What a consequential 24 hours we've had.
After President Biden's historical withdrawal from the 2024 election, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. So far, dozens of other elected Democrats have followed, including Illinois governor JB Pritzker just this morning.
And because the Vice President is already on the campaign, according to Federal election rules, she can use the entire $96 million campaign fund—and in fact she's already filed with the Federal Election Commission to do so.
In other words, Harris is, without question, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, which means next month's Democratic National Convention in Chicago will be the election kickoff we hoped for and not a repeat of 1968.
Some reactions from the usual suspects:
- Tim Alberta: "This is exactly what the Trump team feared."
- Frank Bruni: "What Joe Biden just did is utterly extraordinary."
- Jonathan Chait: "The cop against the criminal."
- James Fallows: "Joe Biden passes the torch."
- Tom Nichols: "A candidate, not a cult leader."
- Jennifer Rubin: "Biden and his team reach the right decision."
- Author John Scalzi: "Here we go."
- Alex Shephard: "Donald Trump is now the weaker candidate."
- Simon Tisdall, The Guardian UK: "The post-Biden era may be uncertain for the Democrats, but for Trump it will be utterly dismaying."
I should also add Aaron Sorkin's piece from yesterday's Times, published before President Biden's announcement: "How I would script this moment for Biden and the Democrats." But no, we aren't going to nominate Mitt Romney (R-UT).
Meanwhile, the news has put the Republican party in complete disarray as their entire election strategy just evaporated. Over the next few days we will see the convicted-felon rapist XPOTUS back in form as the racist, misogynist wanna-be thug that he is. But the best news of all from yesterday is: the chances we need to care about him for longer than 106 more days just got a lot smaller.
One or two other things happened yesterday, including the last-surviving piping plover chick on Montrose Beach getting a name. I'll have more later today.
