QUOTE OF THE DAY

'Putin's Russia is in trouble, so Putin wants to scare you and people like you. His war was supposed to last three days. It lasted three years thanks to the heroism and sacrifice of Ukrainians.'

Ukrainian former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, in a video on X addressed to Joe Rogan, accusing him of spreading Russian propaganda on his podcast

THE EXPLAINER

Democrats eye a new strategy

The Democratic Party appears to be in limbo following an unexpected electoral sweep by the GOP; Republicans won back the White House with the reelection of Donald Trump, and they will also control the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. This means the Democrats won't control a single branch of government for the first time since 2019.

While finger-pointing has been ongoing since Vice President Kamala Harris' loss, many Democrats are also seeking a new way forward using a two-pronged approach: opposing Trump while also looking for paths to recapture working-class voters, who largely shunned the Democratic Party at the ballot box.

How is the Democratic Party retooling its strategy?
In blue states like Illinois, New York and California, Democrats "envision flexing their power" to partly "block the Trump administration's policies — for example, by refusing to enforce immigration laws," said The New York Times. Democratic governors have also proposed "passing state laws enshrining abortion rights, funding paid leave and putting in place a laundry list of other party priorities."

This strategy "resembles what Republicans have done during President Joe Biden's administration," said the Times, including taking steps to "restrict abortion rights, limit transgender rights, ban diversity programs and pursue other conservative priorities." Still, other Democrats recognize that working with Trump on certain issues will likely be inevitable.

How are Democrats looking to recapture voters?
Democrats "need to be clear-eyed about some hard truths in the results from election night," Jen Psaki, Biden's former White House press secretary, said at MSNBC. Trump won largely because turnout for the Democratic Party was lower. "From my vantage point as a college-educated white person," said Psaki, "which is one of the only demographics" with which Trump didn't increase his share of the vote, "I can tell you that the message of the party is geared too much toward me."

To win working-class voters back, Democrats "must become more populist and more ambitious," said The Guardian. There is also a chance to capture people who "voted for Trump not because they are committed to MAGA, but out of frustration with the status quo."

Statistic of the day

79.9M: The number of people expected to travel for the Thanksgiving weekend, according to AAA. This marks a record-breaking year for the holiday, with numbers exceeding pre-pandemic travel statistics. The majority of these trips, 71.7 million, will be made via car, while 5.84 million people will fly.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Linda McMahon tapped for Department of Education

President-elect Donald Trump last week named former wrestling executive Linda McMahon, who led the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019, to head the Department of Education. Overall, she has a comparatively limited education background. That alone is likely to make her nomination controversial.

From wrestling power couple to politics
McMahon and her now-estranged husband, Vince, launched Titan Sports, Inc. in 1980 and expanded it into a multi-billion dollar global empire, now called World Wrestling Entertainment. Before her appointment to the Small Business Administration in 2017, McMahon twice tried unsuccessfully to win a Senate seat in Connecticut, first in 2010. In both campaigns, scandals and accusations regarding the McMahons' wrestling empire were a major line of attack. "It was her greatest strength and weakness at the same time," said Murphy advisor Scott Bates at The Connecticut Post.

McMahon spent almost $100 million of her own fortune on the Senate runs. Wealthy self-funded candidates like McMahon "typically fade from popular memory" after a defeat, said Michelle Hackman at the Yale Daily News, but instead she continued to wield her fundraising prowess and influence.

The rise of a Trump ally
McMahon was one of Trump's earliest backers in 2016 and has served on the 2024 Trump transition effort since August, helping to vet other potential cabinet picks. She will step into an unusual situation for a cabinet secretary since Trump repeatedly promised to abolish the Department of Education. McMahon has been "assigned the fraught task of carrying out what is widely expected to be a thorough and determined dismantling of the department’s core functions," said Zach Montague and Ana Swanson at The New York Times.

McMahon has not said which aspects of the Trump campaign education agenda she would prioritize and did not address education in her speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention. She has long been a supporter of school choice and vouchers dating back to her brief stint on the Connecticut Board of Education. McMahon's "chief goal for education is to promote vouchers, which drain resources from public schools," said Amanda Litvinov at NEA Today.

Good day 🎮

… for 'Black Myth: Wukong.' The debut video game from Chinese developer Game Science has been crowned 2024's Ultimate Game of the Year at the U.K.'s Golden Joystick Awards, hosted by GamesRadar+, a sister publication of The Week. The announcement follows a "supercharged public vote that drew over 12 million ballots across the event's 21 categories," said Forbes.

Bad day 🥛

… for raw milk drinkers. Bird flu was detected in whole raw milk from Raw Farm with today as the best-by date, said the California Department of Public Health. While no reported illnesses have been linked to the case, it comes "just a few days after a child tested positive for bird flu for the first time in U.S. history," said The Washington Post.

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The Week recommends

Exploring Easter Island

There is no place in the world like Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui. Located more than 2,000 miles from South America's mainland, it is one of the Earth's most isolated inhabited islands, a tiny dot in the middle of the southwestern Pacific Ocean.

A brief history
The island has a mysterious past, and it is not clear from where or when the first Polynesian inhabitants arrived. Researchers believe it could have been any time from the year 800 to 1200. The oldest moai, the island's famous monolithic statues, dates back to 1300, and the Rapa Nui believed their chiefs were "descended from the gods and that after death they would once again become divine," National Geographic said. Their spirits were said to temporarily live inside the statues, which remain sacred vessels.

Getting to Easter Island
There are two ways in: by boat or by plane, via Santiago, Chile. LATAM is the only airline that flies out of Santiago into Hanga Roa, the capital of Easter Island. Some cruise lines, including MSC, Seabourn and Holland America also have itineraries with Easter Island stops.

Culture is omnipresent
Rapa Nui National Park covers half of the island, and feels like an "open-air museum," Lonely Planet said, with "mysterious archeological sites and scenic hikes through barren volcanic cones." It is mandatory to have a guide at nearly every national park site, and this is useful when you hire a local who is especially knowledgeable about the "mesmerizing" maoi, said Travel and Leisure.

Poll watch

Over half (55%) of Americans say the government is doing too much, according to a Gallup poll. The survey found that this opinion skews largely along party lines: 81% of Republicans say the government is doing too much, compared to only 31% of Democrats who feel the same.

INSTANT OPINION

Today's best commentary

'How the Thanksgiving holiday can help heal America's political rifts'
Michael Morris at Time
As "Thanksgiving approaches on this election year, many of us can't help but think of politics," says Michael Morris. But this "doesn't mean that our tribal psychology is a curse that ineluctably dooms our democracy." Thanksgiving "can also work to redress our rifts today — in our polarized nation and even in our families." People "can feel at a visceral level the sense of meaning and purpose." Americans "need traditions and tribalism because we need each other.

'Report from inside the "deep state": We're not going anywhere'
Marc Fisher at The Washington Post
Career employees "stayed with the government for decades because in good times, they are on the cutting edge of progress," and in "tough times, they are the bulwark, the last line of defense against decay and decline," says Marc Fisher. The "deep state is the permanent government, which can be slow and frustrating but is also a bedrock." Federal prosecutors are "determined not to let one four-year patch of trouble change their career plans."

'JK Rowling and Nancy Mace are right: Women deserve their own safe spaces'
Ingrid Jacques at USA Today
Women are "sick of being treated like their rights don't matter, and they're standing up for themselves," says Ingrid Jacques. The "'female' category is being destroyed, with businesses that don't want to bother with bathroom squabbles offering shared, gender-neutral restrooms." Wherever "clothes are coming off, whether a bathroom or locker room, is a situation where we as women are at our most vulnerable." It's "not bigotry" to "want to preserve that for women."

WORD OF THE DAY

leguminati

Beans are "enjoying a culinary renaissance," said The Guardian. And it's not a "moment too soon" for fans who believe a "worldwide shift" toward eating beans and other legumes such as lentils and chickpeas would "hugely benefit human health and the environment." Their ultimate goal is to "spark a revolution in food production and consumption," and "they call themselves the leguminati."

What will Trump do on Day 1?