Derek Thompson

And then the obvious answer is when I was graduating from college in Northwestern, Barack Obama was an absolute sensation. And so I would say that Obama might have, at least at the moment for me, felt like the most... movementy president of the post JFK era. All right.

I think you put your finger on something pretty important. And tell me if you agree with this interpretation. We have a story in the book about how in the 1960s and 1970s, there was a legal revolution on the liberal side where you had an amazing growth of lawyers, the 1960s, 1970s, who went into law in order to be progressives. They were like, I'm going into law for the Civil Rights Act.

I think you put your finger on something pretty important. And tell me if you agree with this interpretation. We have a story in the book about how in the 1960s and 1970s, there was a legal revolution on the liberal side where you had an amazing growth of lawyers, the 1960s, 1970s, who went into law in order to be progressives. They were like, I'm going into law for the Civil Rights Act.

I think you put your finger on something pretty important. And tell me if you agree with this interpretation. We have a story in the book about how in the 1960s and 1970s, there was a legal revolution on the liberal side where you had an amazing growth of lawyers, the 1960s, 1970s, who went into law in order to be progressives. They were like, I'm going into law for the Civil Rights Act.

I'm going into law for environmentalism. Since then, Bill, Think about all the lawyers that have run for president or won the presidency on the Democratic side. Kamala Harris, lawyer. Bill Clinton, lawyer. Barack Obama, constitutional law professor. I think since Jimmy Carter, it's just basically been a very long line of lawyers or people who you basically associate with lawyers.

I'm going into law for environmentalism. Since then, Bill, Think about all the lawyers that have run for president or won the presidency on the Democratic side. Kamala Harris, lawyer. Bill Clinton, lawyer. Barack Obama, constitutional law professor. I think since Jimmy Carter, it's just basically been a very long line of lawyers or people who you basically associate with lawyers.

I'm going into law for environmentalism. Since then, Bill, Think about all the lawyers that have run for president or won the presidency on the Democratic side. Kamala Harris, lawyer. Bill Clinton, lawyer. Barack Obama, constitutional law professor. I think since Jimmy Carter, it's just basically been a very long line of lawyers or people who you basically associate with lawyers.

Hillary Clinton, lawyer, again. Democrats have become the party of rules and Republicans become the party of bad boy outsiders, right? Like people coming in to crash the system. And there's something inspiring about that inherently, about the idea of someone coming in from the outside to crash the system. In a way, going back to Dirty Harry and Rambo, that was the appeal.

Hillary Clinton, lawyer, again. Democrats have become the party of rules and Republicans become the party of bad boy outsiders, right? Like people coming in to crash the system. And there's something inspiring about that inherently, about the idea of someone coming in from the outside to crash the system. In a way, going back to Dirty Harry and Rambo, that was the appeal.

Hillary Clinton, lawyer, again. Democrats have become the party of rules and Republicans become the party of bad boy outsiders, right? Like people coming in to crash the system. And there's something inspiring about that inherently, about the idea of someone coming in from the outside to crash the system. In a way, going back to Dirty Harry and Rambo, that was the appeal.

These guys aren't of the institutions that are boring and staid and sclerotic and broken. These are the outsider heroes. And I think the Democrats do, to your very point, have an issue with being so legalistic, not just in terms of their outlook and how they think about process and politics, but also just who they put up to bat to become president.

These guys aren't of the institutions that are boring and staid and sclerotic and broken. These are the outsider heroes. And I think the Democrats do, to your very point, have an issue with being so legalistic, not just in terms of their outlook and how they think about process and politics, but also just who they put up to bat to become president.

These guys aren't of the institutions that are boring and staid and sclerotic and broken. These are the outsider heroes. And I think the Democrats do, to your very point, have an issue with being so legalistic, not just in terms of their outlook and how they think about process and politics, but also just who they put up to bat to become president.

It's a lot of people who look like they're essentially auditioning to edit the law review rather than win a popularity contest among people that increasingly are going to be getting their information from TikTok and Instagram. And I think that there's like, you know, I didn't go to law school. My dad was a lawyer, so my best friends were lawyers.

It's a lot of people who look like they're essentially auditioning to edit the law review rather than win a popularity contest among people that increasingly are going to be getting their information from TikTok and Instagram. And I think that there's like, you know, I didn't go to law school. My dad was a lawyer, so my best friends were lawyers.

It's a lot of people who look like they're essentially auditioning to edit the law review rather than win a popularity contest among people that increasingly are going to be getting their information from TikTok and Instagram. And I think that there's like, you know, I didn't go to law school. My dad was a lawyer, so my best friends were lawyers.

I'm definitely not anti-lawyer, but certainly law school and being a lawyer teaches you to practice a certain kind of care, right? A certain kind of carefulness. I think that kind of, that carefulness is actually a real kryptonite for political success these days. Carefulness makes you look like you're a phony, makes you look like there's strings attached to you.

I'm definitely not anti-lawyer, but certainly law school and being a lawyer teaches you to practice a certain kind of care, right? A certain kind of carefulness. I think that kind of, that carefulness is actually a real kryptonite for political success these days. Carefulness makes you look like you're a phony, makes you look like there's strings attached to you.

I'm definitely not anti-lawyer, but certainly law school and being a lawyer teaches you to practice a certain kind of care, right? A certain kind of carefulness. I think that kind of, that carefulness is actually a real kryptonite for political success these days. Carefulness makes you look like you're a phony, makes you look like there's strings attached to you.

Say what you want about Donald Trump, but the man is... fantastically disinhibited, no strings attached. He says whatever comes to his mind.