Brian Beutler

1 week ago | offmessage.net | Brian Beutler

Reminder: You can still leave last-minute questions for tomorrow’s mailbag. I try not to make predictions, but I’m about as confident as I can be that I’m right about this: Republicans will undertake a real effort to deny Democrats a free and fair shot at winning the 2026 midterms. Beyond that, I can’t claim much confidence as to who and how. I don’t know if the effort will be diffuse and disorganized or choreographed from on high like Donald Trump’s failed 2020 coup.

1 week ago | offmessage.net | Brian Beutler

We stand perilously close to a point of no return, where mass action is the only form of opposition that might save the country. But for the time being there’s still power, in courts and on Capitol Hill, to stop or slow Donald Trump’s attempted authoritarian revolution. And in this twilight moment, at least some Democrats in Congress are responding to public clamor for them to use power more visibly and creatively.

1 week ago | offmessage.net | Brian Beutler

If I could distill Democrats’ Trump era weaknesses—poll obsession, talking point neurosis, fear of confrontation—down to a single action, it might be this one:Top Senate Democrats plan to unveil legislation that would provide an emergency $200 monthly increase in Social Security benefits through the end of the year, Axios has learned.

1 week ago | offmessage.net | Brian Beutler

I alluded Wednesday to a schism in Democratic ranks over how to attack Trump for tariffing and menacing the United States into economic collapse. Democrats have demonstrated broad unity of opposition to Trump’s trade war over the past several days, but beneath the surface there is some division. Most Democrats have taken a firm and direct line, blaming Trump outright for obliterating trillions of dollars in wealth and placing the U.S. on course for recession or worse.

2 weeks ago | offmessage.net | Brian Beutler |Rick Perlstein

Sincerest apologies to anyone who missed my earlier, equally sincere apologies. When I published last week’s mailbag, I somehow clicked on (or Substack somehow defaulted me to) the setting that closes comments, so for almost an hour after the piece ran, comments were locked. Bad way to introduce a new feature that depends on comments! Fortunately (?) I’ll be neurotic to a fault going forward about making sure the correct box is checked, and hopefully that’ll allow more of you to ask questions.