The '24 Seven
The '24 Seven
The top seven stories shaping the race for the White House - 2/14/24
Hello, and welcome to The ‘24 Seven - a daily roundup of the top seven stories shaping the race for the 2024 White House. If you see something I missed or have suggestions, drop me a note - 24sight@substack.com.
A programming note, you may have noticed my reported pieces are now behind the paywall. This is to help support myself and my family — if you enjoy my reporting, please consider supporting. My daily news roundup will continue to be free.
Happy Valentine’s Day, to all who observe.
Cheers,
Tom
1 These ‘Burbs
Soccer moms. Panera moms. Immigration hardliners.
It’s hard to read too much nationwide into the results from one special election, in one House district, in one state which is hardly representative of the country writ-large … and yet the race for New York’s 3rd District feels like a bellwether.
Democratic candidate and former Rep. Tom Suozzi beat Republican Mazi Pilip handily, 53.9 percent - 46.1 percent.
Suozzi leaned into immigration in his victory speech and spoke of wanting to bring the country together — both themes that are on-brand this cycle with an exhausted electorate.
“Even with the migrants now, we had bipartisan deal in Congress and suddenly it evaporated, like, why? Do we really need to wait for another president to come, or aren’t the issues that are pressing to everyone important at the moment?” 59-year-old voter Eliezer Salias told the Associated Press. CNN’s Dana Bash and many others reported that Republicans decamped for Suozzi citing the
Also of note, Pilip called Suozzi and conceded. (Normally an afterthought, but these are not normal times.) … Also, note which big name did *not* make a cameo in this blurb.
2 This House
Speaking of, the House voted narrowly (214 - 213) Tuesday night to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on allegations that he has not properly enforced U.S. immigration laws.
"Next to a declaration of war, impeachment is arguably the most serious authority given to the House and we have treated this matter accordingly," House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement. (Mayorkas and his supporters have vociferously denied the allegations against him.)
The articles of impeachment now heads to the Senate, where senators are expected start the trial after February 26, according the office of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.. Mayorkas is expected to survive the Senate vote easily.
3 Those Trumpers
Jared Kushner told Axios he doesn’t plan on coming back to the White House if former President Donald Trump wins a second term. Anyone who’s covered politics for a minute knows that plans are often laid and scrapped at a moment’s notice, and veteran Trump advisers in touch with 24sight have long fretted that Kushner will hold sway over a possible Trump second term.
“Javanka” as many called the ultimate power couple of Kushner and Ivanka Trump through Trump’s time in office held unique sway over Trump and could easily reassert themselves, without all the headaches that come with publicly paid jobs in the White House.
But this observation from Kushner stood out, “I think he has a much better understanding of who was effective and all these different roles and I suspect he'll have a very, very long list of very qualified people to choose from.”
Which gets to the latest chunk of Trump personnel (what if we portmanteau’d it, Trumpersonnel?) news: the de facto Republican nominee is lining up his military picks. Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, a superstar on the populist right, tops the list of foreign policy advisers in this banger from The Washington Post.
(One Trump adviser also floated Gabbard as a possible running mate for Trump in a previous interview with 24sight.)
The story also posits that Trump may try to place retired Army Col. Douglas MacGregor at the Pentagon, part of his exasperation with having been blocked from using the Insurrection Act in his first term and plans to withdraw U.S. forces from the global stage.
4 Ukraine
Read and subscribe to The Counteroffensive by veteran journalist Tim Mak. We’re coming up on the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
5 South Carolina
The South Carolina primary is only 10 days away — Saturday, Feb. 24.
By all accounts, Trump should win this handily — polling has had him running ahead of Haley by between 25 and 35 percentage points. Here’s the 538 average of the polls.
Trump appears on course to an easy victory in the first-in-the-South primary, which would make it four in a row for him.
Yet Haley is still planning events through Super Tuesday. And Trump is racing to install his preferred picks at the Republican National Committee, despite not yet having won the nomination.
In all politics, watch the actions more, the words less.
6 Court
Trump’s lawyers are back in court Thursday, this time on the first criminal case ever filed against a former president of the United States, on charges he falsified records to hide hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump and his team are trying to get the case tossed, it’s also possible we could find out when this case goes to trial, per Politico’s stellar legal coverage.
It’s the latest reminder this race is increasingly moving off the trail and into the courtrooms.
7 How we get the news
The layoffs in the news industry continue. Sadly. CBS News and SiriusXM are the latest to announce rounds of layoffs.
Voters cast their ballots based on their perceptions of the candidates, the issues, et al. The old guard of dispassionate, detached coverage is being stripped away.
Coda: my former employer, The Messenger, has made more news in its death than in its burst to stardom. The bounds of irony are limitless, as is the importance of good reporting. Here’s a link to the GoFundMe started to help laid off Messengers.