September 5, 2024

A Plea for Grace: Before I get into the news, just a note: There was a bit of a dust-up on my Facebook page yesterday between two people who felt very strongly about the gun control debate (particularly in light of the school shooting in Georgia). Please remember, friends, my goal here is to make political news accessible and turn down some of the heated rhetoric. I encourage discussion and debate, but ask you all to keep it civil. Thank you.

Setting Politics Aside: Arguably, the biggest news on the election front yesterday involved Liz Cheney. The former Representative from Wyoming, who as the eldest daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, is very Republican, announced that she would be not only not voting for former President Donald Trump, but she would in fact be voting for Vice President Kamala Harris. While her anti-Trump stance should not be a huge surprise given her fierce criticism of the former President’s actions in regards to January 6, her endorsement of Harris, which she said is “because of the danger that Donald Trump poses,” is rather notable. LINK

The Shape of Things to Come: Given that we are exactly two months away from Election Day, I figured it might be a good time to outline the timeline up through then. Here’s some of the highlights of what’s happening (LINK):

• September 6 (tomorrow): As per state law, North Carolina could begin mailing out absentee ballots. They will probably wait until at least Monday, September 9. Delaware also could start then, but their primary doesn’t happen until Tuesday, September 10, so it obviously won’t this time around.
• September 7: Officially sixty days until the election, meaning that theoretically, government agencies are not supposed to do anything from this date forward that might unduly affect the outcome. I say “theoretically” because this was ignored during the 2016 run-up to the election (cf. Hillary Clinton’s supposed emails).
• September 10: Harris and Trump debate on ABC.
• September 16: Early voting begins in Pennsylvania. Many other states will begin in the days following this.
• September 28: Saturday Night Live‘s 50th season premieres. While this is not a political event in of itself, SNL’s skewering of political figures is an important part of the cultural zeitgeist. Expect former SNL cast member Maya Rudolph to return to the stage frequently as Harris, alongside current cast member James Austin Johnson’s Trump. And we’ll have to wait and see who will play their running mates.
• September 30: The end of the fiscal year for the federal government. Congress has yet to approve a budget for the upcoming year, so expect quite a few stories about the dangers of the government shutting down to pop up.
• October 1: Vice presidential candidates Senator J.D. Vance and Governor Tim Walz debate on CBS.
• October 20: Harris turns 60; expect many comparisons to Trump’s age of 78 to crop up here.
• November 5: Election Day.