Attention to the Unseen

Tim Alberta writes: The outcome of the presidential campaign, Republicans believed, was a fait accompli. “Donald Trump was well on his way to a 320-electoral-vote win,” Chris LaCivita told me this past Sunday as Democrats questioned, ever more frantically, whether President Joe Biden should remain the party’s nominee in November. “That’s pre-debate.” LaCivita paused to repeat himself: “Pre-debate.” This could be interpreted as trash talk coming from a cocky campaign: If you thought Biden was in trouble before he bombed…

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  Anand Giridharadas writes: Today Congressional Democrats met for a caucus meeting, and it was…complicated. One lawmaker, interviewed while walking out, was asked if the caucus was on the same page about whether President Biden should remain the party’s standard-bearer in 2024. He responded that they weren’t even reading from the same book. A small but growing number of Democratic lawmakers, along with many in the commentariat (and many voters who have registered their concerns about Biden’s age and health…

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The New York Times reports: Senator Christopher S. Murphy, an ambitious young Democrat from Connecticut, went on television on Sunday with a carefully worded warning to President Biden about the viability of his campaign. “This week is going to be absolutely critical; I think the president needs to do more,” Mr. Murphy said, arguing that Mr. Biden needed to hold a town hall and participate in unscripted events because “the clock is ticking” for him to put to rest the…

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Politico reports: President Joe Biden has a new problem: a competitive race in deep blue New York. Elected officials, union leaders and political consultants are panicking over polls showing a steady erosion of Biden’s support in a state he won by 23 points four years ago. They’re so worried they’ve been trying to convince the Biden team to pour resources into New York to shore up his campaign and boost Democrats running in a half-dozen swing districts that could determine…

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Politico reports: Voters and local candidates in Wisconsin have a message for President Joe Biden: It’s not just Democratic elites who are freaking out about your mental acuity. Biden on Monday suggested it was simply the “the elites in the party” raising doubts about his political viability after a halting, incoherent debate performance last month. In fact, questions about his age are dominating the political conversation in and around Milwaukee and Madison, crucial turf for Democrats in November, according to…

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George Clooney writes: I love Joe Biden. As a senator. As a vice president and as president. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him. Believe in his character. Believe in his morals. In the last four years, he’s won many of the battles he’s faced. But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time. None of us can. It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at…

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Axios reports: Campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon has been internally stoic about the fallout from Biden’s disastrous debate on June 27, aides said. As part of her own motivational speech, she told staffers that the 81-year-old president had been personally looking over the stats of what campaign workers are doing in key states and urged them to keep at it. “We have to bypass the narrative out there,” she said on the call. Principal deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks acknowledged to…

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Politico reports: Donald Trump’s allies are moving to capitalize on Joe Biden’s stumbles. A big-spending super PAC linked to Republican mega-donor Miriam Adelson is set to spend $61 million on TV and digital ads attacking Biden, as the besieged president faces calls from within his own party to step aside following his disastrous debate performance. Preserve America will begin airing commercials later this month, timed to coincide with the start of the Summer Olympics, which is expected to draw massive…

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The Hill reports: Former President Trump is gaining ground in key swing states and could threaten to take states once considered to be safe for Democrats, as President Biden struggles to regain ground after a shaky debate performance, according to a new Cook Political Report analysis Tuesday. Biden’s defiance against calls for him to leave the presidential campaign after last month’s debate have only worsened his chances in November, Cook Editor-in-Chief Amy Walter wrote. “Biden was losing pre-debate. Now, he’s…

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Axios reports: Just before House Democrats’ Tuesday morning “come-to-Jesus” meeting on President Biden’s path forward, a smaller group of swing-district Democrats held what sources described as a despondent gathering with “actual tears.” Why it matters: The bloc of battleground House Democrats is one of the last firm pockets of a rapidly disintegrating movement on Capitol Hill to get Biden off the ticket. One shell-shocked lawmaker who was present at the meeting would offer only one word to characterize it: “Intense.” Another described the mood as…

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Molly Jong-Fast writes: Even Donald Trump doesn’t want anything to do with Project 2025—at least not publicly. “I know nothing about Project 2025,” he wrote on Truth Social. “I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal.” Imagine how toxic the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 must be to get disavowed by Trump, the guy who has otherwise mused about being…

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