Sunday, July 09, 2023
There was no big political headline grabber the week of July 4th. Politicians were out in force, marching in parades, shaking hands, and kissing babies. But now, as we head to Labor Day, candidates will need to kick into high gear for primaries and a November 2024 election that is just 16 months away. Let’s “brunch” on that this week.
“The Bidenomics Southern Tour” – This past week, President Biden toured South Carolina, to tout his self-proclaimed “Bidenomics” agenda. — which his White House press release touts, “Growing the American economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down.”
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President Biden says companies have committed over a half-trillion dollars in manufacturing and clean energy investments in the U.S. since he took office. The President went to visit South Carolina, where he says companies have already announced $11 billion in manufacturing and clean energy investments. Two hundred nine thousand new jobs were created last month, and unemployment fell even further to 3.6 percent. Good economic news tends to favor incumbents, but a lot of people were driving on a July 4th holiday with gas still at $3.59 a gallon. Perspective!
“South Carolina Crossroads” – South Carolina has traditionally been one of the first three primary states. While a solidly red state, it has a large African American population that came out strong for Biden in the 2020 primary and made him a solid frontrunner. His problem with this go-around is actually from across the aisle. Biden will easily win the primary in the Palmetto State, but what about November? Former Gov. Nikki Haley (R) South Carolina, and current Sen. Tim Scott (R) South Carolina are both in the GOP primary field. If either is the nominee, Haley, an Asian American, and Scott, an African American, could pull critical, independent votes away from Biden. Haley and Scott might also be strong VP picks if they aren’t the nominee.
“Rudi’s Rude Awakening” – A disciplinary board that is a watchdog over misbehavior by lawyers in Washington, DC, has recommended that former New York City Mayor and Trump legal counsel Rudy Giuliani be disbarred. The team recommends his law license be stripped for Giuliani’s legal claims and filings that pointed to widespread fraud in the 2020 election, which simply has never been proven. “He claimed massive election fraud but had no evidence of it,” the committee wrote. “By prosecuting that destructive case, Mr. Giuliani, a sworn officer of the Court, forfeited his right to practice law. He should be disbarred.” The federal DC Circuit Court of Appeals still has the final say. Regardless, what a sad fall from grace after being “America’s Mayor” following the 9-11 attacks.
“Air DeSantis” – Questions keep arising about who is paying for chartered flights to carry Gov. Ron. DeSantis around the nation on presidential campaign stops. Obviously, he has access to State of Florida-owned planes, but those can only be used for official state business, not for campaigning. But Politico reports that a wealthy campaign donor in Florida is chartering his private plane to shuttle DeSantis around the country. That’s all fine and good, so long as it’s disclosed as an in-kind donation in campaign financial filings. Flight records, which are public, indicate a private plane owned by the donor flew to New Hampshire from Florida, round trip, coinciding with the time DeSantis was in the Granite State. Is it Watergate? No, of course not, but put it in the campaign filings.
“Is Silence Really Golden?” – Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has yet to endorse Donald Trump for president in 2024, nor is he likely to do so. With a razor-thin majority, he does not want to upset anyone in his caucus who is not inclined to jump aboard the Trump train. And he’s wise to stay out of it. A mere 5-seat loss would flip the House back to Democrats, and there is no guarantee Trump would even win back the White House. He may ultimately vote for Trump, but a public endorsement would be foolish. Trump could win the White House, while the GOP loses the House and fails to win the Senate majority. That would leave Trump legislatively handcuffed.
“Email Wars – The Republicans” – “Vital caselaw, of which there is much, further confirms that the Presidential Records Act (PRA) is the only statute which applies to Presidents and their records. These cases build on the Clinton Socks case in making it clear that Presidents have complete latitude and authority when it comes to documents, as well as that the PRA has no criminal enforcement mechanism. Deranged Jack Smith knows this but refuses to even mention the words “Presidential Records Act” in his Scam Indictment of Biden’s Political Opponent (who is leading by a lot) in the middle of a Campaign—a No, No!” This missive portends to come right from former President Trump (who claims to be leading by a lot in the polls, which is not true since most show a slight lead). But I get bombarded all day long by both sides!
“Email Wars – The Democrats” – “Joe Biden emailed you. Kamala Harris emailed you. Nancy Pelosi emailed you. Hakeem Jeffries emailed you. James Carville emailed you. Jamie Raskin emailed you. Eric Swalwell emailed you. Gavin Newsom emailed you. Chuck Schumer emailed you. All these top Democrats have reached out PERSONALLY because the stakes are SKY HIGH. And now we’re emailing — AGAIN — because we need you to know three critical updates: one. We just fell SHORT of our critical Mid-Year fundraising goal — our FIRST since Republicans won back the House!! 2. McCarthy’s House Republicans just raised $7.8 MILLION in a single month,” said the Democrats’ email.
“Email Evaluation?” – I’m sorry, but both parties sound so desperate and needy. They are being flooded with big PAC money and other sources, yet they are asking many average, hardworking Americans to pledge $3 a week or month just to keep them in the game, with the appearance of “giving the little guy a voice.” For shame, it’s an unethical trick. Very few in either party are looking out to help that voiceless $3 dollar contributor. The senders also assume the recipients have a huge and engaging investment in following politics, which poll after poll shows that most people don’t. I am a political junkie, as are many of my readers, but we are a small subset of the general population. Everyone gets too much email, and they cherry-pick their own top interests.
Mark Curtis, Ed.D., is Chief Political Reporter for the seven Nexstar Media TV stations serving West Virginia, its five neighboring states and the entire Washington, DC media market. He is also a MINDSETTER™ contributing political writer and analyst for www.GoLocalProv.com and its affiliates.
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