Unserious debates for an unserious primary
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. The GOP debates have turned into performance art. They demean our electoral process, but many in the national media are backing away from facts and probity and enabling the worst candidates in their effort to corner the attention market. First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic: Working the Refs I watched the Republican primary debate last night, and at first, I had no real intention of writing again about a process that is now a national embarrassment. But when it was over, I couldn’t shake the thought of how far America has come over the past few decades—and how far down our politics have fallen. I will not criticize Nikki Haley for calling Vivek Ramaswamy “scum” last night. Ramaswamy tried to pull Haley’s daughter into the debate, and I applaud her for speaking up with such clarity. …
