Opinion: Less than one month to the midterms

If you’re angry about politics, do something about it. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Monday, October 8, 2018 [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( [David Leonhardt] David Leonhardt Op-Ed Columnist I spent a little time diving into the history of presidential elections for [my column this week](. Specifically, I wanted to see how President Trump’s share of the popular vote in 2016 — 46.1 percent — compared to the share of other candidates. Trump received a smaller share of the popular vote than every elected president over the past century except two — Richard Nixon in 1968 and Bill Clinton in 1992, thanks to the two strongest modern third-party candidates (George Wallace and Ross Perot, respectively). But the truly shocking comparison was this one: Trump received a smaller share of the vote than 16 losing candidates over the country’s history, including Mitt Romney, John Kerry, Henry Clay, William Jennings Bryan and a couple of men I bet you didn’t even realize had been major-party presidential nominees. I included a particularly obscure one in the column. The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is what led me to look up these numbers. I think it’s important to consider the full series of events that have led us to this moment, such as Trump’s history of fraud; his razor-thin win, with illegal help from a foreign enemy; and the Senate Republicans’ [theft of a Supreme Court seat](. It’s more than enough reason to be furious. It’s also reason to get involved in politics, and to do so now, [as I argue in the column](. As I was writing it, I wanted to be able to recommend ways for people to get involved in the midterms that didn’t simply involve voting for Democrats. Unfortunately, that would be a fantasy. “It’s a binary choice: either you support the Dems or the GOP. If the latter you are endorsing Trump,” [tweeted Max Boot]( the conservative foreign policy expert. “The Republican Party now exists for one reason, and one reason only: for the exercise of raw political power,” writes [Tom Nichols, another conservative, in The Atlantic](. “True authoritarian muscle is now being flexed by the GOP, in a kind of buzzy, steroidal McCarthyism that lacks even anti-communism as a central organizing principle.” More on Kavanaugh. The ugliness of his confirmation process is likely to push the newest justice even further to the right, predicts Noah Feldman, the legal scholar and author of [a book]( (which I enjoyed) on the New Deal-era Supreme Court. “There is good reason to think that Kavanaugh will be a more far-right and party-line conservative justice after this confirmation process than he would otherwise have been,” [Feldman writes in Bloomberg Opinion](. In The Times, [Barry Friedman]( an N.Y.U. law professor, reviews some of that same New Deal history and concludes: “Historically, when big collisions between public opinion and the Supreme Court have occurred, the justices lose and the public gets its way.” The climate. What’s the biggest single reason to get involved in politics? The condition of the planet — and the refusal of the current government, including the Supreme Court, to do anything about the problem. [Coral Davenport]( of The Times had a chilling lead sentence on a story this weekend: “A landmark report from the United Nations’ scientific panel on climate change paints a far more dire picture of the immediate consequences of climate change than previously thought and says that avoiding the damage requires transforming the world economy at a speed and scale that has ‘no documented historic precedent.’” The full Opinion report from The Times follows. [A Last Hope for Truth in a Mass Lynching]( [The Walton County, Ga., monument at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Ala.]( The Walton County, Ga., monument at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Ala. Mickey Welsh for The New York Times By THE EDITORIAL BOARD A federal appeals court should release records of a grand jury that held no one responsible for a 1946 Georgia horror. From Our Columnists [Liberals, This is War]( By CHARLES M. BLOW What’s at stake is much more than a single Supreme Court seat. [Get Angry, and Get Involved]( By DAVID LEONHARDT The midterm elections are the smart way to make your influence felt. [Who Will Pay for the Mess of the Kavanaugh Confirmation? All the Women]( [Christine Blasey Ford pausing during her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.]( Christine Blasey Ford pausing during her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Erin Schaff for The New York Times By RYAN THORESON Christine Blasey Ford. Deborah Ramirez. Julie Swetnick. Lisa Murkowski. Even Amy Chua. They will face the consequences. Justice Kavanaugh won’t. [Losing Hope as Susan Collins Spoke]( By DAMON WINTER For the women rallying against the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, the senator’s announcement brought anguish. [White Women, Come Get Your People]( By ALEXIS GRENELL They will defend their privilege to the death. On Friday, Oct. 19, The New York Times Opinion section will hold a live event in San Francisco with Roxane Gay, Michelle Goldberg and others, hosted by Rachel Dry, the editor of the Sunday Review. The journalists will talk politics, advice — and advice on coping with politics. The evening will include a live version of Roxane Gay’s advice column. Tickets are [now on sale](. The Future of the Supreme Court [Conservatives Are Wrong to Gloat About Kavanaugh]( By DAVID MARCUS Joining the frat party might be fun, but it will do great harm to the court and the country. [The Coming Storm Over the Supreme Court]( By BARRY FRIEDMAN If it swings too far to the right, expect a response. ADVERTISEMENT LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up here. Contributing Op-Ed Writer [More Trees, Happier People]( By MARGARET RENKL When cities grow, green space dies. Replanting it has been shown to lift the human spirit. Sunday Review [Lindsey Graham Is the Saddest Story in Washington]( By FRANK BRUNI His fight for Brett Kavanaugh completed his transformation into Donald Trump’s slobbering manservant. [What Happened After I Shared My Story of Abuse by New York’s Attorney General]( By TANYA SELVARATNAM Deciding to speak out against a powerful man is difficult. The aftermath is even worse. [I’m Just a Middle-Aged House Dad Addicted to Pot]( By NEAL POLLACK Cannabis should be legal, just as alcohol should be legal. But marijuana addiction exists, and it almost wrecked my life. [What Has Actually Changed in a Year]( It’s worth recognizing the progress brought about by the #MeToo movement. [‘This Moment Turned Out to Be Fleeting’]( Nine reflections on #MeToo, one year on. SIGN UP FOR THE OP-DOCS NEWSLETTER Find out about new [Op-Docs]( read discussions with filmmakers and learn more about upcoming events. ADVERTISEMENT letters [Justice Kavanaugh, After a Bitter Battle]( Readers reflect angrily on the divisive confirmation process, and what it says about America today. HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [leonhardt@nytimes.com](mailto:leonhardt@nytimes.com?subject=Opinion%20Today%20Newsletter%20Feedback). 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