Paul Rieckhoff is on the courthouse steps in Foley Square, filing suit against the state of New York. The question in front of the court is as old as the republic and as urgent as this news cycle: does the right to vote derive from citizenship, or from joining a political party? In New York, 25.4% of the electorate — 3.1 million voters — is shut out of the primaries that actually decide most elections. Public schools. Public workers. Public machines. Private party gatekeeping. It is unfair, un-American, and the plaintiffs argue, unconstitutional.
Episode 637
Let vets vote
Paul Rieckhoff is standing on the courthouse steps in Lower Manhattan — and he’s suing the state of New York. 3.1 million unaffiliated New Yorkers are locked out of the primaries that actually decide their elections, and a coalition of independent veterans, led by Independent Veterans of America, just filed a landmark lawsuit to blow the doors off. This is Let Vets Vote — and it starts now.
The Brief
→ Four things from today’s episode
01
Why the GOP’s internal data completely missed the scale of t. Why the GOP’s internal data completely missed the scale of the 2026 midterm wipeout — nine Senate seats, House flipped, Trump +18 districts turned blue
02
“The silent independent voice”. Shermichael’s framing of the voters who decided to be jury and judge this cycle
03
The case for economic populism inside a right-of-center party. and why Singleton thinks it’s the only way to save capitalism itself
04
Pete Hegseth’s Arlington selfies and Paul’s call that Hegset. Pete Hegseth’s Arlington selfies and Paul’s call that Hegseth is positioning to inherit what’s left of MAGA
