****
Hey, millionaires, billionaires, and other well-off, regular consumers of Wide World of News!!!!
Please consider joining your many fellow readers who chose this week to become financial supporters of my daily work.
You can become a voluntary paying subscriber here:
Or please consider making a voluntary contribution to support my work on this newsletter.
You can contribute ANY amount you wish via any of the following routes:
* Buy me a cocktail (at Geneva prices….), tax and server tip included, by clicking here.
* Buy me a cup of coffee (or a week’s worth) by clicking here.
* Check. Send a simple email to markhalperintalk@gmail.com and ask where you can send a piece of paper.
• PayPal. markhalperinnyc@gmail.com
• Venmo. Mark-Halperin-4 (telephone number ends in x3226)
• Zelle. markhalperinnyc@gmail.com
There are no ads, sponsors, investors, staff, or corporate backers here.
It is just me doing this, seven days a week.
****
THE MIDTERMS
THE REALITY
Please read in full this column by former New York Congressman Steve Israel explaining why it is hard (a/k/a impossible) to sort through all the cross cutting currents to predict how November will come out in the wash.
GOOD FOR DEMOCRATS
* Politico on the high salience of abortion (and, maybe, other “culture” issues) that looks to be reshaping the landscape still in favor of Democrats more than pre-SCOTUS ruling.
Voters will determine whether to place abortion rights in the Michigan Constitution, the state Supreme Court declared Thursday, settling the issue a day before the fall ballot must be completed.
GOOD FOR REPUBLICANS
YOU MAKE THE CALL: FOR WHICH SIDE IS THIS GOOD?
Associated Press: (read all the way to the end)
President Joe Biden wants to put the spotlight on a rare bipartisan down payment on U.S. manufacturing when he visits Ohio on Friday for the groundbreaking of a new Intel computer chip facility.
Biden heads to suburban Columbus to take a victory lap just as voters in the state are starting to tune in to a closely contested Senate race between Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan and Republican author and venture capital executive JD Vance. They’re competing in a former swing state that has trended Republican over the last decade….
Ryan had largely been hesitant to share a stage with Biden, as appearing with the country’s top Democrat could hurt his chances in a state that backed Republican Donald Trump by eight points in both 2016 and 2020.
Ryan skipped the president’s July 6 visit to Cleveland to plug his administration’s efforts to shore up troubled pension programs for blue-collar workers. Biden nonetheless referred to him as the “future Senator Tim Ryan” and thanked him for his “incredible work” on the legislation.
The Youngstown-area congressman committed to appearing with Biden this week because of the importance of the Intel facility in a state that has long defined itself through its factories, mills and working-class sensibilities….
Yet in a Thursday TV interview with Youngstown’s WFMJ on the eve of Biden’s visit, Ryan said he is “campaigning as an independent.” When asked if Biden should seek a second term, Ryan said, “My hunch is that we need new leadership across the board, Democrats, Republicans, I think it’s time for like a generational move.”
****
Want to give your event, clients, or colleagues a smart and rollicking preview of the 2022 midterms and the 2024 presidential race?
Mark Halperin is now available to speak to your group in person or virtually. And there is always Q&A!!!
Send an email to markhalperintalk@gmail.com to inquire about rates and availability.
****
ESSENTIAL READING
European energy ministers are debating plans for an intervention in the continent’s energy markets at an emergency meeting that is aimed at tamping down soaring electricity prices.
Diplomats said many countries—including the European Union’s biggest economies, Germany and France—appeared to agree ahead of Friday’s meeting on the idea of imposing a cap on the revenue earned by nuclear, renewable and other nongas producers of electricity, and redistributing the money to businesses and consumers.
Other measures under discussion include a plan to cut electricity use during peak demand this winter and a temporary cap on the price of natural gas imported from Russia. Some governments want the price cap extended to other sources of gas.