Nick Perkins

New from me in @thenation (a very cool sentence to write): My view, from the inside of one of 2024’s biggest Senate races, about why the Democratic Party keeps losing -> thenation.com/article/politi…

I'm part of @BostonReview's symposium of everyone on what Democrats should do next. My case: if you want to save democracy, try believing in it. bostonreview.net/forum/how-not-…

advocated for an approach like this (or, really, *anything* new/more authentic to 2026) based on what i saw go wrong during my time working for Tester in an October @thenation piece thenation.com/article/politi…

The always great @ngperkins on the forgotten history of Schenectady socialism and its lessons for Mamdani, with an extended cameo from a young/brilliant/radical Walter Lippmann jacobin.com/2025/11/lunn-s…

Long before Zohran Mamdani, Schenectady, New York, elected a socialist mayor who tried to make good on radical promises inside city hall. His short experiment still speaks to the challenges — and possibilities — of governing on the Left.jacobin.com/2025/11/lunn-s…

Journalist Walter Lippmann left Schenectady convinced socialism couldn’t work at the local level. Zohran Mamdani’s coming administration might finally prove him wrong. jacobin.com/2025/11/lunn-s…

In 1911, New York State’s first socialist mayor promised revolution — and delivered playgrounds and dental clinics instead. But even small victories can build a movement: jacobin.com/2025/11/lunn-s…

Long before Zohran Mamdani, Schenectady, New York, elected a socialist mayor who tried to make good on radical promises inside city hall. His short experiment still speaks to the challenges — and possibilities — of governing on the Left. jacobin.com/2025/11/lunn-s…

me being me, this is also largely an article about Walter Lippmann, whose brilliant 1913 memo on Schenectady's George Lunn served as the basis for this article

"Long before Zohran Mamdani, Schenectady, New York, elected a socialist mayor who tried to make good on radical promises inside city hall. His short experiment still speaks to the challenges — and possibilities — of governing on the Left."

new from me in @Jacobin a look at the last time New York state elected a Socialist mayor, and what the Mamdani administration can learn from that experience jacobin.com/2025/11/lunn-s…

this is an essay I wrote about two things I love that cause me lots of pain: the Democratic Party and the New York Jets puzzlednotes.substack.com/p/what-the-dem…

Nice piece from (GW's own!) Dave Karpf in TNR. Gets at one of the big issues I saw on the Tester campaign: the idea that veering to a meaningless centrism is what voters want when the GOP is doing anything but. newrepublic.com/article/202394…

More to come each Monday!

And, of course, my time with the Association of Lincoln Presenters in Kalamazoo, Michigan (in which I was recruited to become a Lincoln and a Mary Lincoln hit on my best friend) puzzlednotes.substack.com/p/we-are-all-h…

In some other writing news, I'm doing a Substack now! Three stories are up now, including an introduction and justification for my Walter Lippmann love puzzlednotes.substack.com/p/why-did-i-na…

Excellent, on-the-ground look at the challenges facing Democrats in rural America from Nick Perkins, one of Jon Tester's former interns (and one of my very best students) thenation.com/article/politi…

Compelling by my stepson Nick on his experience in the Tester campaign last year. Old messages with dubious resonance on the ground: thenation.com/article/politi…

In StudentNation's latest, Nick Perkins writes: Jon Tester ran as the authentic Montana populist...and lost. Democrats just keep learning the wrong lessons. thenation.com/article/politi…

“As an intern for Jon Tester’s campaign,” writes Nick Perkins, “I saw a disconnect between our claim to authentic Montanan populism and the reality on the ground. In 2025, we need something different.” thenation.com/article/politi…