Welcome to the first summer edition of the reading list for 2024! What am I reading this summer? So far, it’s been an eclectic mix, as you’ll see.
Read on to find out. And, of course, let me know what’s on your book reading mind!
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I have to start by saying I’m very pleasantly surprised by the results of the county supervisor primary in Johnson County. The winners, of course, were Rod Sullivan, Lisa Green-Douglass, and Mandi Remington (in that order).
The first two names should surprise no one. They’re incumbents. Incumbents can lose in Johnson County Democratic primaries, in the sense that it’s a theoretical possibility. But it happens about as often as Iowa football scores more than 60 points in a game.
Indeed, the last couple of decades solidified what had already appeared by the 1980s: the Democratic Party runs Johnson County, in effect, as a one-party state. Democrats hold every partisan office in the county. Republicans haven’t won a partisan local election in four decades. And that’s not going to change soon. Just as Democrats stand little chance of taking power statewide, the local GOP is doomed.
This creates curious effects in local politics, where Democratic voters combine anger toward state government with complacency toward local government. They might get worked up about city politics from time to time – a city pool here or a zoning issue there – but they merrily vote for the person with the “D” next to their name in county races and call it a day.
So, that’s JC politics in a nutshell. Democrats always win. And Democratic incumbents almost always win, usually easily.
But then there’s that third name: Mandi Remington. She soundly defeated the third incumbent, Royceann Porter.
Let’s talk about why.
Despite the fact that it’s not a major focus of the blog, I think a lot about local electoral politics. What often stands out to me is the fact that local progressives* (see note at bottom), despite making up a rather large portion of the political establishment in Iowa City, don’t do very well in elections. And this goes both locally and statewide.
I have a stock explanation for this, and some readers are probably tired of hearing it. It’s that progressives aren’t committed to doing the kind of organizing from the ground up that’s required to build a mass movement. Instead, they preach at the choir. Or, at best, they try to recruit a couple of new members to the choir.
They also base some of their ideas on unpopular slogans. And activist movements are often a mess, but that’s less a cause than an effect of the factors listed above.
For a moment, however, let’s get past this high level criticism and into the details.
I have to admit I’ve come to enjoy writing these yearly blog anniversary posts!
We’re at six years and running, and I don’t intend to stop soon. With that said, readers probably noticed the change of post frequency in the past year or so. I used to write twice per week, but I’ve written at a place of once per week for quite awhile now.
What gives?
I made the change for basic reasons of sustainability. I still write at least twice per week (sometimes three times). But those other writings appear on my Medium profile. For readers looking to access that content, do reach out! I’m happy to share it with you, especially those of you who are a part of the Patreon!
And so, without further ado, let’s talk about the past year.
Long time readers probably know about my 50-Game Rule. For anyone else, the rule says not to evaluate your favorite team until they’ve played 50 games. And it even has decent scientific support.
But we’re 50 games in already, so it’s time to say a word about the Yankees. And how are they doing?
In short, they look great so far! They’re playing without their staff ace, 2023 Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole. And they made fewer roster improvements over the off season than many of us would’ve liked to see.
But the players stepped up. The starting rotation has coalesced around a few Cole alternatives and guys having rebound years (Clarke Schmidt, Carlos Rodón). Juan Soto has brought a big bat to the lineup, especially with Aaron Judge hitting behind him. And, more than anything, the bullpen has consistently met and exceeded expectations.
Could things go wrong? Sure. To my eye, the team still pitches better than it hits. A hitting power outage down the stretch remains a risk. But so far, it’s hard not to really like this 33-17 team.
