The Show Notes: Herschel's Chances, CNN's Shock Poll, & The Youth Vote
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Headline: Fearing a wipeout, Democrats try to unify around a simple midterm message: Republicans are 'extremists' - CNN
NEW: White House braces for grim news on economy - Politico
Russia cuts gas flows further as Europe urges energy saving - Reuters
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Clip of the day: Seriously, is she ok?
Shock poll: Full story at CNN.
New Polling in Georgia
The AJC released a poll in Georgia showing Brian Kemp ahead of Stacey Abrams by five and Raphael Warnock ahead of Herschel Walker by three. The continued lackluster performance from Herschel Walker on and off of the campaign trail is part of a larger concern for Senate Republicans heading into November. Historically, in Georgia, Democrats poll better than the GOP through the fall, so this is good for Walker.
Why it matters: Republicans only need to pick up one seat in the Senate to control the upper chamber and Georgia is one of their few opportunities to do so.
What happens next: The Walker campaign did a staff shakeup and the National Republican Senatorial Committee sent additional staff to help.
My take: Walker’s campaign kept him in the basement and leveraged name ID to carry him across the finish line in the primary. It worked. But that strategy doesn’t work in the general and Walker is still trying to get comfortable on the campaign trail.
My advice: Keep him on the campaign trail and off of the debate stage. Walker can win this. Warnock knows it. Go deeper with Politico.
Woke Doctors?
The Association of American Medical Colleges released a new set of standards regarding “diversity, equity and inclusion competencies” that new doctors will be required to master. The new standards from the influential medical nonprofit include intersectionality and “overlapping systems of oppression and discrimination that communities face based on race, gender, ethnicity, ability, etc.” The Wall Street Journal (paywall) has the full story but here are the two paragraphs that matter:
They (doctors) will also be expected to demonstrate “knowledge of the intersectionality of a patient’s multiple identities”—not to be confused with personality disorders—and “how each identity may result in varied and multiple forms of oppression or privilege related to clinical decisions and practice.” This sounds as if every medical diagnosis will have to be made with an accompanying political and sociological analysis.
Aspiring doctors will have to learn that race is a “social construct that is a cause of health and health care inequities, not a risk factor for disease.” Yet racial or ethnic groups do sometimes have a greater propensity for certain health problems. For instance, black women are at higher risk for a type of breast cancer known as triple-negative and women of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage are at greater risk of the BRCA gene mutation.
Investigating Donald Trump
The Justice Department announced a formal investigation into the actions of Donald Trump surrounding January 6th as part of the department’s larger investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Merrick Garland would not rule out prosecuting President Trump. The Washington Post (paywall) had the original story. CNBC has a free version.
China Has Major Problems
This is from CNBC:
China’s property sales are set to plunge this year by more than they did during the 2008 financial crisis, according to new estimates from S&P Global Ratings.
National property sales will likely drop by about 30% this year — nearly two times worse than their prior forecast, the ratings agency said, citing a growing number of Chinese homebuyers suspending their mortgage payments.
Such a drop would be worse than in 2008 when sales fell by roughly 20%, Esther Liu, director at S&P Global Ratings, said in a phone interview Wednesday.
The rest of the news:
Top Senate Democratic candidates refuse to say whether men can get pregnant, or define the word 'woman' - Fox News
Uvalde City Council to investigate every city officer who responded to school massacre - CNN
House Dems berate campaign arm over ‘very dangerous’ GOP primary scheme - Politico
Mortgage demand declines further, even as interest rates drop a bit - CNBC
US military making plans in case Pelosi travels to Taiwan - AP News
Biden-Xi call expected Thursday with Taiwan threats looming - Axios
Hulu to begin accepting political issue ads - Axios
How Biden Lost The Support Of Young Americans - FiveThirtyEight
NYC teen seen punching cop in wild video was sprung without bail in robbery case days earlier - NY Post
Vox Media lays off 39 people amid economic uncertainty - Axios
House Freedom Caucus issues rule change demands to leadership for a GOP majority - Washington Examiner
Four dead in 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit northern Philippines, impact felt in Manila - CNN
After massive bus fire, CT pulls electric fleet from service - Middletown Press
Zuckerberg says Meta and Apple are in ‘very deep, philosophical competition’ to build the metaverse - The Verge
Turning Point USA issues cease-and-desist to ABC News over ‘defamatory statements’ on ‘The View’ - NY Post
OPEC+ Walks a Fine Line on Oil Output: Elements by Julian Lee - Bloomberg (paywall)
On the campaign trail, many Republicans talk of violence - Washington Post (paywall)
Tweets that caught my eye: