August 30, 2024

• My Diner With Kamala: Last night’s CNN interview of Vice President Kamala Harris (with cameo appearances by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz) in a Georgia diner went just about as well as Democrats could have hoped. There were no major gaffes, and Harris handled the “gotcha” questions that interviewer Dana Bash threw in with grace and grit. The highlight on that front was when Bash brought up former President Donald Trump’s remarks about whether or not Harris is actually Black. Rather than getting down in the weeds on this, Harris’ response was a verbal eye-roll: “Same old tired playbook. Next question.” It worked well. While there was little in the way of new information for those who have been watching her since the convention, she did state that she would look to appoint a Republican to her cabinet. (Paging Adam Kinzinger or Liz Cheney to the white courtesy telephone!)
  
  Walz spent the majority of the conversation off-screen, but was game to step up and respond when called upon. My favorite moment of his was when he was asked about his military service, and responded with, “Well, first of all, I’m incredibly proud, I’ve done 24 years wearing the uniform of this country. I’m equally proud of my service in a public school classroom.” (I’m a firm believer that public school teachers deserve just as much in the way of kudos and accolades as our armed service members.) If you’re curious to see more of the convo, CNN has broken it up into three links: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

• Donald’s Choice: Trump may be treading on some thin ice with some of his staunchest supporters, given comments he’s made over the past day or two about in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and abortion. In an interview with NBC News in Michigan yesterday, he stated that he’d support public funding for IVF — or even a law requiring insurance companies to cover it. (It should come as little surprise that he didn’t cover how insurance companies would pay for the infamously costly procedure.) He also implied in the same interview that he would vote for a Florida ballot initiative that would overturn an abortion ban that was imposed last year. His campaign was quick to follow this up with a statement that Trump hadn’t said how he would vote; just that “he believes six weeks is too short”. But given the options are: vote to strike down the 6-week ban, or vote to keep it in place — or not vote at all on it, which would effectively be the same as the second option — there’s not too much wiggle room, here. Regardless, his attempts to reach out to women voters may soften his support with anti-abortion activists. LINK
  
• The Best Little Voting Scandal in Texas: If you or a friend are registered to vote in Texas, you may want to double-check your status. Recent moves by Governor Greg Abbott have resulted in the removal of more than 1.1 million names from the state’s voter rolls. While states are indeed required to regularly update their lists to remove people who have died or left the state, approximately 13% of all Texan voters (or around 2.1 million) are currently on a “suspended” list, indicating that county officials are calling their eligibility into question. Those on this suspended list could be easily removed, just like the earlier 1.1 million now-former voters. This is all in response to Abbott (and other Republican officials) attempting to crack down on fraudulent voting — of which there is astonishingly little evidence. LINK