I’ve never understood by the Democratic Party base hasn’t made a push for SCOTUS justices like Clarence Thomas to resign to the extent where there are crowds of people picketing in outside of the Supreme Court.
It’s not guaranteed to succeed but hell, it’s worth a shot.
Of course, it would be easier to do this if a Democratic POTUS were in office.
I think one of the most persuasive arguments for packing the court is that the threat of it might persuade Roberts to retire under a Democrat to preserve the institution.
The resignation of one right-winger wouldn't preserve the institution. Barrett is not close enough to the center or even to consistently respecting the constitution.
I am really outraged that anyone in the SCOTUS like Clarence Thomas could be corrupted this way. I knew about Thomas and his history going back to the Anita Hill case and hearings along with his extremely rigid, conservative legal interpretations of law but he along with his nuthead wife Ginni Thomas are real hypocrites.
The SCOTUS would be objective and impartial to cases. Thankfully, there is independence the SCOTUS exhibits from time to time on certain cases but overall, there should be greater oversight and protection from any influence like what Thomas has.
Ernst's schedule has been really light this summer, compared to 2019. I would have been surprised to see her run again. Very glad to hear about Rebecca Bradley!
Everyone in Iowa expects Ashley Hinson to jump from IA-02 to IA-Sen, but NBC News reported this morning that Matt Whitaker (now the NATO ambassador) would consider coming back to Iowa to run for Senate.
If that happens and he got Trump's endorsement, Hinson might sit tight in IA-02 until 2028, when Chuck Grassley is very likely to retire. FWIW, Grassley hasn't publicly confirmed he won't seek re-election again.
The first Democrat to announce in IA-02 (Kevin Techau) suspended his campaign at the end of June. Since then three other Democrats have launched campaigns for Hinson's seat. The front-runner is probably State Representative Lindsay James. Kathy Dolter and Clint Twedt-Ball are also running.
"We're all going to die." -- joni ernst in response to constituent concerns re loss of healthcare due to trump's 'big beautiful bill' that she supported.
"Well, I certainly hope you die soon." -- mid-level employee in 'Broadcast News' to the network exec who'd just fired him.
Meanwhile, in WI, the attack on "bitter partisanship, personal attacks, and political gamesmanship that have no place in court" was seconded by alito, thomas, gorsuch, kavanaugh, and roberts.
So glad to read that Joni (we're all going to die) Ernst will be stepping down. She betrayed all military servicewomen by voting for Hegseth's nomination.
Let's watch them fall like dominoes. I hate that the country (and world -- see the latest move by the Trump regime to eliminate all foreign aid) needs to suffer so much in order to make change, but elections have consequences.
The young men who voted for Trump may or may not learn their lessons. Hard to say, since they get their guidance from people like Joe Rogan, Charlie Kirk, and other chest beaters.
Rogan’s done good interviews with celebrities, especially actors.
However, putting him in exactly the same light as Charlie Kirk is not exactly constructive. Kirk is a Trump loyalist and a brainwashed conservative making millions whereas Rogan is a left leaning Libertarian who is pro universal healthcare, universal basic income women’s rights.
I mean, if Rogan is coming out against the immigration raids and Kirk isn’t, that says a lot.
Yes, Rogan supported Trump before but not for the same reasons Kirk does. I can actually watch Rogan speak on his podcast and see how he can connect with the average Joe (even if the conspiracy theory and bias views he has are prevailent). Kirk on the other hand is just full of shit and has a rigid “conservative” ideology that doesn’t allow independent thinking. I give Rogan credit for at least doing this, even if not all the time.
Rogan is not a right winger but left leaning Libertarian is an accurate assessment of who Rogan is. He is also pro gun rights so not really a liberal at all.
I have also have a friend from college who is also a left leaning Libertarian but once was a tree hugging liberal type formerly in the Green Party. He got disillusioned by fellow liberals and the Democratic Party to the point where they were driving him insane. He gravitated towards Rogan because he is more real to him and also ended up supporting Trump in 2020 and through today because he wants the whole political system blown up a la Steve Bannon.
Anyone in the libertarian side, even left leaning, isn’t necessarily going to be winnable by default.
I'm not in a forgiving mood for people who supported Mad Clown 2.0, unless they backtrack and work so hard against the regime that it's impossible to ignore. If he uses his massive platform every day against him, I'll open my mind a little more.
You don’t need to be. Rogan did a complete 180 on Trump on immigration when he became POTUS but plenty of liberals were called him out for not being against Trump’s agenda in the first place.
Loving this Friday news dump. Hopefully Ernst and Bradley "encourage" other GOP electeds to retire rather than be soundly defeated in a D-favorable midterm.
C'mon, Susan Collins... take your butt back home to Maine and stay out of DC.
You have a point. I would often hear interviews with Governor LePage on NPR when I was driving. Never, not on a single occasion, did I hear him utter three or more consecutive sentences without saying something truly deranged, offensive or bizarre.
Oh, please. So we've reached the stage now where one or more pollsters start issuing surveys that make no sense and are designed to push a narrative. GCB tied, my foot.
Yeah, Lean Democrat will be the what the ideal race could be although Cook Political Report and others might be too cautious by saying it’ll be a tossup.
as bad as that would be, given her relative age compared to many of these younger fed soc nominees it wouldn't be as bad as it would be if she were a decade or two younger
Point taken but I doubt it—federal judges these days are "required" to be about 40, maybe 45-50 at maximum at the time they receive their commission. Also, as long as the blue slips continue, Baldwin would presumably (I hope) block the appointment of such a stark partisan to the Eastern or Western Districts of Wisconsin. The Seventh Circuit is a possibility immune from blue slips, but the good Justice Bradley is, again, a bit too old for a circuit court nominee.
I can easily, however, see her as a CNN legal analyst.
Rebecca Bradley complaining about partisanship is quite rich. Bradley is one of the most far-right judges at any level in the entire country, to the point that Trump might have appointed her to SCOTUS had ACB declined to be appointed to the former RBG seat after RBG died.
This probably doesn’t end up happening, but it would be sweet if Zach Nunn after getting boxed out for Governor by Trump decided to run for Senate. He couldn’t win the primary and we’d have a seat ripe for the taking. I wouldn’t be shocked though if there’s some rumblings and rumors in the coming weeks about Nunn running for Senate by Iowa Republicans because he already tried to bolt from the House only getting swatted down by the party’s master.
ME-Sen: Thought this was an interesting buried nugget.
The campaign noted that it has been gaining momentum over the past week, with more funds raised on the fourth day than on the first, with the average donation of $33.
maybe i'm alone in this comment thread but I'm disappointed Ernst isn't running. I think her "we all die" comment made her bound to lose. Now they have a chance to nominate someone with less baggage who can pretend to be less crazy and didn't vote for all Trump's terrible policies
100% this. I would’ve said a race with a sane Dem against Ernst would be Lean Dem. With her out, very very minuscule chance we can beat Hinson or some other non-controversial Republican. Oh well.
This was one of the reach pathways to 51 after ME and NC. Now we need to win two among a miraculous Brown upset in OH, Allred against Paxton, or Peltola in AK.
Democrats cite other issues driving voters to question their allegiance to the GOP, including a lackluster regional economy, a controversial privatized Medicaid system and environmental concerns. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said earlier this month that “what we’re seeing is basically a recession economy in Nebraska and Iowa right now.”
Democrats also argue Iowa’s massive expansion of school vouchers under Reynolds has hurt public schools, another issue the party believes helps them with independents and Republicans. Private schools have boomed since the passage of Iowa’s school choice law in 2023 — which allows parents to send children to those institutions using state funds — while more than a dozen public schools have closed.
“The health care issue, the education issue, the water quality issues and eminent domain are kind of like a perfect storm of dissatisfaction right now in Iowa,” said Irene Lin, a Democratic strategist and veteran of races in the state.
She acknowledged Democrats might be fueled by hopium in Iowa, but added, “it’s still worth fighting for because there’s no path to the House or Senate without Iowa going blue.”
There is no circumstance where an IA senate race is Lean D. It's possible that we'd be better off running against Ernst than a replacement R, but the math is pretty consistent in showing that incumbents are harder to beat than open seat races are to win...
Agree to disagree. Definitely circumstances where a bad incumbent is easier to beat than an open seat. Especially in a state that leans the other way. Not often, not common, but this is one of them.
Yes, I agree and I stated clearly that that it may be possible that Ernst is easier to beat than a replacement. Where I strongly disagree with you is any scenario where IA-Sen is Lean D, short of an open Nazi running for the R's (which a) could happen and b) I'd still probably rate it a toss-up at best)
Sure as the sun rises, we can't just enjoy this news.
Hinson, like any House Republican, is toxic. She'll be controversial by the sheer nature of her association with MAGA. She may—if the press does its job and/or the Democratic candidates are on point with their messaging—even be called to account regarding how the president's policies have hurt Iowans. She won't have the full benefit of incumbency like Ernst (call it one-quarter incumbency for Hinson), and she won't have the folksy background or the military career; she comes from the Kari Lake wing of the Republican party.
Trump supposedly wanted Ernst to run again and I doubt he was alone. I don't see any reason to spin this as good news for Republicans.
If only we could regain control of SCOTUS as well . . . .
I’ve never understood by the Democratic Party base hasn’t made a push for SCOTUS justices like Clarence Thomas to resign to the extent where there are crowds of people picketing in outside of the Supreme Court.
It’s not guaranteed to succeed but hell, it’s worth a shot.
Of course, it would be easier to do this if a Democratic POTUS were in office.
I think one of the most persuasive arguments for packing the court is that the threat of it might persuade Roberts to retire under a Democrat to preserve the institution.
True.
The resignation of one right-winger wouldn't preserve the institution. Barrett is not close enough to the center or even to consistently respecting the constitution.
It would harden his heart even more, which doesn't mean the demand shouldn't be made on principle and based on his egregious corruption.
Yes.
I am really outraged that anyone in the SCOTUS like Clarence Thomas could be corrupted this way. I knew about Thomas and his history going back to the Anita Hill case and hearings along with his extremely rigid, conservative legal interpretations of law but he along with his nuthead wife Ginni Thomas are real hypocrites.
The SCOTUS would be objective and impartial to cases. Thankfully, there is independence the SCOTUS exhibits from time to time on certain cases but overall, there should be greater oversight and protection from any influence like what Thomas has.
He's probably the worst, but several of them have taken bribes that they've conveniently made legal.
Ernst's schedule has been really light this summer, compared to 2019. I would have been surprised to see her run again. Very glad to hear about Rebecca Bradley!
Everyone in Iowa expects Ashley Hinson to jump from IA-02 to IA-Sen, but NBC News reported this morning that Matt Whitaker (now the NATO ambassador) would consider coming back to Iowa to run for Senate.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/republican-sen-joni-ernst-wont-seek-re-election-iowa-2026-rcna228053
If that happens and he got Trump's endorsement, Hinson might sit tight in IA-02 until 2028, when Chuck Grassley is very likely to retire. FWIW, Grassley hasn't publicly confirmed he won't seek re-election again.
https://www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/08/23/chuck-grassley-not-ready-to-rule-out-ninth-term/
The first Democrat to announce in IA-02 (Kevin Techau) suspended his campaign at the end of June. Since then three other Democrats have launched campaigns for Hinson's seat. The front-runner is probably State Representative Lindsay James. Kathy Dolter and Clint Twedt-Ball are also running.
😂😂😂 she doesn’t want to be humiliated
"We're all going to die." -- joni ernst in response to constituent concerns re loss of healthcare due to trump's 'big beautiful bill' that she supported.
"Well, I certainly hope you die soon." -- mid-level employee in 'Broadcast News' to the network exec who'd just fired him.
Meanwhile, in WI, the attack on "bitter partisanship, personal attacks, and political gamesmanship that have no place in court" was seconded by alito, thomas, gorsuch, kavanaugh, and roberts.
Love the reference to "Broadcast News."
You might recall, Lisa, that "hope you die soon" was in response to "Now, if there's anything I can do for you..."
I love that film and had forgotten about that. I'm guessing it was spoken by the Albert Brooks character.
..."and I hope that you die and your death will come soon..." Bob Dylan...Masters of War
I think Ernst realized there was no way she was going to defeat the messaging going against her in this environment.
And considering the IA State Senate seat was just picked up by Democrats, Ernst’s timing is logical.
Yes, and the fact that she's wildly unpopular for being an afront to Christianity no doubt factored into her decision as well.
So glad to read that Joni (we're all going to die) Ernst will be stepping down. She betrayed all military servicewomen by voting for Hegseth's nomination.
Indeed she did!
And it’s not just Hegseth’s nomination. Ernst is the Chair of the Senate DOGE Coin (I’m sorry, DOGE) Caucus.
Let's watch them fall like dominoes. I hate that the country (and world -- see the latest move by the Trump regime to eliminate all foreign aid) needs to suffer so much in order to make change, but elections have consequences.
The young men who voted for Trump may or may not learn their lessons. Hard to say, since they get their guidance from people like Joe Rogan, Charlie Kirk, and other chest beaters.
Hasn’t Joe Roagan expressed buyer’s remorse?
To some extent, yes. I know Rogan seems to like James Talarico.
Good to know. The only Rogan I’ve ever watched is his interview with Magnus Carlsen, the world’s No. 1 chess player.
Rogan’s done good interviews with celebrities, especially actors.
However, putting him in exactly the same light as Charlie Kirk is not exactly constructive. Kirk is a Trump loyalist and a brainwashed conservative making millions whereas Rogan is a left leaning Libertarian who is pro universal healthcare, universal basic income women’s rights.
I mean, if Rogan is coming out against the immigration raids and Kirk isn’t, that says a lot.
Left-leaning? I hear you say the words, but... Is my memory faulty when I distinctly remember Rogan once being a Trump supporter?
Yes, Rogan supported Trump before but not for the same reasons Kirk does. I can actually watch Rogan speak on his podcast and see how he can connect with the average Joe (even if the conspiracy theory and bias views he has are prevailent). Kirk on the other hand is just full of shit and has a rigid “conservative” ideology that doesn’t allow independent thinking. I give Rogan credit for at least doing this, even if not all the time.
Rogan is not a right winger but left leaning Libertarian is an accurate assessment of who Rogan is. He is also pro gun rights so not really a liberal at all.
I have also have a friend from college who is also a left leaning Libertarian but once was a tree hugging liberal type formerly in the Green Party. He got disillusioned by fellow liberals and the Democratic Party to the point where they were driving him insane. He gravitated towards Rogan because he is more real to him and also ended up supporting Trump in 2020 and through today because he wants the whole political system blown up a la Steve Bannon.
Anyone in the libertarian side, even left leaning, isn’t necessarily going to be winnable by default.
I'm not in a forgiving mood for people who supported Mad Clown 2.0, unless they backtrack and work so hard against the regime that it's impossible to ignore. If he uses his massive platform every day against him, I'll open my mind a little more.
You don’t need to be. Rogan did a complete 180 on Trump on immigration when he became POTUS but plenty of liberals were called him out for not being against Trump’s agenda in the first place.
Joe Rogan endorsed Ron Paul.
Yes, not out of the ordinary. But this was years back.
Jesse Ventura also warmed up to Ron Paul.
Rogan is somewhat idiosyncratic in his views. Remember - he endorsed Sanders in 2020.
Loving this Friday news dump. Hopefully Ernst and Bradley "encourage" other GOP electeds to retire rather than be soundly defeated in a D-favorable midterm.
C'mon, Susan Collins... take your butt back home to Maine and stay out of DC.
As a Maine resident, I think Susan Collins deserves to spend her retirement far away – perhaps in Florida, to which Paul LePage fled.
Eh, I’d prefer Collins not flee to FL. She’s not a batshit crazy politician like LePage even while she’s a sellout.
Send her somewhere else.
You have a point. I would often hear interviews with Governor LePage on NPR when I was driving. Never, not on a single occasion, did I hear him utter three or more consecutive sentences without saying something truly deranged, offensive or bizarre.
He was Trump before Trump...
❌ Joni Ernst (Bridge Grade: C)
Emerson gets Trump down 3 (44/47) and the GCB tied, but the sample is R+3 by 2028 primary intention which seems a little iffy.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11Pmwdv5G5pCF8yTyrQo6e2oIdwHB97rD/edit?gid=1924132718#gid=1924132718
Oh, please. So we've reached the stage now where one or more pollsters start issuing surveys that make no sense and are designed to push a narrative. GCB tied, my foot.
Senator Susan Collins is greeted by protestors at an event in ME, a stark contrast to her image back in 2017.
If Collins pulls an Ernst, we likely have a tossup/Lean Democratic race.
https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/amp/shows/maddow/blog/rcna227723
If Collins bows out, it's at *least* Lean Democratic, probably Likely Democratic. Who else could the Republicans run if she doesn't?
Yeah, Lean Democrat will be the what the ideal race could be although Cook Political Report and others might be too cautious by saying it’ll be a tossup.
Either way, Collins’ negatives are increasing.
I doubt we have seen the last of Bradley. She has to be on Trump's short list for a lifetime judicial appointment.
as bad as that would be, given her relative age compared to many of these younger fed soc nominees it wouldn't be as bad as it would be if she were a decade or two younger
It’s for that very reason I don’t think she’s on Trump’s short list for anything. He’s almost always nominating the youngest possible judges.
Point taken but I doubt it—federal judges these days are "required" to be about 40, maybe 45-50 at maximum at the time they receive their commission. Also, as long as the blue slips continue, Baldwin would presumably (I hope) block the appointment of such a stark partisan to the Eastern or Western Districts of Wisconsin. The Seventh Circuit is a possibility immune from blue slips, but the good Justice Bradley is, again, a bit too old for a circuit court nominee.
I can easily, however, see her as a CNN legal analyst.
She might try to run for Governor. She seems crazy enough to do it.
Rebecca Bradley complaining about partisanship is quite rich. Bradley is one of the most far-right judges at any level in the entire country, to the point that Trump might have appointed her to SCOTUS had ACB declined to be appointed to the former RBG seat after RBG died.
This probably doesn’t end up happening, but it would be sweet if Zach Nunn after getting boxed out for Governor by Trump decided to run for Senate. He couldn’t win the primary and we’d have a seat ripe for the taking. I wouldn’t be shocked though if there’s some rumblings and rumors in the coming weeks about Nunn running for Senate by Iowa Republicans because he already tried to bolt from the House only getting swatted down by the party’s master.
ME-Sen: Thought this was an interesting buried nugget.
The campaign noted that it has been gaining momentum over the past week, with more funds raised on the fourth day than on the first, with the average donation of $33.
https://fox23maine.com/newsletter-daily/graham-platners-campaign-raises-1-million-in-nine-days
The best news I have heard recently! Thank you!
maybe i'm alone in this comment thread but I'm disappointed Ernst isn't running. I think her "we all die" comment made her bound to lose. Now they have a chance to nominate someone with less baggage who can pretend to be less crazy and didn't vote for all Trump's terrible policies
Did it work for Kamala Harris to run in place of Biden?
100% this. I would’ve said a race with a sane Dem against Ernst would be Lean Dem. With her out, very very minuscule chance we can beat Hinson or some other non-controversial Republican. Oh well.
This was one of the reach pathways to 51 after ME and NC. Now we need to win two among a miraculous Brown upset in OH, Allred against Paxton, or Peltola in AK.
Not really
Democrats cite other issues driving voters to question their allegiance to the GOP, including a lackluster regional economy, a controversial privatized Medicaid system and environmental concerns. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said earlier this month that “what we’re seeing is basically a recession economy in Nebraska and Iowa right now.”
Democrats also argue Iowa’s massive expansion of school vouchers under Reynolds has hurt public schools, another issue the party believes helps them with independents and Republicans. Private schools have boomed since the passage of Iowa’s school choice law in 2023 — which allows parents to send children to those institutions using state funds — while more than a dozen public schools have closed.
“The health care issue, the education issue, the water quality issues and eminent domain are kind of like a perfect storm of dissatisfaction right now in Iowa,” said Irene Lin, a Democratic strategist and veteran of races in the state.
She acknowledged Democrats might be fueled by hopium in Iowa, but added, “it’s still worth fighting for because there’s no path to the House or Senate without Iowa going blue.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/29/democrats-pounce-in-reliably-red-iowa-fueled-by-special-election-hopium-00538075
No path in the House? Disagree. Senate? Much more likely.
There is no circumstance where an IA senate race is Lean D. It's possible that we'd be better off running against Ernst than a replacement R, but the math is pretty consistent in showing that incumbents are harder to beat than open seat races are to win...
Agree to disagree. Definitely circumstances where a bad incumbent is easier to beat than an open seat. Especially in a state that leans the other way. Not often, not common, but this is one of them.
Yes, I agree and I stated clearly that that it may be possible that Ernst is easier to beat than a replacement. Where I strongly disagree with you is any scenario where IA-Sen is Lean D, short of an open Nazi running for the R's (which a) could happen and b) I'd still probably rate it a toss-up at best)
Sure as the sun rises, we can't just enjoy this news.
Hinson, like any House Republican, is toxic. She'll be controversial by the sheer nature of her association with MAGA. She may—if the press does its job and/or the Democratic candidates are on point with their messaging—even be called to account regarding how the president's policies have hurt Iowans. She won't have the full benefit of incumbency like Ernst (call it one-quarter incumbency for Hinson), and she won't have the folksy background or the military career; she comes from the Kari Lake wing of the Republican party.
Trump supposedly wanted Ernst to run again and I doubt he was alone. I don't see any reason to spin this as good news for Republicans.