THE SHOW NOTES: Dem Moderates vs Dem Progressives, New York Times Story, & Brand New Polling
Welcome! U.S. home prices are dropping at a record pace.
Lockdown Data: “Just 9% of Black students & 18% of Hispanic students in SFs district schools were proficient in math, compared with about 65% of their white and Asian American peers.”
Gaffe of the day: Biden calls Kamala Harris a ‘great president.’
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Clip of the day: The DeSantis vs Crist debate was a bit of a murder.
To make matters worse, ex-staffers of Charlie Crist are backing DeSantis.
Moderates vs Progressives
The progressive wing of the U.S. House received harsh pushback from fellow Democrats when 30 of them published a letter imploring the Biden administration to pursue direct negotiations with Russia as opposed to only economic and military support of Ukraine. The progressive group attempted damage control by rewriting the letter to emphasize their support of Ukraine and were still dissed by moderate Dems. Here are the best takes from moderate Democrats:
Rep. Auchincloss (D) - “This letter is an olive branch to a war criminal who’s losing his war.”
Rep. Gallego (D) - “The way to end a war? Win it quickly. How is it won quickly? By giving Ukraine the weapons to defeat Russia.”
Anonymous Dem Rep. to Politico - “That bone-headed letter just put Dems in the same league as Kevin McCarthy.”
Sen. Murphy (D) - “There is moral and strategic peril in sitting down with Putin too early.”
The punchline: The original letter was written back in June and was only released yesterday. Multiple progressive Democrats who signed it said they would not have signed it today.
UPDATE: Right before we hit send, progressives withdrew both letters and blamed the staff. LOL - Source
Democrats, on Defense in Blue States, Brace for a Red Wave in the House
Must read from The New York Times:
“Republicans are pressing their advantage deep into Democratic territory in the closing stretch of the 2022 campaign, competing for an abundance of House seats amid growing signs that voters are poised to punish President Biden’s party even in the bluest parts of America.
Republicans need to win only a handful of seats to take over the House of Representatives, which Democrats now control by a narrow margin of 220-212. But with two weeks until the election, Republicans are looking to run up the score and win a more expansive — and governable —majority by vying for districts in Democratic bastions, including in Rhode Island, which has not sent a Republican to Congress for nearly three decades.”
Polling Updates
Pennsylvania: John Fetterman’s lead has shrunk to well within the margin of error according to new polling out today from CBS News Battleground Tracker Poll.
Georgia: Our friends at The Dailywire have a new poll out this morning with Brian Kemp ahead of Stacey Abrams by 7% and Herschel Walker ahead of Raphael Warnock by 2.4%.
Americans For Prosperity
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The rest of the news:
Test scores show historic COVID setbacks for kids across US - AP News
The big recession risk that no one is talking about - Politico
GOP pours $6M more into Pa. Senate race - Politico
Adidas ends partnership with Ye over antisemitic remarks - AP News
Fed Is Losing Billions, Wiping Out Profits That Funded Spending - Yahoo
University of Florida bans indoor protesters from upcoming Sasse vote - Politico
Two Koreas exchange warning shots near sea border amid tensions - Reuters
GOP Poised to Cement Grip on Iowa, Ending Its Swing-State Status - Bloomberg (paywall)
California Poised to Overtake Germany as World’s No. 4 Economy - Bloomberg (paywall)
Three Inquiries, but No Answers to Who Blew Holes in Nord Stream Pipelines - NYT (paywall)
Tweets that caught my eye:
Market snapshot:
I would be horribly disappointed if the Republicans take Congress and any of them see it as some kind of endorsement for cutting aid to Ukraine. As far as I know, they haven’t run on this unless it’s fringe people like Marjorie Greene. Maybe seeing the so called “Progressives” go down the same path will give pause.