<em>The Atlantic</em> Daily: Gathering Storm

What We’re Following

Hurricane Harvey: The Category 3 storm is expected to make landfall twice—first at Corpus Christi, Texas, and again near Houston—and to dump up to 35 inches of rain on the area, leading to heavy flooding and possible outages of power and drinking water. Harvey’s effects could be devastating: On land, the path of the storm is heavily populated, and at sea it passes close to offshore drilling platforms that are key to oil and gas operations in the U.S. Residents of the areas that will be hardest hit have been advised to evacuate, but some—often gambling on their memories of past storms—are choosing to ride it out.

In the wake of President, stating such attitudes are “completely inconsistent with the Republican Party’s platform.” Meanwhile, Democrats have sought to capture populist momentum with proposals like free college tuition—but as Conor Friedersdorf writes, these plans might be more attractive if they promised paths to success .