Rumors of a return to the traditional NNR format this month were apparently greatly exaggerated, because everything stayed way too off-the-wall to summarize normally. This has been a fast-paced and impressively rough news cycle for national news, but I’m feeling a bit more centered and a bit less dire as I type this. How is everyone else doing?
Standard standing reminders still apply: we may be into my eighth year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an electoral candidate!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!
Cleanup in Aisle 45:
We continued to have a wild ride in the Election Et Cetera section this cycle for both electoral camps. Here’s what has happened since last time:
- Attempted Assassination and the Real Nasty Convention. It’s hard to believe this was the same cycle, so you would be forgiven for thinking this was old news – but as I’m sure most folks already know, a shooter opened fire at Donald Trump at a political rally in Butler, PA last Saturday. The shooter was killed on the scene. While 45 sustained a minor ear injury but was otherwise unharmed, one bystander was fatally shot while protecting others and two more were seriously injured. For much of the past week, we’ve had more questions than answers about exactly how and why this happened – particularly as the shooter was a registered Republican and his rooftop was a known security risk. But whatever the motives, it’s clear that it turbo-boosted Trump’s campaign, as he didn’t hesitate to play the martyr before adoring fans at the Republican National Convention later that week. (Fun fact: His 90-minute acceptance speech beats his own previous records as the longest in history.) While he was there, he also picked Ohio nightmare J. D. Vance as his running mate–presumably because he is young, rich, and controllable. All told, the RNC was probably riding pretty high as the convention concluded on Saturday. It’s truly so tragic that they got to scramble with the rest of us a day later.
- Done Biden His Time. You may remember that last cycle, House Democrats increasingly began calling for Biden to step aside almost immediately – a call that grew more and more as the weeks went on. As if to punctuate this point, Biden then got COVID at the top of this news cycle, forcing him to stop campaign travel while Trump rode the martyr wave to his RNC nomination. Despite all of this, it really felt like Biden would never actually conclude his campaign – he had been refusing loudly and often for weeks at that point. So I think it’s fair to say that most of us were pretty stunned when Biden announced that he was ending his Presidential campaign yesterday afternoon. At that point, it looked like a deeply fractured Democratic party was going to have a free-for-all for the next month – outlets were speculating wildly about who might speed run in the ensuing void. But somehow, miraculously, that didn’t happen – and didn’t happen so thoroughly, in fact, that one wonders if all of this had been pre-planned. Biden was quick to endorse Vice President Harris on the heels of his announcement, and in the past twenty-four hours or so, nearly the entire Democratic party has followed suit. At the time that I type this, every single other viable candidate–as well as more than enough electoral delegates–have already rallied behind her, and Uncle Dem has raised an incredible $81M with her overnight. While technically anything could happen, it’s pretty clear that Harris is inheriting Biden’s whole electoral apparatus ahead of the virtual roll call that will likely be her next step for nomination.
Your Regularly-Scheduled “Normal”:
- Other Than That, Mrs. Lincoln, How Was The News? We did have other things happen over the past two weeks, though much of the news has been obviated by Biden’s surprise news yesterday. There were some rumblings in the House about impeachment of Justices Thomas and Alito, which also led to some stories about Biden considering SCOTUS reform. As if proving the overall point, around the same time Aileen Cannon finally fully dismissed Trump’s classified documents case, claiming that there was an issue with the special counsel’s appointment. (Unsurprisingly, said special counsel is appealing.) There was also a massive global IT outage on Friday that airlines are still reeling from as I type this. And as Biden’s diagnosis would suggest, we’re also in the middle of another COVID wave.
Looking Ahead:
- So What Happens Next? Obviously, this is a very unsettling time for much of the country, and a lot of folks I know were pretty shaken by the news this cycle. Against that backdrop, I think it’s helpful to talk a bit more about what we can expect from here, and what next steps make sense. As I mentioned above, I think it’s fair at this point to say that Harris is the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party–although that won’t be finalized until after a virtual roll call and/or the Democratic National Convention itself, which will likely both be in August. The GOP is threatening to challenge a Harris ticket as illegal, but that has no real basis in legal reality and most state judges still know it. They’re also already calling for Biden to step down, claiming that if he can’t run he also can’t be President–but I think we’re unlikely to see real traction on that under these circumstances either. Nonetheless, the mere idea of a three-month Presidential campaign is wild, to put it politely, and we’re far from out of the woods on all the procedural and legal uncertainties; it will be deeply important to coalition-build and remain coordinated and cooperative. (As I mentioned yesterday, now is also a good time to be supportive of the people around you who are retraumatized and anxious in the face of all of this.) That said, the fact that the Democratic Party has stopped eating itself long enough to near-unilaterally endorse Harris, as well as the huge amounts she’s already fundraised, are signs I consider deeply encouraging. It’s possible that we do have the tools we need to successfully pivot here.
So that’s what I have for you, and I think we can agree that it was more than enough. For making it through, you deserve this Dumpling romp and a more functional government. I’ll be back next time with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more hours in the day!
National News Roundup 