The Opinion writer Michelle Cottle and the contributing Opinion writer Ben Rhodes discuss why the Democratic Party hasn’t begun an effective opposition and whom they see as the future of the party.lendapg

Obama’s Not Going to Save Democrats, but This MightMichelle Cottle and Ben Rhodes on what Democrats misunderstand about authenticity.

Below is a lightly edited transcript of this episode of “The Opinions.” We recommend listening to it in its original form for the full effect. You can do so using the player above or on the NYT Audio app, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.

His lawyers admitted that he had carried out the shooting, but they said he was so unwell at the time that he could not know that what he was doing was wrong.

No one was injured in the escape, which happened about 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. Firefighters for the city of North Attleboro who were working at a rodeo at the Emerald Square Mall said they had seen eight bulls break loose from their pen, the fire chief said in a previous statement.

Michelle Cottle: I’m Michelle Cottle,66cassino and I cover national politics for Times Opinion.

I’ve been watching the political scene for nearly three decades, and the question I’m getting these days more than any other is: What the heck are the Democrats doing? And related to that: What can the opposition do to fight back against the Trump administration to win back voters, to build a new movement?

These are great questions and here to help me answer them is Ben Rhodes.

Ben is probably best known for his work as a speechwriter and deputy national security adviser to President Obama. More recently, he and I have both been reporting and interviewing a host of Democrats, and we’ve written pieces to try to understand the current state of the party and what it needs to do to survive and maybe even thrive in these turbulent times.

Ben, thank you so much for joining me.

Ben Rhodes: Good to see you, Michelle.

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Cottle: Before we really dig into the question of what Democrats should do, let me get your take on the mood here in D.C., particularly among Democratic leaders. What is it like? What are you seeing?

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