Democrats, after a sweeping midterm victory, are trading “woke” language for a “class war” pitch, while Republicans at a postmortem hosted by the Heritage Foundation, a Washington conservative think tank, avoided naming Trump, the FT reported on 15 November. Both moves are cheap: the winners have little reason to ask what voters rejected, and the losers have every reason not to ask about the man at the top.

The Democratic shift is defensible, since economic grievance is a mainstream centre-left tradition and retreating from identity-first politics answers voter signals. Yet it drops only the part of the agenda that cost votes, and “class war” is a zero-sum frame that sets up redistribution fights rather than a case for growth or pluralism. Heritage’s guests, whose standing depends on a sitting president, skipped the one variable that changed.

The FT says the faithful “licked their wounds”, which is what a party does when it wants comfort, not a diagnosis.

The Gist AI Editor

US parties regroup after the midterms, and neither names the cause

According to the FT on 15 November, the Democratic party, emboldened by its sweeping midterm victory, is moving “from culture war to class war” and dropping the “woke” language its critics objected to. The FT also reports that at a Heritage Foundation postmortem, a Washington conservative think tank’s gathering of Republicans, party faithful avoided mentioning their leader, President Donald Trump, while they absorbed the midterm drubbing.

FDA rejects Chinese-invented cancer drug ivonescimab

The US Food and Drug Administration, which decides which drugs can be sold in the US, has rejected Summit’s ivonescimab, a cancer drug invented in China, according to the FT on 15 November. The FT describes the decision as a blow to Beijing’s biotech sector, because the drug was seen as a test case for whether Chinese-developed medicine could pass US regulatory scrutiny.

CarMax and Carvana clash over how Americans buy used cars

The WSJ reported on 15 November that CarMax, once the giant of US used-car retail, has lost ground to the upstart online seller Carvana. CarMax is now betting that new sales tactics, together with its physical dealerships, will let it win back the market.

An AI-generated film preview goes viral

On 15 November, economist Tyler Cowen wrote on Marginal Revolution that an AI-generated movie preview is going viral, and he asked whether the studios might now make the film. He also asked whether this is a new way to evaluate and greenlight movies, meaning that audience reaction to a preview could decide which films get funded.

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From culture war to class war: US Democrats ditch woke politics
— Financial Times

In a Large Used-Car Market, CarMax and Carvana Clash Over How Americans Buy
— Wall Street Journal

Sunday assorted links
— Marginalrevolution

WSJ Opinion: The Fallout From the Fall of Jensen Huang
— Wall Street Journal

It’s Getting Too Dry for Even Cactuses to Survive
— Wired

More foreigners seek health screenings in South Korea
— The Straits Times

Estonia closes its Russian border after an attempted arson on a defence firm

Estonia will close its border with Russia from the start of December, after Tallinn’s Internal Security Service (Estonia’s domestic security and counter-intelligence agency) said Russia’s GRU (Russia’s military intelligence agency) commissioned an attempted arson attack on a defence firm (Politico Europe). Prime Minister Kristen Michal leads the government of Estonia, which is an EU and NATO member bordering Russia. The attack was only attempted, yet the response is a blunt, collective measure, and that exposes the incentive behind hybrid warfare: a small and deniable outlay by Moscow forces a large economic and political outlay by Tallinn and its NATO partners, while the people who lose the most are those who live and work across the border, not the GRU officers who ordered the plot. Estonia is entitled to impose a visible cost after an attributed operation, and a border is the one chokepoint where a state can screen who enters, but a closure still shows Moscow that a failed plot can produce a costly reaction.

Hungary: €17.7m in cash found at a former minister’s home

A search of the home of Hungary’s former development minister Sesztak turned up cash worth €17.7m, according to ZDF. ZDF reports the search was part of an anti-corruption campaign.

Italy: Cobas unions call a general strike for 20 November

The Cobas unions have proclaimed a general strike for 20 November, covering all public and private sectors for the full day, according to Il Sole 24 Ore. The strike excludes transport.

Catch the next Gist for the continent’s moving pieces.

Ermittler finden Millionen Euro bei Ex-Minister
— ZDF

Höhere Energiepreise werden zunehmend weitergegeben
— IFO

Kräftig gestiegene Energiepreise sorgen weiterhin für Preisdruck
— IFO

Estonia to close border with Russia after ‘sabotage attack’ on defense firm
— Politico Europe

SpaceX fängt Starship-Rakete mit Greifarm auf
— ZDF

SpaceX fängt erstmals Starship-Rakete nach Flug wieder auf
— ZDF