Former congressman and Senate candidate TIM RYAN is launching a new group with a lofty goal: bring exhausted Americans back into the political process by showing them that civic engagement not only works but can be fun.
To us jaded West Wing Playbook types, this seemed like pie in the sky stuff. And so, we called the Ohio Democrat to discuss the creation of “We the People,” and why the past two Democratic presidents — BARACK OBAMA and JOE BIDEN — weren’t able to produce the type of inspiration and drama-less governance that Ryan is seeking.
The interview has been edited for length.
What makes you think people are checked out of politics and why would they wanna check back in?
You see it in the lack of participation. You see it in the voting registration. There is a general sense that people don’t want to be a part of the toxic political conversation that’s happening.
We had a record number of voters in the 2020 elections.
There was a lot of fear around both sides. What we want to do with We the People is give people an opportunity to participate in building the civic institutions and getting back and engaged in their communities, where you can actually meet somebody and the first thing you’re talking about isn’t if you’re a red shirt or a blue shirt.
Biden ran as someone who was going to bring normalcy and less drama back to politics. Do you think he’s done that?
Uh, no. Some stability, I think, given the fact that the anti-democratic forces, if they were in power, it would be frightening to think of where we would be. But I don’t think the dialogue has changed a whole lot. Look, it’s an impossible job. So we’re not necessarily being critical. We’re saying the way to heal is not from Washington D.C. The way to heal the country is by getting citizens to be inspired, to participate and work on things together.
Barack Obama was inspirational. Where did he come up short?
I think one of the issues was that the organization created through President Obama was for his campaign and then his reelection. We spend billions of dollars on elections. And then all of these volunteers, all of the organization and digital content, washes away like a sand castle on the beach. What we’re saying is there is space to keep people engaged.
Do you support Biden’s reelection?
Sure, I mean absolutely. I mean, if it looks like it’s going to be what it is, which is a pro-democracy candidate against an anti-democracy candidate, there is not even a question there.
So how does this new group work in practice?
One of the things we want to do is highlight some of the really cool stuff going on in the country. There are a lot of innovative solutions out there to solve some intractable problems. But one of the biggest things preventing these solutions from emerging is the hate machine that is primarily led by the MAGA movement. And so we will be taking on the hate and fear and anger coming from them.
When you say ‘taking on,’ what do you mean?
A lot of ads. But we’re gonna do a lot of cool projects, too. We’ve got a lot of entertainers interested. We want to do concerts and partner with different organizations doing cool stuff in the country. It will be the most fun political organization in the country.
That’s a low bar.
It’s a very low bar.
You’ve stressed that this is different than No Labels.
Yeah. This isn’t a third party operation. This is an issue advocacy group.
Have you been approached by No Labels?
I have not.
Do you feel sad about that?
Well, I was in Congress for 20 years. I have an ego like everyone else. But no, I don’t have any real interest in getting back into it.
Do you miss Congress at all?
I do not.
Still doing yoga and meditation?
Dude. I’m on fire with my yoga practice. Ten out of the last 11 days I’ve done hot yoga practice.
Have you ever thought about opening a studio?
Maybe one day, yeah.
Had you not gone down this route, you could have gone down the hot yoga studio route. The path not taken.
Yeah. Well if you see a hot yoga studio pop up with the name We The People, you’ll know it’s me.
MESSAGE US — Are you CARA ABERCROMBIE, deputy assistant to the president and coordinator for defense policy and arms control? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at [email protected].
Name the two presidents who became presidents of Ivy League universities before they served in the Oval Office?
(Answer at bottom.)
The Oval
BREAKING NOW:Federal prosecutors have chargedDONALD TRUMP with various crimes for his brazen efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
HARRIS TO DESANTIS: GTFO: Vice President KAMALA HARRIS didn’t say his name but, nonetheless, delivered a pointed response to Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS, who had challenged her to a debate on Black history standards. During a speech Tuesday in Orlando, Harris said there was nothing to debate. She also continued to criticize the governor’s new education standards that prohibit an AP course for high schoolers on Black history and revise the state’s curriculum to bypass lessons on slavery and the civil rights movement. “I’m here in Florida and I will tell you there is no roundtable, no lecture, no invitation we will accept to debate an undeniable fact: there were no redeeming qualities of slavery,” Harris said. Our ANDREW ZHANG has more.
THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE: The decision to keep Space Command in Colorado came after Biden settled a debate that had divided key Pentagon leaders, our LARA SELIGMAN reports. Gen. JAMES DICKINSON, Space Command’s four-star chief, recommended keeping HQ at Colorado’s Peterson Air Force Base, but Air Force Secretary FRANK KENDALL wanted to move the facility to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., as ordered during the Trump administration.
Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN let Biden make the final call, Seligman reports, and White House officials say partisan politics had nothing to do with the decision — which has infuriated Alabama lawmakers and touched off a round of accusations that Biden was seeking retribution on his predecessor.
GOOD NEWS OR BAD NEWS FIRST?: Despite being on shaky footing a year ago, Biden has since shored up support from Democrats, even though a majority still prefer if he weren’t the party’s 2024 nominee, the New York Times’ REID J. EPSTEIN, RUTH IGIELNIK and CAMILLE BAKER report. “To borrow an old political cliché, the poll shows that Mr. Biden’s support among Democrats is a mile wide and an inch deep,” the trio writes.
Yet, the story wasn’t all rosy: It noted that Biden would be in a dead heat with Donald Trumpa in a hypothetical 2024 rematch. According to a NYT/Siena College poll, the president and his predecessor are tied at 43 percent apiece.
HEALTHY SKEPTICISM: Biden is approaching artificial intelligence optimistically, yet cautiously. The Wall Street Journal’s SABRINA SIDDIQUI reports that the administration is preparing an executive order on AI to protect workers and consumers, but a broader bill with additional regulations seems unlikely given the proximity of next year’s presidential election. Biden met with several leading AI tech companies in July to secure voluntary commitments ensuring new technology is safe, but “without any penalties for falling short, the commitments don’t challenge the AI companies involved to go beyond the safety practices they have already implemented or promised,” Siddiqui writes.
TEA WITH FLOTUS: First lady JILL BIDEN discussed her family, how she stays active and her passion for cooking with LIZ PLOSSER in a Women’s Health feature. Plosser shared glasses of iced tea with the first lady on the White House south lawn, and left with a bouquet of flowers, as she got insight on how Biden — an avid cyclist — navigates a busy schedule in Washington. “I need to be with myself and find inner strength so I can be strong for everyone else,” Biden said. The first lady’s communications director ELIZABETH ALEXANDER tweeted the article.
WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by Bloomberg’s EDDIE SPENCE and KAILEY LEINZ featuring the CEO of US Steel, DAVID BURRITT, calling the current manufacturing boom “the most amazing thing we’ve seen in the United States for a very long time.” Burritt also reframed the Inflation Reduction Act as the “Manufacturing Renaissance Act.” JESSE LEE, a communications adviser for the national economic council, tweeted the piece along with an emphatic declaration: “That’s Bidenomics.”
WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by the Washington Post’s NICK MIROFF and MARIA SACCHETTI about illegal crossings at the U.S. southern border rising by 30 percent in July. Unlawful entries had declined substantially in June, when the Biden administration ended the pandemic policy known as Title 42 that allowed authorities to expel border crossers. But U.S. agents made more than 130,000 border-related arrests in July, up from 99,545 a month earlier, according to preliminary figures obtained by The Post. The figures come as Biden’s immigration enforcement strategy, a constant target of Republicans, faces multiple legal challenges.
WHAT WE HATH WROUGHT: The public swooning over photos of Biden shirtless isn’t the first time presidents have been caught enjoying their summer time off. From BARACK OBAMA to as far back as FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT, photographers have provided the country with a glimpse of how the nation’s leaders unwind. Our JOHN SAKELLARIADIS’ story has shirtless pictures of presidents having fun in the sun. Because: clicks.
THE BUREAUCRATS
PERSONNEL MOVES: RICK WATERS, the State Department’s former top China policy official, has joined Eurasia Group, the consulting firm said Tuesday. Waters, whose 27 years as a diplomat included several stints in Beijing, left the administration in June and will be based in Washington.
IF YOU HADN’T NOTICED…: DANIEL LIPPMAN is on his honeymoon (although there’s a good chance he’s still reading this newsletter). So send in your own job news, please! (We’ll handle the formatting, but if you want to capitalize and bold your own name, go on ahead).
Agenda Setting
OK FINE, WE’LL STOP: The Energy Department is dialing back some of its efficiency requirements for gas stoves amid growing pressure from Republicans and industry groups, our ALEX GUILLÉN reports for Pro subscribers. Data from utility companies led the department to revise its assessment of consumer needs and propose less stringent restrictions on gas stoves. The new requirements are set to be released on Wednesday.
House Republicans have repeatedly slammed the department’s regulations on gas stoves, leading to their passage of bills aimed at curbing the new rules.
LOOMING CONSEQUENCES: Some fear the country’s opioid epidemic could worsen due to expiring Medicaid protections that cover addiction treatment. Opioid use disorder patients are disproportionately covered by Medicaid. While the administration’s National Institute on Drug Abuse is set to assess the implications of upcoming changes to Medicaid, some state-run programs are trying to help residents with lapsed coverage in the meantime. Our DANIEL PAYNE and MEGAN MESSERLY have the details for Pro subscribers.
White House senior advisor GENE SPERLING met his wife ALLISON ABNER in Los Angeles while she was writing for the political TV drama, “The West Wing,” according to the Washingtonian. Sperling, who previously served as an economic adviser to President BILL CLINTON, met Abner while serving as a consultant for the show.
A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it!
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
