Do Not Congratulate Doug Ducey

Plus, Who Will Both Defend and Reform Our Democracy?

Jul 19, 2022

CHARLIE SYKES: Signs of GOP Trump Fatigue?
JVL: What Would Christopher Hitchens Have Done About Trump? 🔐
ATMA: Is ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ Any Good?

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New from Me: Do Not Congratulate Doug Ducey.

Just as I don’t congratulate my dog for not soiling his crate while I’m at the grocery store, I don’t think politicians should be praised for doing what’s expected of them—or for stating the plain truth when there are no consequences for doing so.
Such is the case of term-limited Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona, who made waves over the weekend by attacking Kari Lake, the Trump-endorsed frontrunner in the GOP primary for his potential successor.
Ducey’s governorship is something like the Grand Canyon State’s small-scale rendition of a Mitt Romney presidency: He’s a wonky, balanced budget–minded Republican who mandated that the state government “shrink” while taking moderate positions on culture war issues. His tenure followed the nigh-accidental governorship of Jan Brewer, who “flipped” the office from blue to red when President Obama tapped Brewer’s predecessor, Janet Napolitano, to run the Department of Homeland Security in 2009. (Arizona has no lieutenant governor, which put Secretary of State Brewer next in the line of succession after Gov. Napolitano’s resignation to take up her appointment.)

READ THE REST.

From Supreme Court rulings, to the candidate crazification, and the impact of the Jan 6 hearings, Republicans have handed Democrats a real chance in the fall. Plus, the case for why Trump may not run. Michael Steele joins Charlie Sykes on today’s pod.

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WILLIAM KRISTOL: Who Will Both Defend and Reform Our Democracy?

To put it simply: Democrats need to be the party that defends America, while working to improve America.
This is, needless to say, not a brand new insight. The Biden administration understood this, which is why it gave its major legislative package the name Build Back Better. The name has been much ridiculed as a marketing failure. But one can see what it was that the Biden administration sought to convey: We aim to build back, after the pandemic, and after Trump. But we also aim to build better.
Not unreasonable.

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CHRIS TRUAX: Did Trump Already Violate Campaign Finance Law for 2024?

Last week Donald Trump told Olivia Nuzzi that he’d made his decision about running for president.

But there are laws which govern this process. They should probably even apply to a guy like Donald Trump.

In 1971, Congress passed the Federal Election Campaign Act, which requires federal candidates to register their campaign committees with the FEC and disclose campaign contributions and expenditures. While inadvertent violations of these requirements usually result in a civil enforcement action and a fine, knowing and willful violations of the Act can earn you up to five years in jail.

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🚨OVERTIME 🚨

Seven times. That’s how many times the Ohio Supreme Court has struck down the GOP’s redistricting maps.

“You don’t realize how much it can consume your life until it’s already happened.” A worthwhile column for the news-obsessed, yours truly included.

Two approaches to pandemic court closures… And what we learned.

Let’s go Andres! The story of an unlikely All Star who is blossoming for the Cleveland Guardians. (And last night’s HR Derby? Hooboy.)

Just before today’s Triad… I was reading the piece JVL linked to in the dead tree edition of Businessweek. If you haven’t read it, you should. It’s wild. It got me thinking, to a smaller degree, about a mega-project one rich Ohioan wanted to build that never came to fruition.

The election deniers on the ballot… A deep dive at FiveThirtyEight.

All hail the deli! I didn’t grow up in a big fancy city, but the East Side of Cleveland taught me to appreciate a good deli, and now there’s a traveling exhibit giving them their props.

Lost, not stolen. An important report on the 2020 election that, sadly, will not likely be read by those who need it most. (Like the Mueller report.) Read, save, and share!

The return of Matt Carpenter. A former Cardinal finds a great second act with the dreaded Yankees.

“Planned orphanhood.” A controversial practice where the dead become fathers.

Purebred mania. Dognapping popular breeds of dogs is just the beginning. I can’t say #AdoptDontShop because I have an adopted rescue and a purebred, but don’t pay $10k for a dog. That’s nuts. There are better uses of your money.

Repeal the law. Now.