586 | Oliver Libby: Strong Floor, No Ceiling - A Radical Moderate's Case for Reigniting the American Dream

Oliver Libby Forbes Profile: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nelldebevoise/2025/11/11/why-americas-next-big-idea-isnt-about-doing-more--its-about-building-smarter/Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: [email protected] Libby, civic investor and author of Strong Floor, No Ceiling: Building a New Foundation for the American Dream, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Oliver discuss his post-2024 Strong Floor, No Ceiling framework: a strong floor below which Americans shouldn't fall (healthcare, education, work, housing, opportunity), and no ceiling on aspiration and growth (with rules), why Americans are giving up on the American dream, what a successful national service program would look like (and why previous versions failed to meet their promise), how wealth and power stress the social contract, and why an alternative to MAGA hasn't arrived yet.

Hardball Substack: https://thechrismatthews.substack.com/Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: [email protected] Matthews, former host of MSNBC's Hardball (now on Substack) and author of Lessons from Bobby: Ten Reasons Robert F. Kennedy Still Matters, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Chris discuss Robert F. Kennedy's legacy after last month's 100-year centenary of his birth, what his life, career, and assassination meant for American liberalism, the politics of working-class and rural Americans, RFK's ability to surmount racial divisions, and why authenticity matters more than surface-level branding, as demonstrated by the careers of President Trump, Representative AOC, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Senator John Fetterman.

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: [email protected] Hamid, Washington Post Columnist and author of The Case for American Power, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Shadi discuss his case for American power despite one's opposition to the country's past and present misuse of power, his intellectual journey from Iraq War protestor to power advocate, why polls find that Democrats and the left-liberals are increasingly unpatriotic, and why Democratic Party elites lacked the credibility to make the strongest case against Trump in 2024.

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: [email protected] Quincy Institute's William D. Hartung and Ben Freeman, authors of Trillion Dollar War Machine: How Runaway Military Spending Drives America into Foreign Wars and Bankrupts Us at Home, join The Realignment. Marshall, William, and Ben debate and discuss the origins of America's proposed record trillion-dollar Pentagon budget, why the budget spirals upwards despite every 21st-century president's promise to disengage abroad and invest at home, the role of money and corruption in U.S. foreign policy decisions, the proper use of American power abroad, and the origin of our foreign policy debacles in Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza, and Ukraine.

The Atlantic | A Post-Literate Age: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/10/journalism-literature-media-trump/684752/Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: [email protected] Packer, Staff Writer at The Atlantic and author of The Emergency, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and George discuss his new work of Fiction: The Emergency, his transition back to fiction after works of journalism in an increasingly post-literate society, the resonance of the book's theme of living through imperial collapse, boredom, and a lack of faith, why the American liberal project feels lost today in an era of populist backlash, and why the themes of his previous books, The Unwinding and Blood of the Liberals, are critical to anyone looking to chart America's path forward.

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: [email protected] Rosen, President of the National Constitution Center and author of The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Jeffrey discuss how debates over Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson's ideas about the power of government has shaped America's political debates since the 18th century, whether our struggle to make government work effectively to accomplish its goals results from too much Jeffersonianism, why political philosophy isn't just an academic interest, and how Presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump's project of attacking the administrative state and the government power will stand the test of time. 

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: [email protected] Tapper, CNN host and author of Race Against Terror: Chasing an Al Qaeda Killer at the Dawn of the Forever War, joins The Realignment. Marshall and Jake discuss the saga of the first and only successful prosecution of an Al Qaeda fighter in American courts, why the Obama administration failed to shut down Guantanamo Bay, whether terrorism is best fought by civilian or military means, and the applicability of the post-9/11 approach to fighting terrorism to the Trump administration's airstrikes against Venezuelan boats that the Pentagon claims traffic drugs and cartel organizations in Mexico.

Deciding to Win Report: Deciding To Win – Toward A Common Sense Renewal of the Democratic PartySemafor: Left-wing ideas have wrecked Democrats’ brand, new report warnsGOP Autopsy Report: RNCreport03182013.pdfRealignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: [email protected]

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: [email protected] week, Marshall interviewed Reihan Salam, President of the Manhattan Institute, at Newark's Aspen Ideas Festival: Economy. Marshall and Reihan discussed culture's impact on the economy and politics through the lens of immigration. They cover the struggles of multigenerational working-class immigrants facing a new cultural and economic landscape and the right's increasing turn against H1B visas and high-skilled immigration through the lens of Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy's comments about American children choosing sleepovers over hard work. 

Realignment Newsletter: https://therealignment.substack.com/Realignment Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentEmail the Show: [email protected] DiStefano, author of The Next Realignment: Why America's Parties Are Crumbling and What Happens Next and the Renew the Republic Substack, returns to The Realignment. Marshall and Frank discuss why they were attracted to the idea of a "realignment" before it was cool and obvious, why the breakdown of parties and institutions is fundamentally about a "crisis of legitimacy," the importance of building an ideological movement versus focusing on political parties, and why the abundance agenda, especially in its less wonky versions, is a useful vehicle for forcing institutions to answer the "what are we trying to do here," question.