The '24 Seven - 3/1/24
The top seven stories shaping the race for the White House
Hello, and welcome to The ‘24 Seven - 24sight’s daily roundup of the top seven stories shaping the race for the White House. If you see something I missed or have suggestions, drop me a note - the24sight@gmail.com.
Today, low energy …
1 ‘Low energy’
After touring the southern border Thursday, former President Donald Trump sat for an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity to talk about immigration and other issues. Pivoting to energy, he promised to “drill baby drill” and said he wanted to create “low energy” — seemingly dropping a word.
Jonathan Allen writes at NBC News that Trump has clearly been dominating on the issue of immigration, which helps explain Biden’s recent pivot to focusing on the issue.
2 ‘Join me’
Biden, who has recently upped his trolling of Trump — including attacking Trump’s age on Late Night with Seth Meyers this week — attempted to shine light on Trump’s failures on immigration after the former president helped spike a bipartisan immigration plan.
“Instead of telling members of Congress to block this legislation, join me," Biden said Thursday.
3 Haley’s Haul
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s campaign announced Friday it pulled in $12 million last month, a remarkable amount for a candidate who seems to have little chance of winning the Republican nomination.
Super Tuesday is just a few days away, with a whopping 15 states holding their contests. Trump will host his watch party Tuesday night from his Florida resort, Mar a Lago.
4 Britt up
Outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Thursday that freshman Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, a 42-year-old mother who is seen as a bridge from the old party establishment to the ensconced Trump populist establishment, will deliver the rebuttal to Biden’s state of the union address Thursday.
Britt took 9th place last week in the 24sight rankings of the potential Trump running mates. The star turn countering Biden’s address Thursday will likely raise her profile further, assuming no long, awkward sips of water (a la Rubio, and Trump’s rendition of Rubio, years ago.)
5 Succession plan
The battle is underway to take the reins of the Senate Republican Conference after McConnell steps down as leader in November.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, long one of McConnell’s top allies and formerly a member of his leadership team, announced Thursday he was running for the R’s top Senate gig, the Texas Tribune reports.
Related, POLITICO has a sweeping look by political historians, operatives, experts and others at the historic impact of McConnell’s almost four decades in the chamber.
6 Disappointment/Unacceptable
NBC News is out with some interesting findings from a focus group of Black voters with plenty of bad news for both Biden and Trump. The long and short, Black voters in North Carolina expressed disappointment that Biden has not done more to fulfill his promises, but that rarely translates to a switch in support to Trump — particularly after the fallout from his claim that he understands Blacks because his mugshot now appears on T-shirts and is facing multiple criminal charges, stemming in part from his efforts to overthrow the 2020 election and his retention of hundreds of classified documents.
Writing at his substack newsletter
says “there is no logical reason for a Black person to support Trump.” The counterpoint from the NBC focus group and other polls is Black voters, who formed an integral base for Biden in 2020, are either more likely to stay home or select an independent candidate in November.7 Navalny Funeral
Thousands of mourners, including top Western diplomats, packed into Moscow Friday to honor Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison last month — many of Navalny’s allies say he was murdered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has denied this charge and says he died of natural causes.
