Podcast: The 3WHH—Landslide or Earthquake?

Two-thirds of the 3WHH crew were back home in the states for Thanksgiving, while I am  still galavanting around coastal Italy, defiling the reputation of this podcast by drinking Negronis at happy hour—a tergiversation that this week’s host, John Yoo, does not let pass without censure.

You can see Positano out the window behind me. . .

In any case, by the miracle of Zoom we managed to assemble for a holiday weekend special edition, where Lucretia and I push back on the emerging narrative that Trump’s election victory was so narrow that it doesn’t deserve to be considered a landslide. On surface statistics, perhaps this has some merit, but even if this is conceded it should at least be considered an earthquake. In a moment of rare complete agreement, Lucretia and I make the case, noting that, among other things, the media treated Bill Clinton’s 43% of the vote in 1992 as a “mandate” for sweeping change, and that Trump’s popular vote total is close to Ronald Reagan’s in 1980, which was universally considered a landslide. The equally important question is whether this election portends a genuine political realignment—the elusive beast of political scientists. Some evidence suggests it might be, but realignments always require successive elections to confirm.

We also spend some time pondering the prospects for the Musk-Ramaswamy DOGE (Dept. of Government Efficiency) project, and mull over the last few Trump cabinet picks.

So listen here as usual, or from iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you source your favorite podcasts. Since most other weekly shows, like Ricochet, take the holiday week off, we’re the only game in town!