Washington Watch Articles From 2025
Israel’s Wars Are Creating Decades of Chaos
In the days after Israel was attacked on October 7, 2023, then-President Biden cautioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to make the same mistakes the US made following 9/11. Biden never publicly spelled out what he meant, but it was understood as a warning to Netanyahu, in response to the shock generated by the attack, not to overreact or overreach, as President George W. Bush had done by invading and occupying Iraq and proposing a US-led democracy agenda that would transform the Middle East. That war lasted more than a decade with tremendous cost in lives, treasure, and US prestige. It also emboldened Iran and spawned extremist groups across the Levant and North Africa, like ISIS.
False Accusations Trying to Stop Mamdani
In the days before the election for mayor of New York City, a group of rabbis issued a “A Call to Action” attacking public figures like Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani whom they say “refuse to condemn violent slogans, deny Israel’s legitimacy, and accuse the Jewish state of genocide.”
Democrats Need a Unifying Theme to Inspire Voters
For too many years now Democrats have focused on winning elections by appealing to what they have termed their “base” (young voters, Black, Latino, and Asian voters, and educated women). At the same time, they have largely abandoned white working class voters to Republicans—one reason why Democrats have lost too many recent federal and local elections across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states.
What Democrats Must Do
A few months after the Democrats’ bitter defeat in the 2024 elections, the party convened an Executive Committee meeting. Instead of taking a long hard look at the reasons for their poor performance, the meeting devolved into an orgy of self-congratulations.