Wall Street Journal: “History and recent polling suggest a third-party candidate has little chance of winning and could tip the election to Trump, the Republican former president who No Labels itself says is too dangerous to return to the White House.”
“A No Labels candidate could swing the race in critical states or help ensure no candidate gets to 270 electoral votes, which would let state delegations in the House pick the winner, likely favoring the GOP.”
Associated Press: “Months after the Democratic Party approved President Joe Biden’s plan to overhaul its primary order to better reflect a deeply diverse voter base, implementing the revamped order has proven anything but simple. Party officials now expect the process to continue through the end of the year — even as the 2024 presidential race heats up all around it.”
“The DNC says it prepared for an arduous process, but is not too concerned by the uncertainty, in part because Biden faces only minor primary challengers in self-help author Marianne Williamson and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.”
“Dan Cox, Maryland’s unsuccessful GOP gubernatorial nominee in last year’s race against Gov. Wes Moore (D), filed to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday,” the Washington Examiner reports.
“Cox was a member of the Maryland state House of Delegates when he ran for governor as an unabashed supporter of former President Donald Trump. He won a contentious Republican primary fight against then-GOP Gov. Larry Hogan’s centrist pick for the nomination, only to get crushed in the general election by a whopping 60%-37% margin.”
“Now, Cox has filed to run for Maryland’s 6th Congressional District in next year’s race. The area is currently represented by Rep. David Trone (D-MD), who is forgoing reelection to run for the open Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD).”
ABC News: “The 2024 ‘veepstakes’ — still in its infancy — is mostly fuel for speculation, but squinting can reveal early jockeying for a potential spot on the ticket depending on who heads it.”
“South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds are viewed as well-positioned to be vice presidential picks by sources who know them and outside GOP strategists, and current presidential candidates like former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott are constantly beating back conjecture that they’re actually seeking to set up camp at the Naval Observatory instead of at the White House.”
The Messenger: “The shifting sentiment carries outsized significance because Iowa is on pace to be the most important state in the Republican presidential primary. Most GOP insiders and political pros believe a Trump loss in the Iowa caucuses in January would likely prolong the primary fight. A convincing Trump victory would trigger a domino effect of cascading wins in each of the next four early states, all but assuring his nomination.”
“So far, every recent Iowa poll shows Trump with a double-digit lead over DeSantis, who in turn is well ahead of the other dozen primary candidates. Even the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down has acknowledged Trump’s Republican support surged in Iowa and elsewhere post-indictment.”
“Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie on Sunday lamented what he called the teenage ‘food fight’ between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis over LGBTQ rights in the 2024 GOP race, as rivals of the two front-runners seek to break out of the crowded race,” CNN reports.
Said Christie: “It is a teenage, you know, food fight between Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump, and I don’t think that’s what leaders should be doing.” He added: “It certainly doesn’t make me feel inspired as an American, on the Fourth of July weekend, to have this type of back-and-forth going on at all, and it’s wrong to be doing it, and it’s narrowing our country, and making us smaller.”
“Republican presidential candidate Will Hurd said Sunday he was working toward ‘hitting all the requirements’ to qualify for next month’s first GOP primary debate in Milwaukee,” CNN reports.
“But when it came to the requirement to pledge his support to the eventual GOP nominee – even if that is former President Donald Trump – Hurd said, ‘I can’t lie to get access to a microphone.’”
Said Hurd: “I’m not going to support Donald Trump. I recognize the impact that has on my ability to get access to the debate stage, but I can’t lie.”
The Guardian: “By almost every measure, the rightwinger has had another lackluster week on the campaign trail, with “clumsy” missteps in New Hampshire, Texas, California and New York. Now, barely one month after his glitch-ridden launch on Twitter, DeSantis finds himself sinking in the polls, closer to the large field of optimists below him than the twice-indicted, twice-impeached former president who retains a stranglehold over the Republican party.”
“The GOP primary debate seemed originally like it could result in political fireworks. But with less than two months to go, it is veering toward something far less crowded and consequential,” Politico reports.
“The party’s rigid donor criteria stands to limit the number of GOP candidates that debate in Milwaukee this August. Its polling requirements could trip up campaigns, too. Several candidates are openly mocking the Republican National Committee’s idea of a loyalty pledge requirement to participate. The leading candidate, Donald Trump, is downplaying the idea that he will show up at all.”
“Gov. Ron DeSantis’s campaign shared a provocative video on Friday attacking the record of former President Donald Trump regarding LGBTQ people that was widely condemned as homophobic, including by a prominent group representing gay and lesbian Republicans,” the New York Times reports.
The phosphogypsum waste DeSantis wants to use in road material isn’t even allowed to be landfilled because of radon and other radioactive contamination. And here we are not even learning the lessons of Times Beach Superfund or even the uranium mill tailings fiascos out west. I want Congress to figure out a way to tell states and municipalities that they will be responsible for cleanup of this crap. We just can’t be this far into Superfund and STILL letting states and cities create new contaminated sites because this is how they let companies off the hook for disposing of their waste.