The 24 Seven: In Between Stops

The top seven stories shaping the race for the White House

Rutter’s newest offerings. (Screenshot Tom LoBianco/24sight News)

1. Not left, not right

You’ll be seeing more coverage of Pennsylvania as a key battleground state (agggh, commonwealth) here as I start heading north across the Mason Dixon line ahead of September 10’s planned debate between former president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Much of the shorthand for Pennsylvania campaign trail reporting falls into a Sheetz vs WaWa dynamic, representing the respective anchors of the state — Pittsburgh in the west and WaWa in the east. But there’s more to the Keystone State than just toasted hoagies and pepperoni rolls.

Rutter’s — and to a lesser degree it’s Baltimore area brethren High’s — dot the center of the state along the I-83 corridor. Today’s 24 Seven opens with a nod to a Central PA staple, and a sign that campaigns can’t run on WaWa and Sheetz alone.

As the York Daily Record noted three years ago, Rutter’s is also a great employer.

In case you missed over the weekend, here’s my DNC dispatch on Pennsylvania’s critical importance in most paths to the White House.

Pennsylvania becomes 'center of the political universe'

Are you a Pennsylvania pol? Hack? Lobbyist? Or otherwise PA Politicon nerd steeped in its history and culture? Drop a note, let’s chat as I start wiring up the state … ack! commonwealth! — tom@24sight.news.

2. Not Mic

Former president Donald Trump is floating that he may not do the debate unless moderators mute the mics as they did in the (quite consequential) first debate of the general election

Harris’ team wants the mics on throughout, a strategic decision announced by senior adviser Brian Fallon.

3. Pence-ive

Former vice president Mike Pence argues in the latest episode the “Leaders and Legends” with host Robert Vane, published today. Recommend the whole listen, it’s a quick 30 minutes and, as Pence goes, fairly loose and open (fair warning, it’s still Pence. But for the historians out there, especially, it’s pretty interesting.)

There’s some good nuggets in there that I hadn’t heard before. Pence’s first job growing up? Washing dishes at Gene’s Cafeteria in Columbus, Indiana. And his first concert? Earth, Wind and Fire in Louisville.

Pence also talked a good bit about his experiences leading up to the January 6th attack on the Capitol.

“Our founders had literally fought a war to free our nation from a king. So the idea that any one person could ever choose who the leadership of our country would be, was a profoundly un-American idea and and one that I believe,” Pence told Vane. “By God's grace, I did my duty on that day in early January of 2021, but I must tell you, going to the inauguration it was, it was a melancholy day for me.”

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4. Harris Tests

As we approach the end of August and head into Labor Day, things are about to get a lot tougher for Harris after a fast-paced launch through August. The vice president’s campaign team has promised a sit-down interview with the press before the end of the month (aka the end of this week), after taking a fair amount of heat for avoiding press interviews and press conferences. And, after Labor Day, assuming their agreement holds, Harris will be heading to her first one-on-one showdown with Trump onstage.

5. NextGen Dems

In talks with sources, reporters and friends across the political spectrum after last week’s convention, I think we were all a bit surprised to find that the Democratic Party is now the one with the deep bench of talent (a decade ago it used to be the Republican Party with that deep well of talent.)

Rising stars like Rep. Jasmine Crockett and Gen Z House member Maxwell Frost garnered a lot of attention, as did Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s lead-in speech for Harris Thursday night.

(Though as I noted

The Illinoize

after watching Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg fire up the Illinois Democrats, this could be more about positioning for top Cabinet posts in a possible Harris/Walz White House than angling for presidential runs in 2028.)

Even Maryland, not always known for graduating state leaders into buzzy positions on the national stage, garnered lots of attention and chatter for performances from Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Democratic Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks.

6. Spoiler Alert

It generally takes a while to pin the effects of big events in the race, but the early read on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropping out and throwing his support to Trump seems to be: not much.

Nate Silver

writes at Silver Bulletin he pulled RFK Jr. out of the model and didn’t change the course of the race greatly.

7. Gratitude

Thank you, 24sight News Community!

Your support got me to and from the DNC in Chicago for a very energetic, and historic convention. It was great seeing so many friends and colleagues at the United Center last week, given the time and security perimeter constraints I didn’t get out to as many events as I wanted, it was still great running into everyone in the convention hall.

And it was great seeing old friends on a quick pitstop in Indianapolis on my way back to Washington. No convention surprise here, it really is, as Amy Walters noted, about the friends we make along the way.

And I’m honored to have won the Indiana SPJ’s award for First Place in Non-fiction Book for my biography of former vice president Mike Pence, “Piety & Power: Mike Pence and the Taking of the White House.” (I won this in the middle of the pandemic and just recently made it back to Indy to meet up with my old friend and colleague, Tom Davies, to pick up the hardware.)

Tune into SiriusXM Channel 124 today at 5:20 p.m. ET for The Julie Mason Show. I’ll be recapping Chicago in-studio and laying out what’s ahead!

Thanks for reading, drop a line: tom@24sight.news

🚨🚨🚨 If you made it this far, I’ve got a Pennsylvania special for you, upgrade to a paid subscription to support independent journalism now through the Sept. 10 debate in Philly for 76% of the regular price. (And welcome to all new 24sight News supporters who signed up through my DNC special access drive!)

Cheers,

Tom