Who’s next? After the climax of what Politico calls “eight days of the wildest and weirdest presidential campaign of our lifetime,” the Democratic presidential nomination seems to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ to lose.
■ Politico sees a “Harris blitz” …
■ … especially with backing this morning from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and [updated] Sens. Durbin and Duckworth.
■ Columnist Jonathan Alter foresees “an exciting campaign that will energize voters” and counsels, “Be of good cheer.”
■ Puck’s John Heilemann sums up Democrats’ reactions: “Sad, grateful, relieved.”
■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich is, as usual, more frank: “Chill the f**k out, we’ve got this.”
■ CNN: If Harris wins the nomination, expect a campaign contrasting her time as a prosecutor with Donald Trump’s status as a convicted felon.
‘The coming attacks on Kamala Harris.’ Popular Information’s Judd Legum offers a field guide.
■ Trump niece Mary L. Trump: Republicans “will stop at nothing to tear her down. They will use racist attacks. They will use misogynistic attacks.”
■ Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg: “Harris has the same handicap that sank Hillary Clinton: She’s a woman in a sexist country” …
■ … but HuffPost sees “significant—and under-appreciated—strengths.”
Veep, anyone? Whoever the Democrats choose, that person will need a running mate.
■ Actually, I’m A Very Nice Person columnist Julia Gray surveys the field.
■ Variety’s Daniel D’Addario: This election is “outdoing the drama of Veep and Scandal.”
60 seconds. Biden alerted his staffers to the news by advising them to check Twitter X just one minute before telling the people of the world …
■ … many of whom got the news through what columnist Taylor Lorenz calls “increasingly bizarre digital formats.”
■ Biden’s decision set off a scramble for TV networks …
■ … but media writer Tom Jones says they did “a superb job” …
■ … and he spotlights a “superb” cover from Time magazine.
‘The most unlikely great president in modern history.’ That’s the editor of the conservative website The Bulwark, Jonathan V. Last, on Biden’s legacy: “He beat back America’s first authoritarian attempt. And when he realized that he could not do it a second time, he stepped away so someone else could.”
■ Columnist Ben Dreyfuss: “He’s made me very proud to be a Democrat. And he’s made me very proud to be an American.”
■ Former Treasury Secretary Robert Reich: “Trump could never have pulled off what Joe Biden did today.”
‘Biden is leaving the race, not the White House.’ Esquire’s Charlie Pierce expects “a panicked GOP” will try “to convince us that if President Biden can’t campaign, he shouldn’t try to govern, either.”
■ Indeed, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is demanding Biden’s immediate resignation: “If Joe Biden is not fit to run for president, he is not fit to serve as president” …
■ … but medical and policy experts tell The Washington Post “the jobs of candidate and president require different skill sets.”
‘The Trump campaign is freaking out (for good reason).’ Pod Save America cohost Dan Pfeiffer: “Trump’s campaign was built for one purpose and one purpose only: Beating Joe Biden.”
■ Historian Heather Cox Richardson: “Biden’s decision has left the Republicans in deep trouble.”
■ Trump himself has been ranting overnight: “It’s not over!”
■ He’s now claiming, baselessly, that Biden never had COVID.
■ He has a new joke about Biden.
■ Abortion, Every Day columnist Jessica Valenti says that “what makes a Harris candidacy so dangerous to Trump” is that “abortion wins elections, and they really don’t want anyone talking about it. Especially not anyone who talks about it with knowledge and passion.”
■ MSNBC host Joe Scarborough: Trump’s suddenly “the oldest guy in the race by a long shot.”
■ Huh: Trump donated to Harris’ California attorney general campaigns in 2011 and 2013.
■ Andy Borowitz jokes: “Republicans Accuse Democrats of Plotting to Nominate Winning Candidate.”
Congress lends an ear. Updating coverage: The Republican-controlled House was hearing today from the embattled chief of the Secret Service, who faces calls for her resignation after acknowledging the denial of some past security requests from the Trump campaign.
■ Homeland Security’s appointed an independent panel to review the assassination attempt on Trump …
■ … the medical consequences of which have been addressed in a letter from a guy Crooks & Liars columnist Conover Kennard has dubbed “Rep. Drunky McDrunkerson.”
■ Kathy Hirsh offers cartoon commentary on Trump fans’ tribute to Trump’s ear injury—“brought to you by Cult-ex.”
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