Devil for the Democrats? It's all in the details


Nick Kristof and and the recently ousted members of the San Francisco school board have something in common — and it's not just that none of them will be serving in elected office anytime soon.
The commonality? They forgot about the basics.
Kristof, the former New York Times columnist, stepped down from that esteemed post last summer to run for governor in Oregon. (My colleague Bonnie Kristian was skeptical at the time.) But he soon ran into a problem: He hadn't actually lived in the state long enough to be eligible for office. On Thursday, the state's supreme court affirmed an earlier ruling by the Oregon's secretary of state that Kristof was ineligible for a spot on the ballot. The campaign is over — and if Kristof isn't embarrassed, he should be. It's probably a good idea to check the rulebook before quitting your day job to take a job you can't have.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What does this have to do with the San Francisco school board? Much of the commentary about this week's recall election has focused on "wokeness." That's understandable — the three members who lost their jobs had focused heavily on racial justice issues, most famously voting to rename some city schools that had previously honored historic figures like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. (Their history wasn't always solid.) But as Mother Jones' Clara Jeffrey points out, one of the real problems was that the school board was focusing on school names instead of working to get kids back in the classroom during the pandemic. "If I had to boil it down," Jeffrey wrote of the recall, "it was a … vote to put performance over performativeness."
Well yes, exactly. Pundits and activists often have gauzy, romantic visions of what they might do if they were in charge. But what the voting public wants first and foremost is for things to work — for potholes to be filled and schools to be open. That means doing the unglamorous drudgery of government, crossing the "T"s and dot "I"s. The basics. Once that's accomplished, and only then, is it possible to move on to higher-order concerns.
Democrats are probably going to lose the House of Representatives in midterm elections later this year, and more than a few of them blame that fate on the party's inability to pass the big things on its agenda, like the Build Better Act and voter reform. There might be something to that. But it's also true that Gallup's latest "right track/wrong track" poll indicates just 17 percent of Americans are satisfied with how things are going. Voters are paying more for gas and COVID is still crimping their lives, and those things matter. Dems are running out of time to get the big things done. Maybe the best thing they can do is get back to basics.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Joel Mathis is a writer with 30 years of newspaper and online journalism experience. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic and The Kansas City Star. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.
-
How the woke right gained power in the US
Under the radar The term has grown in prominence since Donald Trump returned to the White House
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Codeword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
By The Week Staff
-
Crossword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff
-
'From his election as pope in 2013, Francis sought to reform'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
The anger fueling the Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez barnstorming tour
Talking Points The duo is drawing big anti-Trump crowds in red states
By Joel Mathis, The Week US
-
Why the GOP is nervous about Ken Paxton's Senate run
Today's Big Question A MAGA-establishment battle with John Cornyn will be costly
By Joel Mathis, The Week US
-
13 potential 2028 presidential candidates for both major parties
In Depth A rare open primary for both parties has a large number of people considering a run for president
By David Faris
-
Bombs or talks: What's next in the US-Iran showdown?
Talking Points US gives Tehran a two-month deadline to deal
By Joel Mathis, The Week US
-
Sen. Booker's 25-hour speech beats Thurmond
Speed Read He spoke for the longest time in recorded Senate history, protesting the Trump administration's policies
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Democrats win costly Wisconsin court seat
Speed Read Democrats prevailed in an election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court despite Elon Musk's robust financial support of the Republican candidate
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
By The Week Staff