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  View in browser   BY  CALDER MCHUGH Presented by Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke speaks at a campaign rally in San Antonio, Texas. | Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty Images COVER STORY   — Just a few short years ago, Beto O’Rourke and Stacey Abrams were among the Democratic Party’s shiniest stars, two youthful candidates who electrified their parties even in defeat. While they came up just short in their longshot 2018 bids to win statewide office in Texas and Georgia, respectively, their promise was such that each sparked talk of their prospects on the national stage. They’re back on the ballot again this year — Abrams in a rematch with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, and O’Rourke in a bid to unseat Texas Gov. Greg Abbott — but this time the vibe is different. Both have consistently trailed their opponents in the polls. O’Rourke hasn’t led in a single survey since he announced his candidacy last November, and Abrams is barely doing better. So what changed? W...

September 14, 2022 Heather Cox Richardson Sep 15   It appears that John Durham’s investigation into why the FBI opened an investigation into the ties between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russian operatives is coming to an end. Durham’s investigation was a prime example of Trump’s attempt to use the Department of Justice not to enforce the nation’s laws, but to hurt his enemies, a charge former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman has made in his new book. Trump, Berman said, wanted his friends protected and his enemies—including former secretaries of state John Kerry and Hillary Clinton—prosecuted. In April 2019, the month after Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s  Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election  finally saw daylight, Attorney General William Barr tapped United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut John Durham to investigate the circumstances under which the FBI began to look int...