeat, so we wouldn’t expect them to be feeling rah-rah.
And there’s this: It is in the interests of individual lawmakers to emphasize their own relevancy and power, but that contributes to a false impression that the party out of power could do much of anything at all in a moment like this. Lawmakers in the minority of both chambers promise to fight Trump, so rank-and-file Democrats say “Let’s see it!” And that’s how you get Chuck Schumer talking guacamole.
Democrats don’t really want to tell their voters, activists, and donors the truth as it is right now: There’s not much to do right now but wait. And that is a particularly unsatisfying answer for those in the party who believe that Trump is some sort of dark version of FDR. If you think MAGA is beginning a long march through the institutions like the New Deal achieved nine decades ago, now really would be the time to panic. Of course, that view of Trump and his movement invites an impotent rage that only further alienates persuadable voters.
That’s not to say that there aren’t things for Democrats to do right now, but most of that is about cleaning house and getting ready for Waterloo.
At least that’s what James Carville is telling his party: “Don’t just stand there. Do nothing.”
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NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Trump Job Performance
Average Approval: 47.2 percent
Average Disapproval: 49.4 percent
Net Score: Negative 2.2 points
Change from last week: Negative 3.8 points
[Average includes: Quinnipiac: 45 percent approve – 49 percent disapprove; Survey USA: 51 percent approve – 45 percent disapprove; Gallup: 45 percent approve – 51 percent disapprove; Marquette Law: 48 percent approve – 52 percent disapprove; Pew: 47 percent approve – 51 percent disapprove]
Most favor letting illegal immigrant workers remain
Which comes closest to your view about undocumented immigrants who are currently working in the U.S.?
Allowed to stay and apply for citizenship: 51 percent
Allowed to stay, but only as temporary guest workers: 19 percent
Required to leave their jobs and leave the U.S.: 30 percent
[Marquette University Law School poll of 1,018 adults, February 2025]
ON THE SIDE: PLATO ON THE GANGES
History Today: “The British colonisers who travelled to India from the 18th century onwards were steeped in the Classics; they knew their Greek and Latin (if not the languages of India) and quoted liberally from Horace and Virgil. … But connections with Greece and Rome went deeper: the British saw their actions in India through the lens of their classical educations and understood their decisions in the light of Graeco-Roman antiquity. Some imagined themselves as marching in the footsteps of Alexander the Great, while others preferred Julius Caesar or Augustus. … When Indians and Britons encountered each other from the middle of the 18th century to the middle of the 20th, the ancient Greeks and Romans were also present. … In 1908 Mahatma Gandhi was in a prison cell in South Africa, translating Plato’s Apology into Gujarati, probably from an English translation. … Gandhi saw the revolutionary power in Plato’s texts – and turned them against the British Empire.”
PRIME CUTS
COVID-19 backlash pushes Gen Z to the right: The Atlantic: “For decades, America’s young voters have been deeply—and famously—progressive. … In 2024, Donald Trump closed most of the gap, losing voters under 30 by a 51–47 margin. … Maybe the entire world is casting a protest vote after several years of inflation. … There is another potential driver of the global right turn: the pandemic. … Political science suggests that pandemics are more likely to reduce rather than build trust in scientific authorities. … Another way that COVID may have accelerated young people’s [rightward shift] in America and around the world was by dramatically reducing their physical-world socializing. That led, in turn, to large increases in social-media time that boys and girls spent alone. … New ideologies are messy to describe and messier still to name. But in a few years, what we’ve grown accustomed to calling Generation Z may reveal itself to contain a subgroup: Generation C, COVID-affected and, for now, strikingly conservative.”
Utah holds off a Trump takeover: The New York Times: “As President Trump pursues his right-wing agenda at breakneck speed…one of the 50 states has remained a redoubt of a kinder, gentler and more civil kind of Republicanism. Utah. Traditionally deep red, Utah moved just one percentage point to the right in the 2024 election, the second-smallest statewide shift in the country after Washington. … One big reason is that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who make up a vast — and once reliably conservative — segment of the Utah population, have been drifting away from the G.O.P. … Last year, 31 percent of L.D.S. voters nationwide backed former Vice President Kamala Harris, up from the 23 percent who voted Democratic in 2020. … Center-right Republicans who are uncomfortable with Mr. Trump’s confrontational brand of politics…have gained new momentum and are pushing to wrest voters in the state away from the party’s MAGA wing.”
Musk allies drop millions into Wisconsin court race: Politico: “A group with ties to Elon Musk is pouring more than $1 million into Wisconsin’s upcoming Supreme Court race — a sign that even as Musk races to overhaul Washington, his influence extends beyond it. Musk has directly boosted the Republican-backed candidate in the Wisconsin race on his powerful X platform. And a Republican-aligned group, Building America’s Future, is spending at least $1.5 million in the state, with ads set to start running later this week. … The new rush of money comes as Democrats put up strong performances in small-bore special elections since Trump took office. … Democrat-aligned Susan Crawford faces GOP-backed Brad Schimel, and the outcome will determine whether liberals or conservatives control the state’s highest court.”
Ramaswamy set to launch gubernatorial bid next week: The Hill: “Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is set to launch his expected 2026 run for Ohio governor next Monday, The Hill has learned. After weeks of hints at the move, Ramaswamy is on track to kick off his campaign in Cincinnati on Feb. 24. … The biotech entrepreneur would join Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) in the GOP primary race to succeed term-limited Gov. Mike DeWine (R) in the Buckeye State. Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague was expected to run, but he changed course and endorsed Ramaswamy earlier this month. … Ramaswamy’s team has also brought on some of Vice President Vance’s top political advisers in recent weeks, an indicator that he could snag eventual backing from Vance, a former Ohio senator, or President Trump.”
SHORT ORDER
Democratic Rep. Angie Craig ponders Minnesota Senate bid — The Hill
As GOP’s Mike Lawler looks to governor’s race, Dems eye his House seat — The New York Times
Top officials flee scandal-soaked Adams administration — The New York Times
TABLE TALK
Looking at you, MTG
“We should not lose this race. But if we nominate someone not ready for prime time, we will.” — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who is considering a bid himself, warns that a weak candidate could cost Republicans the Georgia Senate seat in 2026.
Feeding frenzy
“And I don’t think that plastic is going to affect a shark very much as they are eating, as they are munching their way through the ocean.” — President Trump explains his thinking behind his executive order that bans paper straws.
MAILBAG
“I love to read your insights and always feel smarter and more informed after doing so. I also admire your fidelity to honest political journalism and trying to stay out of the jersey-wearing partisan nonsense. I do have a well-meaning critique or suggestion for your producers/poobahs at NewsNation though. I don’t have a current subscription that allows me to watch your new Sunday show on screen, but I noticed a while back that it gets uploaded to Spotify.. albeit sporadically. Therein lies the problem. I would love the consistency and reliability of knowing the audio of your show is going to be promptly uploaded to Spotify after it airs on Sunday mornings. I’ve been disappointed that it almost seems like an afterthought. Some weeks it’s there, some weeks it’s not. And that content has an expiration date as you know since the news moves so quickly – it sure would be nice to have some certainty around its digital delivery.” — Matt McNeely, Greenville, S.C.
Mr. McNeely,
You have given me an education! I knew that “The Hill Sunday” aired on SiriusXM’s POTUS channel right after the broadcast (11 a.m. EST). But until I read your kind note, I had no idea that the show was available as a podcast. That means it’s my second weekly podcast, which I believe may be grounds for involuntary commitment. Dual podcasts certainly must be a warning sign of some condition.
I have raised your concerns to the team on the show and have been assured that uploads will be more reliable henceforth!
Thanks much,
c
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FOR DESSERT
Patagonia Jonah: BBC: “The first thing kayaker Adrián Simancas noticed after he was eaten by a whale was the slime. ‘I spent a second realizing I was inside the mouth of something, that maybe it had eaten me, that it could have been an orca or a sea monster,’ the 23-year-old told BBC Mundo. Adrián had started to think how he might survive inside the humpback whale ‘like Pinocchio’ – then the creature spat him back out. The Venezuelan kayaker had been paddling through the Strait of Magellan, off Chile’s Patagonian coast, with his father when he felt something ‘hit me from behind, closing in on me and sinking me’. … ‘I wondered what I could do if it had swallowed me since I could no longer fight to stop it,’ he said. ‘I had to think about what to do next.’ But within seconds, Adrián started to feel as though he was rising toward the surface. … In a nearby kayak, Adrián’s father Dell Simancas watched on in disbelief.”
Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for The Hill and NewsNation, the host of “The Hill Sunday” on NewsNation and The CW, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of books on politics and the media. Nate Moore contributed to this report.
