This November, Michigan is going to be the most interesting battleground state of all to watch, because it is finally going to put to the test a big political theory. Can a truly progressive candidate who has plenty of charisma win a general election in a swing state where the stakes are high and both parties will be heavily invested in the outcome? This theory has (so far) yet to be tested in a big way, much to the frustration of progressives, stretching all the way back to the 2016 nomination fight between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. The theory has never been adequately tested, progressives will tell you, because the Democratic Party establishment kept putting its thumb on the scale in order to defeat Bernie and advance their chosen "more electable" candidates instead.

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August is a big primary election month for Democrats, as tonight kicks off a series of contests in multiple states, the results of which could cause a huge freakout within both the Democratic Party and the world of political commentators. Several very progressive candidates seem poised to win their primaries, not in deep-blue Democratic districts but in very purple battleground states. Will this lead to victory in November or a massive disappointment for Democrats? Nobody knows, at this point, but that is the question on a lot of minds, as we all wait to see the primary results come in.

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Maybe we should call Donald Trump's war of choice against Iran the "On-Again/Off-Again War"? That's what it feels like, at any rate, as Trump and Iran both stumble along, taking potshots at each other, with absolutely no end in sight. Trump in particular seems to have no idea what he's doing, no plans whatsoever to bring the conflict to an end, and an unclear understanding of what that end should look like. Which doesn't exactly build confidence, obviously.

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Republican Senators Thom Tillis and John Cornyn are standing up to Donald Trump (for the time being, as of this writing) by successfully blocking the confirmation of Trump's attorney general nominee. Trump, in a snit, has now threatened to yank the nomination until next year, when both GOP senators will be gone. This might not be the smartest thing for Trump to do, since nobody knows how many Republicans and Democrats will be in the Senate after the midterm elections -- but when Trump gets in a snit, he often doesn't care what the smart thing to do is, instead preferring to do the most emotionally satisfying thing, no matter the consequences.

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In writing about Democratic hopes for a big win in the state of Texas, I have to start with a humorous quote (from Yogi Berra): "It's like déjà vu all over again." Too cynical? Well then how about a rousing Broadway tune instead:

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong
To love, pure and chaste, from afar
To try, when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

This is a song from the musical Man Of La Mancha. It is sung by Don Quixote, as he explains his reasons for tilting at windmills -- which is now a standard cliché for devoting your time and energy to lost causes.

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We have now entered the sprint phase of the 2026 midterm election season, with fewer than 100 days left on the calendar until Election Day. While nothing is guaranteed, up until now it has seemed that the Democratic Party has had the wind at its back, heading into the crucial part of the campaign. But there were worrisome reports in the media for both parties lately, so I thought it'd was high time we take a closer look at the state of things.

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Donald Trump has ramped up his war of choice once again, bombing Iran on a nightly basis while Iran launches missiles at U.S. military installations and other targets in the region. Sadly, four more American soldiers lost their lives as a result of all this crossfire. And the war seems to be escalating, as the Houthis in Yemen have now entered the fray by blocking the strait at the southern end of the Red Sea to any Saudi ships. All of this has caused oil prices to spike above $100 per barrel once again, and gas prices here in America to spike to over four bucks a gallon once again.

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Shakespeare posed this question a while back, in his masterpiece Romeo And Juliet. Since the two lovers were from families in a longstanding feud with each other, Juliet begins her famous "balcony scene" railing against how fate has given her new love the wrong last name. Here's how she expressed her frustration:

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The mainstream political press loves to highlight the differences within the Democratic Party, usually presenting them as some sort of open warfare between opposing factions. But while there are indeed issues that polarize Democratic politicians and voters (support for Israel, for one), there is also an underlying consensus building within the party on a big issue that is much more relevant for most voters. And it has proven to be a winning issue for both progressive and moderate Democrats alike, because it affects everybody.

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What was expected to be a free-for-all contest among Maine Democrats instead turned into a coronation this weekend. After Graham Platner ended his campaign to take on Senator Susan Collins in November, Maine's Democratic Party only had a couple of weeks to name a replacement to appear on the ballot instead of Platner. They could have used any method they wanted to select a new nominee, and the method they settled on led to an anticipation of a messy convention fight. Instead, what happened was one candidate essentially swept the field of challengers and will now (barring any unforeseen problems) be officially named the new Democratic Senate candidate at the party convention next weekend.

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