Midwest in play. Updating coverage: Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris today brings her campaign to battleground Wisconsin—for her first rally since President Biden anointed her as his successor.
■ Axios Chicago explores why Gov. Pritzker could be “a good fit” for her running mate …
■ … and it says Harris’ ascendance hasn’t dissuaded a coalition of protesters set to target next month’s Democratic convention in Chicago.
■ Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich is excited: “A young and energetic woman of color who has made a career out of prosecuting criminals … may be the perfect foil against an … unhinged man who has made a career out of breaking the law.”
■ Recalling the time then-California Attorney General Harris sued the Obama administration, Heated says climate activists hope she’d be a president more proactive on climate issues than Biden’s been.
■ Wonkette’s Doktor Zoom: “Biden has been America’s best climate president. Kamala Harris might be better.”
■ PolitiFact says that, in its 46 reviews of Harris claims since 2012, “about 41% … have landed on our rating scale’s bottom half.”
‘Blindsided.’ Historian Heather Cox Richardson: Republicans’ “scattershot arguments” against Harris suggest “they could not imagine a presumptive nominee voluntarily giving up power.”
■ Press Watch columnist Dan Froomkin accuses mainstream media of missing the big story: “Trump was winning. Now maybe he’s not. That’s the news.”
■ Veteran Chicago newspaper editor turned media critic Mark Jacob: “Harris is breaking Republican brains.”
■ Humor site The Shovel: “Elderly, Confused Man Still Running for President.”
Whither the debate? Trump’s weaseling away from a presidential match set for September.
■ Andy Borowitz: “Harris Challenges Trump to Walk Down a Ramp.”
■ Progress Report editor Jordan Zakarin: “This fall’s presidential election will be the first to not have a Bush, Clinton or Biden on the ballot since 1976.”
‘Wondering if Chilukuri Vance, a former registered Democrat, underwent the five stages of grief before embracing her doting wife schtick in MAGA land.’ Sun-Times editorial board member Rummana Hussain—herself in an interracial marriage—wonders what the Republican vice-presidential candidate’s wife sees in a party “crawling with bigots triggered by her Brown skin.”
■ Grudge Report columnist Bess Kalb offers Harris potential campaign slogans—including “Ok Sure But Her Husband is White (DON’T GOOGLE IT!!!!)”
■ Law prof Joyce Vance (no relation that we know of): JD Vance “is only a heartbeat away from the presidency. He’s the guarantor of support for a national abortion ban.”
■ In his first solo campaign rally since winning the Republican nomination, Vance condemned Harris: “She signed up for every single one of Joe Biden’s failures, and she lied about his mental capacity to serve as president.”
■ Columnist Eric Zorn rejects the “good people on both sides” notion: “I’m perfectly prepared to lose friendships over this election.”
‘Most inspiring of all, at no time was he Donald Trump.’ Stephen Colbert last night paid tribute to President Biden …
■ … and he retired his Bidenesque aviator sunglasses: “They made it seem like I had a Joe Biden impression.”
She’s out. After yesterday’s withering congressional hearing on the Trump assassination attempt, the director of the Secret Service is quitting.
■ Awkward Headlines Dept.: Politico this morning blared “Johnson, Jeffries announce bipartisan Trump shooting task force.”
Inside TV’s disinformation machine. Popular Information exposes the “news” team at broadcasting giant Sinclair*—promoting a right-wing agenda.
■ Tribune sports columnist Paul Sullivan laments a fan wearing a “F——— Joe Biden” shirt at a Cubs game.
■ The Daily Beast contends MSNBC’s Morning Joe has regained its mojo.
■ The Onion: “News Happening Faster Than Man Can Generate Uninformed Opinions.”
■ The Conversation: “2024 has had lots of news—but compared with 1940, 1968 or 1973, it’s nothing exceptional.”
■ Mocking TV’s “sensible pundits,” Tom Tomorrow offers meta-commentary on his own work.
■ More sequential illustrated perspective: Media Moe.
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■ Poynter’s Tom Jones: “What does the media do when the nominee isn’t officially the nominee even though she is going to be the nominee?”
United Center blossoming. The arena’s owners have a $7 billion plan to enhance the neighborhood around the place …
■ … including a series of interconnected parks and green spaces.
‘Cybercrime has come to mean anything the government disfavors, if you do it with a computer.’ Tech watchdog Cory Doctorow sounds a “holy crap” alarm about a United Nations “cybercrime treaty.”
■ 404 Media: Euphoria and White Lotus star Sydney Sweeney’s Verizon phone number has been hijacked.
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