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You have to feel for John Waters.

The good news is that the Baltimore-based writer and filmmaker just got nominated for a 2020 Grammy Award in the Spoken Word category for his latest book, Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of A Filth Elder.

The bad news is that hes up against Michelle Obama, one of the most popular people on the planet, who was nominated for the audio version of her bestseller, Becoming.

Waters, who has been nominated for a Grammy before, is taking it all in stride.

This is my second nomination in the Spoken Word category, Waters said in an email. The first time it was for the audio book of Role Models and Joan Rivers died and beat me. This time, Michelle Obama will live and beat me too.

He has a suggestion for the Grammy broadcast, though.

I wish we could read each others books aloud at the awards ceremony, he said. She could be Mrs. Know It All and I could be Mr. Not Becoming.'

Regardless, he said, I am honored to be included with all five of the nominees.

Others nominated in the Spoken Word category, which includes poetry, audio books and storytelling, are: Sekou Andrews and String Therapy for Sekou Andrews and String Therapy, Eric Alexandrakis for I. V. Catatonia: 20 Years as a Two Time Cancer Survivor, and various artists for the Beastie Boys Book Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz, Scott Serratt and Dan Zitt, producers.

The 62nd Grammy Awards ceremony will air Jan. 26 on CBS.

Ed Gunts is a local freelance writer and the former architecture critic for The Baltimore Sun.

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John Waters to face off against Michelle Obama at the 2020 Grammys - Baltimore Fishbowl

Did Barack Obama just cancel himself?

Thats the question an editor here asked me on Saturday, as we watched comments Mr. Obama had made about the 2020 race reverberate across social media.

In case you missed it: Mr. Obama expressed some thoughts at a meeting of wealthy donors in Washington on Friday night. Aides billed the event as a chance for him to calm some of the anxiety that establishment party types are expressing about the Democratic field. Mr. Obama did that, reminding them of how brutal his primary fight was against Hillary Clinton in 2008 and, hey, that turned out O.K., right?

Then, Mr. Obamas remarks veered into his own worries about the field.

I dont think we should be deluded into thinking that the resistance to certain approaches to things is simply because voters havent heard a bold enough proposal and if they hear something as bold as possible then immediately thats going to activate them, he said. People rightly are cautious because they dont have a lot of margin for error.

This is still a country that is less revolutionary than it is interested in improvement, he added. They like seeing things improved, but the average American doesnt think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it.

No one was mentioned by name. While Mr. Obama has spoken privately with nearly all the candidates, hes been very careful to avoid even the appearance of influencing the race.

But it was pretty clear who Mr. Obama was talking about this time Senators Elizabeth Warren (big, structural change) and Bernie Sanders (political revolution).

I was covering his remarks and there wasnt much reaction from the room at the time. But by the next morning, tweets were flying, a hashtag had been created people proudly proclaimed they were #TooFarLeft and voters, activists and strategists were chattering.

And, boy, did they have plenty to say. Mr. Obama got a resounding chorus of O.K. boomer from liberal activists, who questioned his record on issues like health care, climate change and immigration.

Of course, as readers of this newsletter know, Twitter is not real life. The views of Democrats on social media often bear little resemblance to those in the wider electorate. Twitter Democrats are whiter, more liberal and more politically active, according to a New York Times analysis from earlier this year.

People close to the former president say he wasnt bothered by the reaction. At this point in his life, he feels liberated to give what he sees as his best advice to his fellow Democrats based on his political experiences.

And hes giving voice to concerns from moderates that have been bubbling up for several weeks now as Ms. Warren and Mr. Sanders have shown resilience in the polls. But Mr. Obamas sentiments are in direct conflict with what the more liberal activists who have an outsize role in the partys politics and the nominating process have been expressing.

Still, its worth noting that my colleague Jenny Medina was at the California Democratic Convention in Long Beach on Saturday and none of the political types she spoke to had seen the Twitter backlash to Mr. Obamas comments.

If Mr. Obama was right about one thing, its that the disconnect between the wings of the party is real.

I want to know what you all think about Mr. Obamas remarks.

Is he right that Democrats are playing risky politics by pushing to the left? Or, is his brand of more centrist politics simply not meeting todays fierce urgency of now?

Email us at onpolitics@nytimes.com. Please include your name and location. We may feature you in an upcoming edition of this newsletter!

Democrats scored a big victory in a second red state over the weekend, when Gov. John Bel Edwards won re-election by more than 40,000 votes in Louisiana. His victory came less than two weeks after another Democratic win, a narrow one in the Kentucky governors race.

President Trump had invested political capital in both off-year races, seeing potential Republican victories as a way to steady his political footing amid the drumbeat of impeachment news.

In rallies before the elections, he cast the contests as a referendum on himself.

You got to give me a big win, please, O.K., the president pleaded with his supporters last Thursday in Bossier City, La.

Yet, officials on both sides of the aisle said those Democratic victories came in spite of the impeachment inquiry not because of it.

It was not a help, Gov. Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island, who was deeply involved with all three races as head of the Democratic Governors Association, told me on Sunday evening. Candidly, it made it more difficult, if anything.

Weve spent a lot of time analyzing how impeachment may be affecting our politics. These two races give us the start of an answer.

For months, Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to start House impeachment proceedings, pointing to the reluctance of her members who had flipped more moderate, suburban districts in the midterms, handing Democrats control of the chamber.

Now we have some evidence for the political rationale behind her hesitation: In deeply conservative states like Louisiana and Kentucky, which Mr. Trump won in 2016 by 20 points and 30 points, the House impeachment process rallied his base, according to Ms. Raimondo encouraging Mr. Trumps voters to turn out and defend him.

But any Republican backlash against impeachment wasnt enough to elevate the Republican candidates who had tied themselves to Mr. Trump. In these two governors races, the pro-Trump turnout was still smaller than the coalition of African-Americans and moderate whites in suburbs and cities energized to come out and support the Democrats, who were well known in their states. (Republicans did pick up a win in the Mississippi governors election.)

That dynamic happening in conservative states should be a big, flashing danger sign for the president, who will be fighting for his re-election in far more purple places.

Much of the outcome of the 2020 race is likely to depend on whether either party or an event like the impeachment inquiry is able to alter that balance.

Join Jennifer Steinhauer, a Washington correspondent for The Times, on Dec. 5 in Washington, D.C., for a discussion with four of the 131 women of the 116th Congress.

Dont miss this opportunity to hear these four trailblazing women share their personal perspectives on what it means to be a woman and a woman in power in 2019. Included in the ticket price is a copy of the new book The Women of the 116th Congress: Portraits of Power. Buy tickets here.

What do you do with $7,000 of surplus campaign shoelaces?

Our far-flung political reporter Jenny Medina sends along this report: Representative Eric Swalwells extra swag from his short-lived presidential campaign has finally found its forever home.

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Barack Obama Cant Be Bothered - The New York Times

Ben Rhodes, Obamas deputy national security adviser for strategic communication, condemned Grisham and called her accusation a lie.

If this happened I also dont think the entire Trump staff would wait 3 years to tell us, he said. Sad to see the WH press secretary fall this far.

Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama, demanded that Grisham "produce the notes that back this up."

She added: I cannot imagine a single one of my former colleagues who would do this. From @BarackObama on down, we all tried to help facilitate a smooth and orderly transition just as President Bush and his team had done for us."

Former West Wing staffers also countered Grishams claim by recalling the words of advice they left in the White House for their successors or noting they left briefing books in an attempt to smooth the transition of power.

Ned Price, a former CIA intelligence officer, argued Grisham was right about one point.

I left a note -- tucked away in my desk -- for my successor. I wished him success and encouraged him not to grow jaded despite the pace and obstacles. I also left my personal email in case he wished to seek candid advice, he wrote on Twitter, adding: I never heard from him.

Rice also retweeted the CNN reporter, Abby Phillip, who had quoted an excerpt from Rices book recounting how Rice left a note for her successor Michael Flynn: "On a White House stationary card, I reiterate my best wishes for his success in a job so crucial to the nation's security. I offer to help him, if ever I could..."

Peter Boogaard, an Obama-era press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, called Grishams assertion ridiculous.

WH Staff spent countless hours, right up until President Trump Inauguration, preparing memos to facilitate a smooth transition and left notes of encouragement and support for their predecessors, he tweeted. Have to wonder what prompted this outright lie.

And even Grishams predecessor in the East Wing press shop tweeted out the text of the letter she left for Grisham upon assuming her new role in the White House.

Others reacted with humor.

Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau, now host of the popular liberal podcast Pod Save America, tweeted that it's appalling that she thinks our notes would have been that lame. Another former speechwriter, Cody Keenan, joked in a tweet that I actually left an iPhone charger if anybodys seen it, but no, nobody left unimaginative notes written at a sixth-grade level.

Grisham told POLITICO just days into the new administration that the outgoing press staff left a variety of books about Obama in the press office space for the incoming team though its not clear she mentioned any kinds of disparaging notes.

The disparaging notes would mark a dark turn for high jinks that have occasionally greeted incoming administrations. White House aides have a history of pulling pranks on their successors. When President George W. Bush took office, his staff discovered Clinton officials had removed the W key from keyboards in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

Grisham elaborated on the pushback from Obama officials, saying in an email to POLITICO that "Im not sure where their offices were, and certainly wasnt implying every office had that issue."

"In fact, I had a lovely note left for me in the East Wing, and I tracked the woman down and thanked her. I was talking specifically (and honestly) about our experience in the lower press office nowhere else, " she continued. "I dont know why everyone is so sensitive! At the time we saw it as kind of a prank, and something that always happened. We were so busy trying to learn where the bathrooms were and how to turn on the lights, it wasnt that big of a deal."

But other Obama alums rebuffed that explanation as well.

"Ive known @joshearnest almost my entire career, and not only are these accusations antithetical to the ethos of the @BarackObama administration, they are also the exact opposite of how teams he leads acthed never tolerate that kind of BS," wrote Brent Colburn, who worked in the comms department of various federal agencies.

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Obama alums bristle at Stephanie Grisham's claim that they left 'you will fail' notes - POLITICO

Barack Obama used to be the Hope and Change guy. He wrote a book called The Audacity of Hope. His campaign slogans were: Yes we can! and: Change you can believe in. He inspired people to dream big and, at his rallies, exhilarated crowds chanted: Fired up! Ready to go!

But that was a long time ago. Obama is older now and wiser. He realises hope can sometimes be too audacious and he appears to have adopted new slogans to reflect that. No we cant! and Dont believe in change its too hard to achieve. Post-presidency, his rallying cry seems to be: Simmer down, kids: youre going way too far to the left.

Last Friday, the former president addressed the annual meeting of the Democracy Alliance, a network of wealthy Democratic donors, and praised realism over idealism. Even as we push the envelope we also have to be rooted in reality, he said. The average American doesnt think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it They just dont want to see crazy stuff. He cautioned against the Democrats adopting too progressive a platform, arguing that voters arent aligned with the ambitions of certain left-leaning Twitter feeds or the activist wing of our party.

Obamas remarks to the Democracy Alliance come just weeks after he made similarly disparaging comments about the left during a conversation at the Obama Foundation summit in Chicago. We cant completely remake society in a minute, he said. This idea of purity and youre never compromised and youre always politically woke you should get over that quickly.

Thanks, Obama, but these patronising lectures are getting old. Most progressives, Id wager, are well aware change doesnt happen overnight. But that doesnt mean we need to compromise our values or ambitions. That doesnt mean we should get over the crazy idea that we can build a more equal world for everyone.

While Obamas recent denunciations of the left are disappointing, they are not exactly surprising. After all, while he may have promised hope and change, Obama was never truly progressive. He deported 1.2 million people during his first three years in office; Trump, by the way, has deported fewer than 800,000 while he has been president. Obama spearheaded a secretive drone war; he expanded the surveillance state; he attempted to cut social security benefits, even though his campaign promised he would expand them; he denounced the influence of money in politics and then gave his big-money donors plum posts in his administration. Dont get me wrong. Im not here to demonise Obama. He did a lot of good and he was a million times better than Trump although that is, of course, an incredibly low bar. But he was always centrist. He never believed in systemic change.

Heres the thing, though: we live in an age when wanting systemic change isnt idealism, its realism. Unconscionable inequality and the climate crisis mean that we have run out of time for compromises. We have run out of time for vague promises of hope. Obama may think he is being practical, but he misunderstands the urgency of the current moment. If liberal leaders persist in standing in the middle of the road, we will all get run over.

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Thanks Obama, but these patronising lectures are getting old - The Guardian

The Texas woman who sent former President Barack Obama an explosive package only to be tracked down because of a cat hair on the parcel was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Monday, authorities said.

Julia Poff, who pleaded guilty in July to transporting explosives with intent to kill, was sentenced to 120 months behind bars by District Judge Vanessa Gilmore for the caper, according to the FBI.

Poff, who reportedly worked for a number of years at a fireworks stand, assembled the explosives and sent them to Obama, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Social Security Administration Commissioner Carolyn Colvin in October 2016.

The bomb sent to Abbott didnt detonate because the governor didnt open it as designed, according to court papers.

Security screeners intercepted the packages sent to Obama and Colvin.

Federal investigators were able to track the devices back to Poff after they found shipping labels, a salad dressing cap used in one of the bombs and cat hair that was traced to one of her cats.

All I can say is Im sorry, Poff said at her sentencing Friday, the Houston Chronicle reported. Im sorry to the people Ive hurt.

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Obama mail bomber busted thanks to cat hair gets 10 years behind bars - New York Post