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I approached the newsletter today with my usual sleepy-tailed and wide-eyed view of the news.
As the Associated Press’ John King taught me in 1992, the first three letters of “news” are “n,” “e” and “w.”
And/but what happened this morning is, once again, proof of another key axiom of our time: What’s old is new again.
And the corollary: It is new news again.
In other words, the most compelling, important, and intriguing stories of the news cycle almost entirely relate to what Rich Lowry calls in his new column on the matter “the weirdest, and most dispiriting, symbiotic relationship in politics.”
I speak, of course, of the prospect that the 2024 major party nominees for president will be Joseph R. Biden and Donald J. Trump and OMG tens of millions of Americans would prefer Elmer J. Fudd or ANYONE else to seeing that rerun rematch.
Now, don’t get me wrong: My reporting and analysis remain that Biden and Trump are the most likely nominees of their respective parties at this point.
This despite the frequent speculation I hear from Biden friends and foes alike that, in the end, he won’t run for reelection.
This despite the frequent declarations from Trump foes and foes alike that he has lost his mojo and Ron DeSantis (or someone else TBD) will oust him.
So, with one exception, may I present to you today’s essential reads, all of which relate to Mr. Biden and/or Mr. Trump:
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1. The Washington Post has a breakthrough story on the history of the Biden document dustup, with little scooplets of the narrative throughout the piece – but the larger meaning is that Team Biden (said to be annoyed with DOJ and each other) cooperated on background with the Post to a heretofore unprecedented degree to try to place some of the decisions for which they have been criticized into the larger context of their (ironically) trying to avoid criticism by playing by (what they thought was) the book. There are literally no three people in the Democratic Party with more experience in how to handle the legal, political, and PR challenges of such matters than Anita Dunn, Ron Klain, and Bob Bauer – and yet now they are saddled with a special counsel and a hostile White House press corps. And as interesting as this Post story is, it will do little (a/k/a: nothing) to unsaddle them of either. For now.
2. Dan Henninger’s Wall Street Journal column is about (I think) how the Biden controversy is somewhat about payback for how the Democrats treated Trump. I confess to not totally understanding or agreeing with everything Henninger writes here, but I’m pretty sure you need to read it to understand how the anti-Trump Reds are experiencing this Biden moment.
3. Karl Rove accurately decodes the White House POV:
Team Biden is … betting House Republicans will screw up for the next two years, coming across as shrill, angry, negative and nuts; and that the GOP will nominate Mr. Trump, the easiest Republican for the president to beat.
Team Biden might win those bets. But they’re risky. Democrats are playing a weak hand and hoping the GOP hand is even weaker.
4. For those who continue to want to look at somewhat meaningless one-on-one matchup polls between Florida Man and Florida Man, I recommend this Morning Consult survey that, based on everything I know, more accurately represents where things stand in the real world:
Trump, who has run twice for the Republican nomination and was victorious twice, knows how to run a national campaign. He is without a doubt somewhat diminished. But he is without a doubt the frontrunner.
5. Per NBC News, Trump is positioning for a return to both Twitter and Facebook.
6. The New York Times story about the Republican National Committee’s preliminary talks with cable and broadcast networks about hosting presidential debates that will start within a few months (!), reminds us all that the head of the process for the RNC is Trump super loyalist David Bossie, a fact both insane and poetic.
7. “Ted Lasso,” Season Three is coming soon!