We got so many good questions for this year’s Labor Day mailbag that we decided we’d use this issue of Open Tabs to answer some extras, because obviously Lovett’s “If a wizard turned you into a dog, how would you communicate with your spouse” query absolutely could not be cut for time. (Also: we’re recording the Friday show several hours later than usual so that we can dunk on Night 1 of the fabled Republican midterm convention, and there’s not much to say yet about topics.)
For this episode we sourced questions from our listeners — you! — on a bunch of different platforms, but if you want to be able to submit questions for our weekly shows, and for Open Tabs, you’ll need to subscribe. And you should! You get to support pro-democracy media and get tons of perks in exchange. Did I mention the subscriber-only voicemail line?
Anyway, on to the questions:
**Link 963 via Instagram: **Not a question. But fuckkkk.
Link, I’m including your question just because all of us here can relate to your feeling of apathetic despair. I’m reminded of something that Barack Obama said once in an interview, reflecting on his humiliating loss in the first congressional campaign, in 1999: “The thing that got me through that moment, and any other time that I’ve felt stuck, is to remind myself that it’s about the work. Because if you’re worrying about yourself … then you’re going to end up feeling frustrated and stuck. But if you can keep it about the work, you’ll always have a path. There’s always something to be done.” I’m not suggesting that Link is thinking only about Link. But all the Trump madness can feel like it’s being inflicted on us as individuals, and that can make any of us want to just curl up and wait it out. We need to keep reminding each other that that’s the wrong impulse. There is, in fact, plenty of work that needs doing. We’ve got midterms to win here!
𝕏Mike via Twitter: You get to rewrite our constitution from scratch. What term limits are you including for various elected and non-elected officials?
I wouldn’t want to have to rewrite the constitution from scratch, but working in term limits would be a fun silver lining. I don’t have strong convictions about what would constitute a fair, productive, but not overly-long career for a legislator or judge, but as a former House and Senate staffer myself, I do think that expertise is important. Writing laws is hard, and learning to work together is hard, and those things take time. But anything much longer than 20 years, and I think the “fresh blood” argument wins out.
One change I’d make to the legislative structure that’s more like the opposite of a term limit: House terms should be longer than two years. What most people might not realize about serving in the House is that because every single member is up for reelection every even-numbered year, they are more or less permanently on campaign footing — looking to score political points, land good sound bites, and raise money at all times. It doesn’t lend itself to serious work.
Oh, and let’s also throw in a bipartisan, independent body to certify state election results and determine who gets seated.
𝕏DrGuyMontag via Twitter: What do you think the Pod accomplishes given the audience already agrees with you/votes Dem?
The guys answered this one on the show, but I wanted to add to what they said. Tommy gently disputed the premise, pointing out that our listeners often don’t agree with us, and even more often don’t agree with each other. Lovett talked about wanting PSA to be a venue for those intraparty debates, holding up Crooked Con as evidence of our commitment there. That’s all true, but to me, there are three other big answers to the “why do we do this” question.
First, we see PSA as a source of information for people who are engaged in politics but don’t necessarily have time to follow every turn of every story. When you click on the latest episode, you can trust that you’re going to get a briefing on the biggest stories in politics as seen through the editorial lens of people whose judgment and politics you identify with. Second: community matters. We want to be a place where you come to celebrate when things go well, and a place to commiserate when they don’t. Third: we believe in persuasion. We want to arm you with facts and messaging to help turn those proverbial MAGA uncles into K-Hivers.
In all of these efforts, the fact that our listeners broadly agree with us is an asset, not a problem.
𝕏Megan R. Smith via Twitter: For Dan, how does it feel to be the Beyonce of PSA?
