Adam Bonica

Study after study shows campaign ads barely move the needle. So where does money’s real power come from? I ranked the five ways money corrupts politics—from least to most corrosive. What I’ve learned from 15 years of tracking political money:

The annoying spam texts destroying the Democratic brand: $678M raised through those spam tactics $282M to one consulting firm: Mothership Strategies. $11M to actual campaigns (1.6%) The party isn’t just treating donors like marks—it’s being fleeced itself yet continues to back Mothership.

Since May: Federal district courts have ruled against Trump admin 94% of the time. Supreme Court has sided with the Trump admin 94% of the time. A judiciary at war with itself.

The Supreme Court’s “shadow docket” has cast very different shadows depending on which party holds the White House. When lower courts blocked Trump admin policies, SCOTUS intervened on an emergency basis to lift those orders in 77% of cases. For the Biden administration, that number was 0%.

Another Trump-endorsed foreign party cruising toward electoral disaster. If Magyar’s Tisza lead holds, Orbán will become the latest authoritarian taken down by an anti-corruption movement. What authoritarians fear most is an opposition with hands clean enough to credibly promise to clean house.

@katmabu.bsky.social narrowly lost the IL-09 primary last night. But here's a number worth sitting with. Her campaign brought in more first-time Gen Z donors than Jeffries, Schumer, the DSCC, and the DCCC, and her primary opponents combined. This is why campaigns like hers matter.

The only thing popularists fear more than an unpopular idea from the left is a popular one that might actually threaten billionaires.

A functioning opposition party would respond to this moment by committing to join the ICC when they return to power. Democrats won’t. And it’s for the same reason they failed to hold Trump accountable after Jan 6. Shielding elites from accountability is a depressingly bipartisan project in DC.

Strongly recommend this excellent piece. It actually understates the US failure: Brazil and S. Korea aren’t outliers. Quite the opposite. Since 2010, 31 democracies have convicted or banned leaders from office. Accountability is the democratic norm. America is the sole outlier.

This is devastating, tragic, and powerful reporting. Underneath it all, it’s remarkable to see what Iranians will risk to be free. A reminder of how much we have left to lose and why it’s worth fighting for—and that once we reclaim our democracy, we’ll have an obligation to help others do the same.

This tracks closely with the argument I’ve made about the U.S.: scarcity is litigated, not regulated. Civil law countries have much more regulation but far fewer lawsuits. The housing crisis isn’t about too many rules; it’s about who can afford to sue over them.

Epstiarchy (n.) — a corrupt system of rule in which oligarchs maintain power through extreme wealth, mutual protection, and the capture or abuse of legal and political institutions; marked by egregious crimes that are widely known yet go unpunished. Syn: The Epstein Class; Oligarchs of the Island

“We have been asked to call the centrist response to this presidency “moderation.” Recent events make it clear we should recognize it as appeasement.” Excellent piece by @rauchway.bsky.social about the importance of building an enduring coalition capable of recovery and reform.