August 24, 2024

• RFK’s Out: So literally just minutes after yesterday’s post, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., announced that he was suspending his independent run at the presidency. And after some initial confusion, he did indeed endorse former President Donald Trump’s bid for the White House. It’s long been suspected that RFK’s bid was an attempt at siphoning off Democratic votes, and Kennedy’s actions and statements yesterday did little to shift that viewpoint. He has promised to work to remove his name from the ballots in “ten battleground states”, but with the earliest ballots being prepared to be sent out only two weeks from now, there’s not much time left to do so. Moreover, since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and was replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris, Kennedy’s poll numbers on the left side of the political spectrum have cratered. LINK
• Undecided? Really?? One of the interesting data points brought by CNN during night 4 of the DNC was that, in their focus group of eight supposedly “undecided” voters taken from Allentown, PA, six of the eight decided to vote for Harris, and one decided to vote for Trump. Except that one has a long history of reposting MAGA-related content on social media, including promoting fundraisers. So much for solid vetting work, there, CNN! LINK
• McCarthy Fizzles: Expanding beyond the presidential campaign, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had something of a vendetta going against Republican House members aligned with Representative Matt Gaetz, who forced him out of his position. Unfortunately for him, despite raising millions of dollars for various challengers, McCarthy has seen little success in defeating them in primary elections, including Gaetz himself. It’s expected that McCarthy will refocus efforts (and funds) towards defeating solely Gaetz at this point. LINK
• Looking to the Future? And finally, this photo has been making the rounds lately, and depending on how things go in November, I suspect that it may become something of a cultural touchstone: