Today's Liberal News

Is the Status Update Over?

This is an edition of  The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.This was probably the most chaotic week for the social-media business in years, maybe ever. I called my colleague Charlie Warzel, who has been tweeting (and writing) through it, for a recap and his prediction for what comes next.But first, here are three new stories from The Atlantic.

America Just Shrugged Off Biden’s Big Climate Law

Probably the best day for climate action in American political history was August 7, 2022, when the Senate overcame 30 years of sclerosis and passed the Inflation Reduction Act, the country’s first comprehensive climate bill. After that day, the bill’s adoption into law was all but assured, and it sailed through the House and reached the president’s desk.But perhaps the second most important day for American climate policy was this past Tuesday.

Trump’s Future Isn’t Up to Fox News

Rupert Murdoch, Rich Lowry, Mike Pompeo, and company: Welcome to the resistance!These conservative luminaries are among the many credentialed members of the right who have criticized former President Donald Trump in the aftermath of the Republican Party’s historically underwhelming performance in the midterm elections. They are right to do so: Voters rejected not only many of Trump’s handpicked candidates but also his attacks on democracy and claims about stolen elections.

Ranked-Choice Voting Backed in Midterm Ballot Measures, May Help “Crash-Proofing Our Democracy”

Voters in Nevada and a handful of cities across the United States appear poised to expand the use of ranked-choice voting in the aftermath of Tuesday’s midterm elections. The election method allows voters to select multiple candidates in descending order of preference. It is used in many other countries, and supporters say it can reduce polarization and give more voice to independent voters.

Delia Ramirez: Illinois Elects First Latina Congressmember; Ran on Medicare for All, Immigration Reform

We speak with Congressmember-elect Delia Ramirez, who won her election for Illinois’s newly redrawn 3rd Congressional District Tuesday, making her the first Latina elected to Congress from Illinois. Ramirez is a progressive Democratic state representative who is the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants and the wife of a DACA recipient. She campaigned on expanding healthcare and housing access for working people, as well as passing the DREAM Act.

South Dakota votes to expand Medicaid

The Republican-controlled state, where lawmakers have long resisted Medicaid expansion, is the seventh in the last five years to do so at the ballot box — and likely the last to do so for some time.

Democrats could still win a majority in the House. Here’s what the path looks like

More than 24 hours after the last polls closed on Tuesday, the House has still not been called for either party. Remarkably, Democrats still have a path to hold on to a majority of 218 seats, though it’s quite narrow and would require multiple close races to fall their way out west. Let’s break down exactly which seats Democrats need to win in order to retain the majority.

Democrat Tina Kotek wins Oregon governor’s race

Former House Speaker Tina Kotek, a Democrat, has defeated two white-supremacist- and QANON-friendly opponents to keep the Oregon governor’s seat in Democratic hands.

Kotek has been Speaker since 2013, a tenure during which had to deal with the Republican challenger, the former House Republican Leader Christine Drazan, and her hijinks.

Georgia Republicans shortened the runoff to help them win. Warnock needs our help ASAP

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After Democrats’ stunning victories in Georgia two years ago—Joe Biden’s extraordinary win in November, followed by the Senate-shaking triumphs of Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in January—Peach State Republicans reacted with a furor. State lawmakers passed an enormous package of voting restrictions all designed to make sure they wouldn’t experience such humiliation again.

Yes, Lauren Boebert could actually lose. Here’s what you can do to toss her an anvil

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I can hardly believe it, but Lauren Boebert is on the verge of losing!

Even though she represents a red district in Colorado, she is neck-and-neck with her Democratic opponent, Adam Frisch. But the election is not over! The margin keeps changing as more votes are counted, and it’s very possible Boebert could surge ahead. But there’s something very important we can do to ensure she doesn’t.

Can DeSantis Unseat Trump?

This is an edition of  The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.My colleague David Frum wrote this week that Tuesday’s midterm was the latest loss for Donald Trump and a major win for newly reelected Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has a chance at the GOP crown.

Will We Get Omicron’d Again?

In COVID terms, the middle of last autumn looked a lot like this one. After a rough summer, SARS-CoV-2 infections were down; hospitalizations and deaths were in a relative trough. Kids and workers were back in schools and offices, and another round of COVID shots was rolling out. Things weren’t great … but they weren’t the most terrible they’d ever been. There were vaccines; there were tests; there were drugs.

The Age of Social Media Is Ending

It’s over. Facebook is in decline, Twitter in chaos. Mark Zuckerberg’s empire has lost hundreds of billions of dollars in value and laid off 11,000 people, with its ad business in peril and its metaverse fantasy in irons. Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has caused advertisers to pull spending and power users to shun the platform (or at least to tweet a lot about doing so). It’s never felt more plausible that the age of social media might end—and soon.