203: The Atlantic's George Packer on the End of Democratic Delusions
The Al Franken Podcast
The Al Franken Podcast
4.6 ā¢ 7.7K Ratings
šļø 22 December 2024
ā±ļø 42 minutes
šļø Recording | iTunes | RSS
š§¾ļø Download transcript
Summary
The Atlantic's GeorgeĀ PackerĀ joins us to discuss his recent piece titled The End of Democratic Delusions.Ā PackerĀ discusses the new era that Donald Trump has ushered in and what that means to politicsĀ moving forward. Trump won a close election, but it's a moment for the Democratic establishment to take a look at their shortcomings and redevelop their messaging and platform in the years ahead.Ā
Read GeorgeĀ Packer's piece in The Atlantic:Ā https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/01/trump-reelection-voter-demographic-change/680752/
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, everybody. We got a great one today, you know, for a change, because one of my favorite |
| 0:10.1 | writers, George Packer of the Atlantic, is my guest. George wrote a piece about the election, |
| 0:16.4 | which was an eye-opener for me, the end of democratic delusions. |
| 0:21.7 | And he meant democratic, as in the Democratic Party. |
| 0:26.6 | But one of the delusions that he writes about is the delusion that I had |
| 0:32.4 | when people told pollsters that democracy was an issue for them. |
| 0:36.8 | I assumed anyone who cared about democracy |
| 0:40.2 | was voting for Harris because they were saying that democracy is at risk if Trump gets in. |
| 0:46.2 | But it turns out a lot of Trump voters said democracy was an issue for them because they felt |
| 0:53.4 | we don't have democracy now. At least that's what |
| 0:56.6 | George says. George explained that they believe the elites control everything and Trump will restore |
| 1:04.1 | democracy and that some of the people who were saying democracy is an issue for them were Trump voters. |
| 1:12.5 | So all throughout the fall, when I'd see that 40% of Americans say that democracy is an issue, |
| 1:18.6 | they care about, I thought, great, those are Harris voters. |
| 1:22.3 | And I'm wondering, as I'm introducing this interview, do I sound like an idiot? |
| 1:27.8 | This just shows how someone who is paying quite a bit of attention can miss something so basic. |
| 1:34.7 | I think you'll enjoy this one. |
| 1:36.6 | Finally, a thoughtful guest who can disabuse us of some of our democratic delusions. |
| 1:42.7 | George Packer is my guest. |
| 1:45.0 | So a great one today, you know. |
| 1:48.6 | We're a chair. |
| 1:54.6 | This analysis of Trump's victory, |
... |
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