Astead

Host, America, Actually! @voxmedia
Weekly midterms newsletter @Substack
Editorial director @voxdotcom
Political analyst @cnn
Former @nytimes @bostonglobe

[Astead @AsteadWH]

!!!! First day of our new podcast, America Actually (w/ Astead Herndon). It's going to be about the upcoming elections and America's road to a post-Trump future.

But as we got started I wanted to write something about why I landed on that theme and what I saw as the our mission in a landscape of a lot of media choices

[Rachel Cohen Booth @rcobooth]

come be my new @voxdotcom editor! apply here:

https://t.co/1f4O1Zu9rg

[Astead @AsteadWH]

You can hear the full interview on the America, Actually podcast.

Subscribe wherever you listen or watch on the @voxdotcom YouTube channel

https://t.co/7m8lHtrPtb

[Astead @AsteadWH]

Abdul El-Sayed was unique even among progressive candidates:

— He made clear he was running against R and D establishment
— He made Stevens corporate support (and specifically help from AIPAC) just as central to his message as policies like Medicare for All

A look back at our interview and ahead to the general election:

@voxdotcom @voxmedia

[Astead @AsteadWH]

@rolandsmartin fyi my name is Astead Herndon. Astead is pronounced like instead but with an uh sound and Wesley is a middle name

Happy to come on anytime

[Astead @AsteadWH]

To immediately focus on the general election is to miss the point — what @AbdulElSayed accomplished in this MI primary was historic. Winning his way against an establishment pulled all the stops, and a historic amount of outside spending.

Dem leadership plays Stevie Wonder at their own peril. They’re on the wrong side of a fundamental shift across their base

On @OutFrontCNN with @KateBolduan:

[Astead @AsteadWH]

Congressman Max Miller is running the playbook Trump has made GOP canon: the base won’t punish you until I say so

He is not trying to convince the public he is innocent of abuse allegations. He’s attached himself to the president, as the Hegseth and Herschel Walkers have done before him

On @OutFrontCNN with @KateBolduan:

[Astead @AsteadWH]

Read more at "The Midterms, Actually."

@Substack @voxdotcom

https://t.co/G3O410MNjy

[Astead @AsteadWH]

For Democrats in the Trump era, I think the enduring legacy of 2024's Uncommitted movement goes beyond the shift in public opinion or even campaigns like Mamdani's or El-Sayed's. It struck a real blow in the entire "vote blue who no matter who" general election framework, which had dominated since 2016.

This fall, it may be the once-critical establishment who adopts Uncommitted's language of conditional support against the left

Something to watch if El-Sayed and/or Hong win in the Midwest

🧵Read more (1/5):

[Astead @AsteadWH]

Also! Loved throwing some questions at @DanRShafer -- ahead of Wisconsin's all important Gov. primary nest week

How central is the data center backlash to her rise? He says it's the No. 1 issue

[Astead @AsteadWH]

Here's the referenced episode of The Run-Up, from the 2024 DNC in Chicago. Includes interview with Uncommitted activists, Elizabeth Warren, and UAW's Shawn Fain

https://t.co/BZHByQH86m

[Astead @AsteadWH]

New post: The Uncommitted movement has already won

How the (largely ignored) protests of the 2024 Democratic National Convention planted the seeds for tonight's Democratic primary in Michigan

+ a Q/A with @DanRShafer on wtf is going on in Wisconsin

Subscribe to The Midterms, Actually on @Substack @voxdotcom: https://t.co/pJWh8CEIzI

[Astead @AsteadWH]

One thing I think has been memory-holed: the optimism surrounding VP Kamala Harris at the 2024 DNC convention was directly tied that she'd break from Biden's unconditional support of Israel

And the party's decision to not let a Palestinian speaker on stage served as the first signs that, in many ways, the Harris candidacy would not be substantively different than Biden's was

https://t.co/ifas12cE4V

[Astead @AsteadWH]

Watch the full episode on @voxdotcom YouTube page or subscribe to America Actually wherever you podcast

[Astead @AsteadWH]

Subscribe to America Actually where you podcast or watch on the @voxdotcom YouTube Channel

https://t.co/mCcL2Ydxe3

[Astead @AsteadWH]

Who won our fantasy draft of 2028 presidential candidates??

- Team Kara Swisher
- Team Don Lemon
- Team Astead Herndon

[Vox @voxdotcom]

Four years ago, Michigan Rep. Andy Levin lost his primary to Haley Stevens. He tells us how he got on AIPAC’s bad side. https://t.co/1V8xNKh2eD

[Astead @AsteadWH]

Subscribe to America Actually where you podcast or watch on the @voxdotcom YouTube Channel

https://t.co/mCcL2Ydxe3

[Astead @AsteadWH]

New pod! A fantasy draft of 2028 presidential candidates

GOP and Democrats

w/ @karaswisher
+ Don Lemon

‼️

[Astead @AsteadWH]

!!!!

Don Lemon says he’s seriously exploring a 2028 presidential run