The Up First Podcast: Six Things that Biden Decided to Observe and Why Kamala Harris Will Win the Presidential Nomination
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After weeks of fiercely insisting he would stay in the race, President Biden announced yesterday that he is ending his reelection bid and officially endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for the role of the Democratic nominee for president. Harris said she is honored and plans to win the nomination. There are six things that came out of Biden’s decision to step aside.
If another person challenges Harris, the Democratic party could be headed for an open convention, which could go through multiple rounds of voting. Much depends on the around 4,700 convention delegates that will convene on Aug. 19 in Chicago. One expert told Keith, “It will be reality TV like you’ve never seen.” Here’s a closer look at what happens now.
Republicans are warning of legal challenges to a smooth transition from Biden to Harris as the presidential nominee, even as top Democrats back her. Some wondered if Democrats could swap out a presidential candidate for Biden. Now, Republicans are more concerned about whether Harris can access Biden’s campaign funds. It was said earlier this month that it had $240 million.
The Democrat Rally Behind the Vice President: How to Make Sense of the Democratic Leader’s Elusive Emotions During Biden’s Campaign
It has been a roller coaster recently for U.S. politics. Keeping up with the news can be difficult with the election just four months away. People feel heightened negative emotions in this political climate despite the attempt on Trump’s life and Biden’s exit from the race. If you’re feeling intense, long-lasting symptoms of prolonged sadness, worry, hopelessness or physical tension, it could be time for an intervention. According to psychologists, there are some strategies to help.
The Kentucky governor told MSNBC that he was endorsing her candidacy. “The vice president is smart and strong which will make her a good president,” he said.
Fellow Democratic Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania also quickly endorsed Harris, eliminating speculation that they might try to challenge her at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in four weeks.
The Democrats who are pushing for an “open process” in Chicago feel there is little appetite for a fight for the party’s nomination against former President Donald Trump.
People would like to see a mini-primary. If you want to get behind someone, it is important to find out if they are the strongest candidate.
“I mean, [the Democratic Party has] gone to the left. But let me know if she comes back. You know a person can be in one position and make a change or direction change. And I would like to see that direction change,” he said.
Source: Potential rivals to Harris for president line up to endorse her
Democrat Campaign for the Presidency: Biden’s War Chest and the Democratic Shuffle Up to the Pre-Electoral Election
Democratic voters flooded Harris’s nascent campaign with donations, raising $50 million in less than a day, suggesting the money will not be one of her struggles in her campaign against Trump.
These are not normal times. Harris sent a text to supporters on Monday saying that the election will be different and they need to make $20 donations.
Sean Cooksey told Morning Edition there were legitimate arguments to be made that Harris wasn’t entitled to those funds.
On Sunday, Cooksey shared on X a portion of federal campaign finance regulations, which states that if a candidate is “not a candidate in the general election,” all contributions made to that candidate for the November election “shall be either returned or refunded to the contributors or redesignated… or reattributed… as appropriate.”
But he may have to consider his interpretation if the Trump campaign files a complaint with the FEC, or a request for an advisory opinion, on Biden’s efforts to hand over his campaign war chest to Harris.
There is a short time until the presidential election, so Democrats efforts to do could be challenged in court.
“We’re ready, and we’ve been ready,” Trump spokesman Jason Miller said on X. “Kamala Harris will not be able to outrun the Harris-Biden record or her radical leftist record from the California days.”
Republicans will highlight Harriss more liberal immigration positions, and argue that she covered up for Biden’s mental acuity. “You lied about it every day,” senior Trump campaign official Chris LaCivita said on X.
The voters’ response to the Democratic shakeup is still unknown. A poll conducted before Biden dropped out of the race showed him with a statistical tie with Trump.
It was quickly assumed that the candidates would be in must-win swing states such as Michigan or North Carolina.
If Kelly wins again, there’s a chance the state could get back on the map it slipped away from Biden when he left the race.
Can Harris access campaign money? A comment on the Cooksey challenge to Biden’s veto of a presidential running mate
With just four weeks until the convention, Democrats will have little time to vet a potential running mate and voters won’t have to wait long to find out: the running mate is historically announced in the days prior to the convention.
At the start of July, the Biden campaign had $240 million in cash on hand. It burned through a lot of that money and now that President Biden is out, the question is whether anyone else should have access to that money.
The FEC is hobbled by partisanship and lack of resources and can’t do these kinds of things in a timely way. Millions of dollars spent on campaigns are often not assessed with monetary penalties for campaign violations because they aren’t that significant.
Cooksey said on Morning Edition that one of the problems with those processes is that they can take a lot of time.
Weintraub noted: “I think that clever lawyers can always come up with complications. It’s kind of what they’re in the business of doing. I would besurprised to see someone try to challenge it.
“The bottom line is it’s the same committee,” Weintraub said. She always has been a member of that committee, but she did not have a separate contribution limit apart from this one. It is more than one person, not just me. The lawyers are saying the same thing. Someone could undoubtedly come up with a technical argument, and I would keep an open mind, but it doesn’t seem all that complicated to me.”
The statement of organization for the Biden presidential campaign committee listed Harris as one of the candidates.
The case for the U.S. Senate investigation into the attempted assassination of a candidate by a black man using the name of the Biden campaign
He believes it will have to go through the FEC. I think there’s likely to be challenges to that at the agency and in the courts.
Some right-leaning campaign finance lawyers think it’s more complicated and don’t think it’s a slam dunk that Harris has access — despite the Biden campaign already changing its name to the Harris campaign.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle faced questions yesterday from House lawmakers who demanded answers about former President Donald Trump’s attempted assassination. She was in the hot seat for nearly five hours. She said in testimony that the agency is working with multiple investigations and conducting its own review into what went wrong. Lawmakers had no answer to their biggest question: How was the man on the roof given a clear line of sight to Trump?
How’s your sex life? The clues to keeping the baby in the ER: A message to new parents who are new parents: Congrats!
One of Ukraine’s largest book-printing plants, Factor Druk, looked like a massacre after a Russian missile strike in May. Twenty-five employees were wounded, and seven of them died. A caved-in roof left a smoldering ruins of tens of thousands of charred books and printing machinery. The attack even destroyed copies of Words and Bullets, a collection of interviews with writers on the war’s front line set to be released last month. The owner of the printing plant, Serhii Polituchyi, says he has not been deterred from plans to reopen because the industry is thriving. The Ukrainian Book Institute tells NPR that bookstore chains have opened dozens of new stores in the past year alone.
A message to my readers who are new parents: Congrats! How’s your sex life? Chances are, it’s not so great. Between diaper duty, sleep deprivation, hormonal changes and general exhaustion, you might not have enough time to have physical intimacy. Maybe you don’t feel ready after being cleared for sex after giving birth. Some relationship experts have a list of ways to keep the romance going after the baby is born.