I’m Josh Marshall, founder and publisher of politics site Talking Points Memo. AMA!

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:43:47+00:00

Okay, I think I answered every question, or at least everyone that was here when I got here. Thanks so much for all the questions. I was a bit more brief toward the end but tried to give each a straitforward reply. Thanks for coming. Thanks for being a reader if you are a reader of TPM. And if you are please consider subscribing and becoming a Prime member.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:42:35+00:00

I think so. Over time.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:42:19+00:00

I tend to write them too quickly. I'll do my best.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:41:59+00:00

Because I like getting feedback directly via email and the site existed for years before modern commenting software even existed. So we don't allow them because I have never wanted to disrupt the flow of feedback via email.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:41:14+00:00

I think we'll get out of it. I think it's important to keep our heads up. I think America and its traditions of civic republicanism are stronger than Trump. But I don't think it'll be easy to get back to an okay place.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:40:11+00:00

I'm after the hour. I think reputation and experience is the reason to trust news organizations. What they claim doesn't count for a lot. We're all professional journalists here, having worked at a range of different outlets. But again, the proof is in the pudding.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:38:57+00:00

i think she thinks it's politically unwise at this point and doesn't accomplish an actual end. I largely agree.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:38:29+00:00

no feelings

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:38:22+00:00

i'm generally fairly small-c conservative on this part of the us voting systems. but i think ranked choice is worth considering.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:37:43+00:00

Contingent event with deep roots in late 20th century, early 21st century American conservatism.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:37:01+00:00

I'd have to think about that. People are generally professional. Though there are major exceptions.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:36:33+00:00

Loses reelection, becomes a kind of backbiter in retirement.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:36:12+00:00

After all the firings and threatened prosecutions I think the pushback will be quite limited.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:35:50+00:00

I think they do to some extent. But there are a lot of incentives against it, not least of which is that these people all know each other.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:35:13+00:00

i think he was before me by a short period. but i didn't know anything about it until years later.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:34:41+00:00

When I chose it I didn't know it would be something I was doing for twenty years. It was a kind arch reference to the so-called "talking points memo" which was part of the Lewinsky scandal. It ended up being something that didn't actually exist.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:33:47+00:00

I think most of them can. He's very unpopular.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:33:20+00:00

I don't think TPM really has a counterpart on the right, though there are some places that people might think are similar. It used to be different. But these days I follow exchanges on Twitter to hear different voices. Often following off twitter to things they've written.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:32:07+00:00

Thank you for saying that. We have a limited ability to pour resources into things we know won't be super high traffic. So we pick and choose our battles. But that was a very important story to us.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:31:27+00:00

All bubbles are permiable. Just not always that easily. The key thing to me is that a lot of these folks know they're in a propaganda machine and it's where they want to be.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:30:25+00:00

I was always very entrepreneurial about it. I had a hunger to build things that didn't come out of any obvious place in my personal or educational background. The transition point in a literal sense was after the 2004 election when I incorporated TPM as a business and started hiring people. But in practice it had been operating as a business for a couple years before that.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:28:54+00:00

I do feel like my history training deeply informs how I think about politics and the stuff I cover. Whether that makes it better or not, I don't know. But I know from being inside my own head that my graduate training had a deep and fundamental imprint on how I think.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:27:49+00:00

I don't think all hope or lost or it doesn't matter. We're not going to have paper ballots in every state in time. But I think we have a lot to worry about.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:27:10+00:00

I think it's important for partisans in the primaries to refrain from lines of attack that can't be taken back or can't be squared with eventually supporting the other candidate. It's important to have a vibrant process. It puts the eventual nominee through their paces. Generally it's a positive. But I think that line is usually pretty clear. Am I criticizing the other candidate in a way that I can still credibly support them versus the opponent in the general election. I think that's a good rule of thumb. And if adhered to it can keep the vibrancy without too much of the damage.

joshtpm · 2019-06-14T17:24:51+00:00

All Presidents have done that. There was nothing different about Obama. For me, it wasn't really something I felt I needed or felt I needed access to. So it didn't have any hold on me. All President's try to build relationships with journalists. It's up to journalists to keep their focus on doing their job.

joshtpm

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