DNC

How could the Democrats be in any more disarray? Long-time, high-ranking Democratic National Committee members Randi Weingarten and Lee Saunders turned down offers to remain in their positions, citing dissatisfaction with the current DNC chair, Ken Martin. Their announcement to leave the DNC came a week after former vice chair David Hogg was booted from the committee. Hogg was pushed out over a complaint from Native American Kalyn Free, 61, that the election results "violated the DNC Charter and discriminated against three women-of-color candidates,” per Semafor. This procedural problem followed Martin's vocal disapproval of Hogg's $20 million plan to primary older incumbents in safe seats running for reelection.

Congratulations David Hogg: the youngest ever DNC vice chair has earned the honor of serving the shortest term in the committee's history. Though his tenure was brief, Hogg managed to rattle many cages. After his election, the 25-year-old announced a $20 million plan to primary older Democratic incumbents in safe seats running for reelection. This plan quickly generated backlash within the party: veteran Democratic strategist James Carville called it "the most insane thing" he's ever heard. Hogg stood his ground and suddenly the DNC deployed its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion requirements. That included one more woman and one fewer Hogg. Cue various facile jokes about his name: https://twitter.com/rachelmillman/status/1933214625442787772?

The Trump-Musk spat is not the sign of a new split between oligarchs and populists, as some have claimed – but of the growing pains involved in reassembling this old coalition.  Keeping capitalism going under mass suffrage is no small feat, and capitalists used to be much shrewder in how they went about it. Electorates wouldn’t reliably go for laissez-faire – except after a crisis – and so the only option for the capitalists was to hitch themselves to the wider lower-middle-class coalition for law and order, low taxes and national swagger. Musk’s attacks on Trump yesterday, which included a pitch for a new party “that actually represents the 80 percent in the middle,” represent something drawing to a close rather than being born.

TikTok’s days may be numbered in America after all. Following a presidential campaign in which both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris promoted themselves heavily on the platform, despite bipartisan national security concerns over its ownership’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party, a federal appeals court today ruled that the app must break ties with the Beijing-based ByteDance within a few weeks or be banned in the United States.Until the decision, everything was looking up for TikTok. Trump trounced Harris on the platform, and his campaign and top surrogates were active all over the popular social media app.

President-elect Donald Trump is assembling his presidential cabinet in record time, leaving those outside of his orbit scrambling to keep up with the abundance of names flooding their inboxes. In just the past few days, Trump announced Russ Vought will return to the helm of the Office of Management and Budget, president of the America First Policy Institute Brooke Rollins will serve as secretary of the Department of Agriculture, billionaire hedge-fund manager Scott Bessent will lead the Department of the Treasury — plus a smattering of other department heads and health-related appointees.Even if the rapid pace — particularly when compared to the 2016 transition — might be giving some whiplash, the American people are so far on board with the president-elect’s picks.

Welcome to Thunderdome. When the decision was made to shift from Joe Biden to Kamala Harris, the campaign staff was totally blindsided, with the entire Delaware operation shocked to learn about the president’s decision via social media — leading to the now infamous unnamed Democrat staffer’s line: “We’re all finding out by tweet.” It’s a sign of just how insular the Biden operation was, and how confined to the upper echelons of close, trusted staffers known for their tight lips and protective nature toward the old man. The Harris operation in 2020 was anything but that — leading to her epic collapse as a candidate and strewing numerous back-stabbing comments from staffers across the media on the way out the door.

Chicago Pour one out for the Beyhive. For the bulk of the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the topic of conversation was: who is the mystery guest? The speculation ran rampant but was mostly focused on the myth of the goddess — Beyoncé herself was going to descend from the sky to affirm the ascendance of Kamala Harris. And then it turned out that the bright shiny mystery box contained... nothing at all. Too bad, so sad. But this itself seems in keeping with the 2024 cycle, where all promises decay into a great big pile of fail.For the delegates and consultants, this was a perfectly fine convention, logistical failures aside — a daily hammering of the impending evil and danger of a second Donald Trump term.

Chicago We are back with another dispatch from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which is on its third day following Tuesday night remarks from Senator Bernie Sanders, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Michelle and President Barack Obama.The DNC crowd was thrilled to hear from the Obamas, but the reality of their speeches was much more grim. Michelle, despite being one of the most successful and beloved black women in America, is still peddling the trope that America is a hopelessly racist country.

Pro-Palestinian protesters swarmed Chicago in preparation for the Democratic National Convention this week, setting the stage for a clash between the traditionally pro-Israel Democratic establishment and the progressive activist class. On Sunday night, protesters clashed with police and charged both major political parties with “genocide” for sending aid and weapons to Israel amid its war against Hamas. Thousands showed up at Union Park on Monday afternoon, far short of the 30,000-40,000 expected, but still a significant contingent. Signs held by blue-haired, masked protesters in cargo pants referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “killer Kamala” and said that the “slaughter” of Palestinians would be President Joe Biden’s legacy.