We may have spent the last 12 months in 2023, but there’s only been one date on everyone’s mind: Nov. 5, 2024.
Yet even if we end up with a rematch between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, as seems likely, it won’t be the same election as before. Trump is facing a series of indictments; Biden is wrestling with wars in Ukraine and Gaza; and a slew of third-party candidates threaten to siphon votes from both contenders. Hovering over the political landscape is what exactly a Trump 2.0 presidency would mean.
These are some of the issues that defined 2023 — and understanding them is the only way to be prepared for 2024. Check out these 23 POLITICO Magazine stories, many of them among our top reads of the year, to make sense of the year we just lived through and what to expect next.
Shira Inbar for POLITICO
‘This Is a Really Big Deal’: How College Towns Are Decimating the GOP
Growing population in America’s highly educated enclaves has led to huge gains for the Democratic Party. And Republicans are scrambling for answers.
BY CHARLIE MAHTESIAN and MADI ALEXANDER
POLITICO illustration/Source: Nationhood Lab at Salve Regina University
The Surprising Geography of Gun Violence
America’s regions are poles apart when it comes to gun deaths and the cultural and ideological forces that drive them.
BY COLIN WOODARD
Nicole Natri for POLITICO
The Crisis Over American Manhood Is Really Code for Something Else
Male malaise in the United States goes back to the founders, and it is a preoccupation of elites in particular. They might teach us something about this current wave of manliness panic.
BY VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN
Illustration by Nazario Graziano for POLITICO; Photos by AP, Getty Images, iStock
‘Something Was Badly Wrong’: When Washington Realized Russia Was Actually Invading Ukraine
A first-ever oral history of how top U.S. and Western officials saw the warning signs of a European land war, their frantic attempts to stop it — and the moment Putin actually crossed the border.
BY By ERIN BANCO, GARRETT M. GRAFF, LARA SELIGMAN, NAHAL TOOSI and ALEXANDER WARD
Videos by Brandon and Lance Kramer
An Israeli-American Family Takes Hostage Negotiations Into Their Own Hands
For the relatives of some of the Hamas captives, life after Oct. 7 has meant balancing private despair and public advocacy.
BY KATHY GILSINAN
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Lock Him Up? A New Poll Has Some Bad News for Trump
A new POLITICO Magazine/Ipsos poll punctures some prevailing political narratives about the Trump indictments.
BY ANKUSH KHARDORI
Susan Walsh/AP
Here’s How Biden Can Turn It Around
Top Democrats agree that the president needs more aggressiveness, more help from his friends and a few more friends. Liz Cheney, Rahm Emanuel and Mitt Romney can help.
BY JONATHAN MARTIN
Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images
‘He Lost Our Votes’: How Biden’s Israel Policy Is Costing Him Dearly in This Critical Swing State
In the battleground state of Michigan, the Israel/Hamas conflict, with its resulting pileup of atrocities, will likely play an outsized role in next year’s presidential election.
BY TANVI MISRA
Francis Chung/POLITICO
McConnell in Winter: Inside the GOP Leader’s Attempt to Thwart Trump
The Kentucky Republican is doing all he can to bolster Ukraine, preserve NATO and help his party maintain its Reaganite roots.
BY JONATHAN MARTIN
Stephen Voss for POLITICO
The Brash Group of Young Conservatives Getting Ready for the Next Trump Administration’
The GOP needs foot soldiers, not just cabinet secretaries. American Moment is making sure they’re ready for January 2025.
BY IAN WARD
Danny Wilcox Frazier for POLITICO
The Casey DeSantis Problem: ‘His Greatest Asset and His Greatest Liability’
Ron DeSantis’ wife is going to play a very prominent role in his presidential campaign. Some of his supporters wonder if that’s an entirely good thing.
BY MICHAEL KRUSE
Roger Kisby for POLITICO
RFK Jr.’s Ultimate Vanity Project
How a deep sense of persecution and a taste for conspiracy have coalesced into a campaign about censorship that matters to almost no Democratic voters.
BY DAVID FREEDLANDER
POLITICO illustration/Photos by AP, Gage Skidmore, iStock
The Bogus Historians Who Teach Evangelicals They Live in a Theocracy
A new book on the Christian right reveals how a series of unscrupulous leaders turned politics into a powerful and lucrative gospel.
BY TIM ALBERTA
Francis Chung/POLITICO
The House GOP Is a Failed State
Kevin McCarthy’s ouster is dramatic evidence, if redundant, about the state of the modern GOP.
BY JOHN F. HARRIS
Sol Cotti for POLITICO
Why the Supreme Court Really Killed Roe v. Wade
Don’t blame partisan judges. The real problem is ‘movement’ judges.
BY ROBERT L. TSAI and MARY ZIEGLER
Illustration by Mark Harris for POLITICO
In 1967, a Black Man and a White Woman Bought a Home. American Politics Would Never Be the Same.
What happened to the Bailey family in the Detroit suburb of Warren became a flashpoint in the national battle over integration.
BY ZACK STANTON
Brian Stauffer for POLITICO
The Pentagon Is Freaking Out About a Potential War With China
(Because America might lose.)
BY MICHAEL HIRSH
Natalia Agatte for POLITICO
The Award for Thirstiest Member of Congress Goes to …
Presenting the first-ever Thirsties, for those who excel in Washington’s signature art form: trying to get on your TV screen tonight.
BY POLITICO MAGAZINE
Steve Helber/AP
Her Online Sex Life Was Exposed. She Lost Her Election. Now She’s Speaking Out.
Susanna Gibson’s campaign was rocked when an opponent exposed her private digital life to the public. She won’t be the last.
BY ALEXANDER BURNS
POLITICO Illustration/Photos by Getty Images, iStock
What Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán Understand About Your Brain
Why do some people who support Trump also wind up believing conspiracy theories? There’s a scientific explanation for that.
BY MARCEL DANESI
POLITICO illustration/Photos by AP, iStock
Biden’s Elusive AI Whisperer Finally Goes On the Record. Here’s His Warning.
Bruce Reed had seen the pitfalls of letting Big Tech run roughshod over government. He is determined not to make the same mistakes on AI.
BY NANCY SCOLA
POLITICO illustration/Photos by Getty Images, AP
Opinion | Hip-Hop — and America — Are Changing, and Not for the Better
Hip-hop was rooted in politics and social justice and a diversity of voices. But now, at 50, has it become a minstrel show?
BY KEVIN POWELL
Joel Rogers for POLITICO
A Disaster the Size of Multiple Katrinas Is Building Off Washington’s Coast
The Coast Guard is the first line of defense against a massive tsunami. Will it also be an early victim?
BY ERIC SCIGLIANO
