The Year in Preview

A Des Moines miracle.

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It’s finally 2024, but instead of looking ahead with optimism, Jonah would rather use The Remnant to kvetch about the many lows of last year. Today, he’s joined by Matthew Continetti—still adjusting to his new role as the American Enterprise Institute’s leading corporate suit—to decide whether 2023 should be considered the worst year in modern political history. But given the unfolding presidential race, is 2024 shaping up to be any better? Is a Trump renomination guaranteed? And will Biden even make it to the finish line?

Show Notes:

– Matt’s AEI webpage

– Jonah: “Nikki Haley’s Slavery Gaffe Is a Rare Misstep From a Good Politician”

– Robert Kagan on a Trump dictatorship

– Matthew Schmitz: “The Secret of Trump’s Appeal Isn’t Authoritarianism”

– Video version

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Comments (6)
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  1. Russell J

    An interesting follow up after Jonah's claim of Nikki gaffe rarity. The contrast of the Civil War comments since by DJT and the amount of attention they have received is a good test case. Barely registers and on to the next comment.

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  2. Irslutz

    Jonah, you are cool. And your guest has many smart things to say. But the one statement that makes me bristle is this goofy idea that Trump '24 is because the Democrats couldn't leave Trump alone.

    The Brag thing in NY is stupid, I won't defend it, but the idea that "Oh if only Brag had acted smarter all this Trump stuff would be behind us" is nuts.

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    Mark Hunter

    I think you said Charlie Cooke when you meant to say Kirk.

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  4. BSamuel

    Jonah, I say this as someone who really enjoys your podcast; please train yourself to stop agreeing with people by starting with "no". No less than five times this episode did you respond to Matt with, "No, I agree..."

    I myself was guilty of this for years but it is something I have overcome. It's a verbal tick that is something to work on that will greatly improve your communication during podcasts, tv appearances, etc.

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    Addicus

    Good interview Jonah. Thanks.

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    Marc Frischhertz

    Based on the results of the last few elections, it appears that voters in both parties are far more motivated to oust the opposing party than support their own party. This is evident in Biden’s poll numbers, despite a record that democrats should be fairly happy with, as well as the results of the 2022 elections, where republicans underperformed.

    I generally believe that this is bad for the country in a number of ways. The clearest ramification of this is the complete unwillingness of the party out of the presidency to try to accomplish anything. This has always been the case to some extent, but I feel it is far more exacerbated in today’s political climate. A party gets very little credit for its accomplishments, as far as motivation to the electorate. A party is far more successful, motivating its voters to come out in opposition to anything, the other party is attempting to do. Over the long run, in a 50-50 country this results in very little happening at the congressional level to address some of the major problems we are facing. This also will continue to strengthen the presidency by enabling the president to fill the power void that results.

    My hope for 2024 is that both Republicans and Democrats find presidential candidates or other leaders that inspire support as opposed to continued hate for the other side.

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