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The Kamala Surprise, Plus the Crisis of the Constitution

On this episode of Start Making Sense, Harold Meyerson on the campaign and Erwin Chemerinsky on the case for a new Constitution.

Jon Wiener

August 28, 2024

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally at United Auto Workers Local 900 on August 8, 2024, in Wayne, Michigan. (Photo by Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)

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The Kamala Surprise, plus the Crisis of the Constitution | Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

We’ve had a series of surprises in the last several weeks, but none have been more surprising than Kamala emerging as a great candidate. Harold Meyerson explains: it’s not so much that she has changed, it’s that the Democratic Party has changed.

Also: Democracy in America is being undermined by the Electoral College, the Senate filibuster, the gerrymandering of the House, and the corruption of the Supreme Court. It’s time to write, and ratify, a new constitution: that’s what Erwin Chemerinsky says. His new book is “No Democracy Lasts Forever: How the Constitution Threatens the United States.”

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We’ve had a series of surprises in the last several weeks, but none have been more surprising than Kamala Harris’s emerging as a great candidate. Harold Meyerson joins us on the podcast to explain that it’s not so much that Harris has changed but that the Democratic Party has.

Also on this episode of Start Making Sense: Democracy in America is undermined by the Electoral College, the Senate filibuster, the gerrymandering of the House, and the corruption of the Supreme Court. It’s time to write, and ratify, a new Constitution—that’s what Erwin Chemerinsky says. His new book is No Democracy Lasts Forever: How the Constitution Threatens the United States.

The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Mamdani’s Socialism—and Us; plus Football and Concussions | Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

Zorhan Mamdani takes office in four weeks as the first socialist mayor of New York City. How should we understand the constraints he faces, without accepting those constraints? Bhaskar Sunkara has our analysis; he’s president of The Nation and author of ‘The Socialist Manifesto.’

Plus: Sports Talk on The Nation podcast! Of course Thanksgiving was a big weekend for football on TV – a weekend where millions of viewers got to see a festival of brain injuries — concussions after receiving blows to the head. Dave Zirin will comment – he's the long-time sports editor of The Nation and host of the Edge of Sports podcast.

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Jon WienerTwitterJon Wiener is a contributing editor of The Nation and co-author (with Mike Davis) of Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the Sixties.


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