| Let's start this Friday with some of your questions about politics. Send me your questions anytime. Would Senate Republicans just eliminate the filibuster when they get control of the Senate? Well, they're pretty adamant that the filibuster should stay in place. But that's easy to say now, when the filibuster — the mechanism that requires 60 votes in the Senate to pass legislation — lets them stop most Democratic legislation from becoming law, like a voting rights bill or police reform. But if he gets back in power, I could see Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) being willing to get rid of the filibuster for two reasons: 1. Senate Republicans already eliminated the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations. They did it after arguing (validly) that it was Democrats who started this all, when former Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) eliminated the filibuster for lower-court picks. 2. McConnell is not afraid to backtrack on his positions, even if it invites allegations of hypocrisy. That's how he navigated two of Trump's three nominees onto the Supreme Court in four years. (He didn't care if the vote came right before a presidential election, after blocking Democrats' nomination for the same reason.) There would have to be something Democrats are blocking that Republicans want badly enough to all vote to erode the filibuster. A number of congressional experts think it's just a matter of time for the filibuster — which serves to give the minority party more leverage — to be gone. Why do you keep talking about Trump? He's history.  A "Trump 2024" sign at a rally this summer. (Cassidy Araiza for The Washington Post) | I disagree. Trump is considering a 2024 presidential run. And even if he's just blustering to keep eyes on him, he very much controls the narrative in the Republican Party right now. Denying a legitimate presidential election is quickly becoming a platform for the GOP. It's standard fare for most Republican candidates who want to win a competitive primary. His refusal to acknowledge that he lost has impacted actual laws, too, with Republican-led states across the country enacting more requirements around voting based on his baseless claims. Will politics in the United States ever return to a place where it is not so polarized, and how would this happen? Probably not anytime soon. Political analyst Amy Walters smartly says that "angry voters vote." When seen through that lens, it's in politicians' best interests to keep the polarization going strong. One way to immediately take the steam out of American politics, political experts say, would be to un-gerrymander congressional and state legislative districts. The more diverse an electorate that lawmakers have to represent, the more nuanced and moderate their positions are likely to become. An acronym you should know: COP26 What is it: The 26th annual United Nations Framework on Climate Change. "Or because that's a mouthful," reports The Post's Brady Dennis, "COP26 for short."  Demonstrators in Glasgow, Scotland, ahead of a major climate change meeting next week. (Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images) | What it means: This is an annual meeting that's been happening since 1995. But this year it's getting more attention as the head of the United Nations calls 2021 "the make it or break it year" for climate change. Next week, the world meets in Scotland to potentially make big-time commitments on curbing greenhouse gas emissions — before it's too late to avoid the most catastrophic elements of climate change. Why it matters politically: President Biden will be there, and he really wanted to show up with a big climate deal in hand. It would the first piece of legislation ever, really, in America to significantly address curbing U.S. emissions. Biden is trying to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. Republicans have balked at major climate change legislation, so Democrats have folded their efforts into their big social spending policy package. But it hasn't yet passed Congress. Biden also wants to demonstrate to the world that American democracy is healthy and veering away from Trumpism, reports The Post's Annie Linskey. Doing that in the form of a climate package speaks loud and clear. What it means if he shows up empty-handed: If he doesn't have tangible proof that America is serious about lowering its emissions, the rest of the world might similarly blow it off, climate advocates worry. It's up to Biden to convince the rest of the world that America is ready to invest in climate change mitigation. | 
Email 
