Jul.24

electoral-vote.com

Dem 51

   

GOP 49

...And from DemWorld

Of course, it's not only the Republicans who are operating in overdrive right now, although they appear to be considerably less orderly than the Democrats. In any case, here's the latest from the blue team:

• Rally Time: Kamala Harris traveled to Wisconsin and held her first rally since becoming the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party. We're not sure how much these events really matter, but the event did make two things clear. First, there's much enthusiasm for the new candidate. Second, Harris is not afraid to take off the gloves and throw down. "I took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump's type," she declared.
  
  
• Falling in Line: As expected, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) bestowed their endorsements on Harris yesterday, joining Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who did the same on Monday evening.
  
  At this point, the only upper-echelon Democrat who has not endorsed Harris is Barack Obama. As an institutionalist, there is zero chance that he does not support her. The general assumption is that he's holding off for a few days out of respect for Joe Biden.
  
  
• Biden to Speak: Speaking of Joe Biden, the address to the nation that he promised was coming will take place tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET. Appearing from the Oval Office, Biden will presumably explain his thinking in deciding to withdraw from the race, and will also make a pitch for Harris. The White House will undoubtedly stream the speech here, and it will be carried live on all the news networks. Oh, and Fox is going to carry it, too.
  
  
• The Veepstakes: With the Convention right around the corner, there's no time to waste when it comes to choosing a VP candidate. The firm of former AG Eric Holder is doing the vetting, and a few things are currently known: (1) there are currently about 10 candidates under consideration; (2) Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC), Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) have received packets to fill out for the vetting process and (3) Govs. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) and Jared Polis (D-CO) have not received packets. Polis remarked: "My phone hasn't rung yet. Look, if they, if they do the polling and it turns out that they need a 49-year-old, balding, gay Jew from Boulder, Colorado, they got my number."
  
  We have had a number of readers take exception to our observation that the VP pick is going to be a bland centrist white guy, probably from a swing state. These readers generally point out that the American people might respond very well to a two-woman ticket, particularly given that abortion figures to be a key issue (or THE key issue) in this election.
  
  We do not disagree that the American people might respond well to a two-woman ticket (or a one woman, one gay white guy ticket). However, when we write that it's going to be a bland, centrist white guy, we are not giving our preference, nor are we saying what we think the Democrats SHOULD do. What we are doing is predicting, with some very high degree of confidence, what they WILL do. The last four Democratic tickets have featured one person who was a straight, center-left white guy and one person who was not a straight, center-left white guy. Until the Party shows us something different, we must assume this will be their approach to constructing a presidential ticket. And Harris is already occupying the "not a straight, center-left white guy" slot, so...

So, that's one party that is flailing about wildly, and another that's got more than a semblance of order. It all points to the Democrats having been prepared for this, and the Republicans getting caught with their pants down. (Z)