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      Kamala Harris: insiders rally behind VP to replace Biden if he bows out

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      As Joe Biden faces increasing pressure to withdraw his candidacy following last week’s poor debate performance, Kamala Harris has emerged as the frontrunner to replace him.The president forcefully rejected calls to end his campaign on Wednesday, telling his staffers: “No one is pushing me out … I’m not leaving. I’m in this race to the end and we’re going to win.” His defiant remarks came after the New York Times reported that Biden had privately told allies he understood he might not be able to salvage his candidacy if he could not convince voters of his viability.As the White House has continued to deny reports that Biden was weighing the future of his campaign, talks of who would step up if he did withdraw have escalated.Senior sources at the Biden campaign, the White House and the Democratic National Committee told Reuters that the vice-president was the top alternative.Harris, a former senator from California, has stood by the president’s side as he weathers the debate fallout this week, and reportedly told campaign staffers on Wednesday: “We will not back down. We will follow our president’s lead.”But pundits advocating that Harris take over the ticket have pointed to polls suggesting that she could have advantages over Biden in a race against Donald Trump. A post-debate Reuters/Ipsos poll found that one in three Democrats think Biden should quit, and that 81% viewed Harris favorably, compared to 78% for Biden. Michelle Obama was the only hypothetical Democratic candidate to beat Trump in the poll, but the former first lady said in March she was not running. Biden and Trump were tied in that poll, and Harris performed similarly, earning 42% of votes compared with Trump’s 43%.A CNN poll published Tuesday also found Harris “within striking distance of Trump in a hypothetical matchup” – 47% supporting the former president, and 45% supporting Harris, a result within the margin of error. The Biden-Trump matchup in that poll had Trump earning 49% of votes and Biden earning 43%. Harris’s modest advantage was due partly to her having broader support from women and independents, CNN said.With two Democratic congressmen now publicly calling on Biden to step aside, other party leaders have privately suggested they favor Harris as his potential replacement, according to reports. Hakeem Jeffries, House minority leader, signaled to members that she would be the best option, the Washington Post reported.James Clyburn, a senior congressional Democrat, said publicly he’d support Harris if Biden were to withdraw his candidacy, urging Democrats to “do everything to bolster her, whether she’s in second place or at the top of the ticket”. Summer Lee, a House Democrat from Pennsylvania, also said Wednesday that Harris was the “obvious choice” to replace Biden, if he decided not to run.Some Harris supporters who are advocating she take over the campaign have argued that she would perform better than Biden with Black and Latino communities, and that she is a more powerful abortion-rights spokesperson than Biden.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionSkeptics, however, have noted that Harris also remains fairly unpopular and have pointed to polls suggesting she has vulnerabilities in terms of voters’ trust in her ability to handle immigration, China relations and Israel’s war on Gaza.The other names that have been floated as possible replacements include California governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois governor J B Pritzker and Kentucky governor Andy Beshear. The Reuters poll, however, suggested they would all perform worse than Biden and Harris.If Harris became the presidential candidate, she could take over the funds raised by the campaign since the account is registered under Biden and Harris.On Wednesday, the White House also announced a series of “summer of engagement” events for Harris, including visits to New Orleans, Las Vegas, Dallas and Indianapolis. More

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      ‘Waiting in the wings’: as Biden stumbles, Gavin Newsom’s name is on everyone’s lips

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      To paraphrase Jan Brady of the Brady Bunch, lately it’s been “Newsom, Newsom, Newsom” all day long.He’s been at the Vatican for a climate summit, and in Alpharetta, Georgia, for a televised debate with Florida governor Ron DeSantis. He’s all over the TV, actually – on Fox News and MSNBC, and in advertisements airing in Tennessee.And ever since Joe Biden’s catastrophic performance at the first presidential debate on CNN, his name has popped up in nearly every list of possible successors. With just four months to go until the presidential election, chances that the president would step aside now are exceedingly remote – but that hasn’t stopped the speculation. Online political betting odds that Gavin Newsom, the California governor, would end up at the top of the presidential ticket this year tripled to a one-in-four chance last week.For the ambitious governor of the most populous US state, this crowning moment has been a long time in the making. For years, Newsom’s flair for a photo op and steady pursuit of network news spots have fueled speculation about his presidential ambitions, and sparked scepticism among constituents who’d rather he stick to his day job. Now, it seems, the man who has spent the last several years seeking a national stage has finally found himself at the centre of one.“I think it’s been clear that he’s been waiting in the wings for some time,” said Emily Hoeven, an opinion columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle and politics reporter who has followed Newsom’s career closely. “But I think that now there is a far bigger opening for him than there ever has been.”View image in fullscreenThe governor was swarmed by the press the moment the debate ended. “It was like human piranhas descending on the governor after the end of this debate,” marvelled MSNBC host Alex Wagner, as she settled in for a post-debate interview with him.Newsom, who is top surrogate for Biden’s 2024 campaign, waved away the buzz about whether he would replace Biden on the Democratic ticket. When Wagner asked about growing calls for Biden to step down, he quickly said such talk was “unhelpful and unnecessary” – before highlighting Biden’s record on the economy and abortion, and the threats his opponent poses to the continuation of US democracy.“I think what you’ve seen is this, what Gavin Newsom has to say is really not so different from what Joe Biden has to say,” said Bill Whalen, a policy fellow at the Hoover Institution thinktank in Palo Alto, California. “But he takes Joe Biden’s message, and he delivers it much more effectively.”For Democrats across the US, Whalen said, Newsom is living out a dream scenario – leading a blue state with a Democratic supermajority in the legislature, where he can easily pass liberal reforms that would be nearly impossible to get through in other states or at a national level. “A lot of what Democrats would love to do nationally, California is doing,” Whalen said.It has also helped that as California governor – one who handily defeated a recall campaign in 2021 – Newsom has amassed formidable political funds that he has been using not only to aid other Democratic candidates including Biden, but also his own political aspirations. Since his easy re-election in 2022, the governor has funnelled millions in campaign funds towards ads and appearances outside his home state.Whether he can translate that momentum into a successful national campaign remains uncertain, Whalen and other political analysts said.View image in fullscreenWhile he has been busy pursuing the national limelight, his reputation at home has soured. Only 47% of likely voters in California approved of his job performance in a Public Policy Institute of California survey in June, down from 57% in March 2023.It may not help Newsom’s case that amid recent budget shortages, the state has been grappling with a spiralling homelessness crisis, an underperforming education system and growing economic inequality.“I think that his actions demonstrate that his priorities are increasingly lying outside of California,” said Hoeven. “And I think that that is frustrating to Californians who obviously did not elect him to be the president.”In recent months, Newsom has appeared to abandon some of his more progressive political stances – including backtracking on support for supervised injection sites, vetoing a bill to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms and occasionally siding with Republicans and against allies in the legislature – which some supporters have perceived as an appeal to swing voters.But it remains unclear whether the liberal governor of a blue state will ever truly have what it takes to amass national support in an increasingly divided country. And while his powerful political connections have helped his star rise in California, it is unclear whether he will be able to shed a certain elitist affect that has dogged his campaigns here.Then there’s the enduring image that’s haunted the governor’s political career for two decades: a photograph of Newsom stretched across a luxurious rug in Ann Getty’s penthouse, with his ex-wife Kimberly Guilfoyle – who is now a rightwing TV personality and Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law.View image in fullscreenIt will be easy for opponents to hearken back to the governor’s infamously ill-timed visit to the Michelin-starred French Laundry restaurant amid a Covid-19 surge, or to point out his family’s decision to move, part-time, from California’s capitol in Sacramento to the wealthy Bay Area enclave of Marin – to enrol their child in a private academy.In a recent bit on Jimmy Kimmel Live, comedian Josh Meyers plays “your lovin’ Govin” in a fake political ad where Meyers-as-Newsom attempts a bench press in his signature startup-chic navy business jacket and half-buttoned white shirt while promoting “lunar power”. He huffs a vape and when someone asks for a hit he says: “Sure, but I only vape merlot” without breaking out of his toothpaste commercial smile.“There is such a thing as perhaps being too attractive, or, more to the point, looking like the person whose photo comes with the new wallet that you buy at the department store,” said Whalen. “That’s Gavin Newsom.”Hoeven thinks back to Newsom’s inauguration in 2023, when he led what was billed as an “anti-January 6 march to the capitol”. He was meant to march about a quarter-mile, alongside supporters, down to the governor’s office. “But in reality, there were these massive fences up on either side of the promenade, basically, so the average person could not participate or really even watch the parade,” she recalled.The governor walked only a little bit, before getting into a car. “It was emblematic of some of the ways that he’s failed to connect, I think, with the average person,” she said. More

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      ‘Absurd’: Gavin Newsom hits back over Panera wage-exemption puzzle

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      Gavin Newsom is hitting back at a news report that he pushed for an exception to the state’s new fast-food minimum wage law that benefits a wealthy campaign donor.California’s minimum wage is $16 per hour. But starting on 1 April, most fast-food restaurants in the state must pay their workers at least $20 an hour under legislation Newsom signed last year. However, the law does not apply to restaurants that have on-site bakeries and sell bread as a standalone menu item.That exception puzzled some industry watchers, and was never fully explained by Newsom or other supporters of the law. Then on Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported that the exemption was linked to opposition from the Panera Bread franchisee Greg Flynn, whose company owns 24 of the restaurants in California and has donated to Newsom’s campaigns.“This story is absurd,” the California governor’s spokesman, Alex Stack, said on Thursday.Stack said that the governor’s legal team believes Panera Bread is not exempt from the law. They said that to be exempt from the minimum wage law as a bakery, restaurants must produce bread for sale on site. The governor’s office said many chain bakeries, such as Panera Bread, mix dough at a centralized off-site location and then ship that dough to the restaurant for baking and sale.Since last year, Panera Bread has been reported as a restaurant exempt from the law and Newsom’s office has not said otherwise, even when the governor was directly asked why the chain was exempt.A message left with Panera Bread about their baking process was not immediately returned.Stack said the governor never met with Flynn about the law. A message left with the Flynn Group was not returned on Thursday. Flynn told Bloomberg he did not play a role in crafting the exemption.The Bloomberg story, citing anonymous sources, says Flynn urged the governor’s top aides to consider whether chains such as Panera should be considered fast food. It does not say that Newsom and Flynn spoke directly about the law.The Flynn Group and Flynn Properties operate 2,600 restaurants and fitness centers across 44 states, according to the company’s website. Campaign finance records show Flynn Properties and Greg Flynn – the founder, chairman and chief executive – have donated more than $220,000 to Newsom’s political campaigns since 2017. That included a $100,000 donation to Newsom’s campaign to defeat a recall attempt in 2021.The minimum wage law passed in 2023. In 2022, Flynn had publicly opposed a similar proposal, writing in an op-ed in Capitol Weekly that it would “effectively kill the franchise business model in the state”.Republican leaders in the state Legislature on Thursday criticized Newsom for the possible connection.“Put simply, campaign contributions should not buy carveouts in legislation,” the Republican state senate leader Brian Jones said. “It’s unacceptable.”Assemblymember James Gallagher, the Republican leader in the assembly, said the attorney general, Rob Bonta, or another entity responsible for investigating conflicts of interest should look into the matter.“This exemption, there is no explanation for it. Someone had to push for it,” he said.The law was authored by Assemblymember Chris Holden, a Democrat from Pasadena, who told reporters on Thursday he was not involved in the negotiations over the bill’s final amendments, which included the $20 minimum wage increase and the exemption for bakeries.He said those talks happened between the business community and labor unions – groups Holden said were brought together “through the governor’s leadership”.Holden said he did not know Flynn or his status as a Newsom campaign donor. He declined to discuss if there were any legitimate policy reasons for exempting bakeries from the law.“I’m not going to try to start parceling every individual group,” Holden said. “The way that the bill moved forward, everyone who’s in is in.”Dan Schnur, who teaches political communications at the University of Southern California and the University of California Berkeley, said the issue had the potential to damage Newsom, much like when Newsom went to dinner at the French Laundry during the pandemic at a time when he was urging people to avoid public gatherings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. That issue gave momentum to an effort to recall Newsom from office, which eventually qualified for the ballot in 2021 but was ultimately unsuccessful.“The last time the governor got in the middle of a restaurant-related controversy, his hesitation to address it turned a small problem into a much bigger one,” Schur said. “It’s more than possible that there is a perfectly reasonable substantive policy-based reason for this exception. But if that reason exists, the governor is obligated to share it with the people of California. Otherwise they’ll assume that he did a big favor for a big donor.” More

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      Newsom launches abortion ads in Republican states to fight ‘war on women’

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      California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, is launching a series of new advertisements in Republican states targeting Republican efforts to criminalize having an abortion and “a war on travel” for reproductive care.The first advertisement by Campaign for Democracy, Newsom’s political action committee (Pac), will air this week in Tennessee, where lawmakers are considering legislation that would make it illegal for anyone who helps a minor obtain an abortion without permission from their parents. Anyone found guilty of the offense could face between three and 15 years in prison.Newsom’s ad opens with a young woman handcuffed to a hospital bed as she cries out for help. “Trump Republicans want to criminalize young women who travel to receive the reproductive care they need,” a voiceover says. “Don’t let them hold Tennessee women hostage.”Newsom unveiled the ad on NBC News’s Meet the Press on Sunday. The Pac plans to air them in other states like Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma that are considering similar measures.“I worry about the United States supreme court, that again, set the tone and tenor for the debate we’re having today. And again, it’s not just a war on travel. It’s not just a war on reproductive healthcare. It’s also a war on women more broadly defined, including as we know, contraceptives,” Newsom said on Sunday.Trump has reportedly expressed private support for an abortion ban after 16-weeks of pregnancy, according to the New York Times. “Know what I like about 16?” Trump told one of these people, who was given anonymity to describe a private conversation. “It’s even. It’s four months,” he has said, according to the times.Newsom was skeptical Trump would stick to 16 weeks. “He supports a national ban. And if you’re Lindsey Graham and others, they’re going to bring that down well below 16. He will sign a national ban,” he said on Meet the Press.Republicans this week have been scrambling to articulate a position on IVF after a ruling from the Alabama supreme court said that frozen embryos are children. At least three clinics in the state have stopped providing IVF services.Trump on Friday said he supports IVF and urged Alabama Republicans to “act quickly to find an immediate solution to preserve” it. The National Republican Senate Committee, the campaign arm of senate Republicans, has also urged GOP candidates to support IVF.The Texas governor, Greg Abbott, a Republican who leads a state where abortion is essentially banned and has implemented some of the nation’s harshest anti-abortion laws, also treaded carefully when he was asked on Sunday how Texas would respond to the Alabama ruling.“President Trump put out a statement on this and I think that is a goal that we all kind of want to achieve. That is, we want to make it easier for people to have babies, not make it harder,” he said during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union. “The IVF process is a way of giving life to even more babies.”Byron Donalds, a Florida Republican who is an ally of Trump, said on Sunday he could support a bill with national protections for IVF.“Like any type of bill that gets drafted on Capitol Hill, I want to see the devil in the details. But, yes, I could – I feel I could broadly support that. Because, like I said, IVF is something that is so critical to a lot of couples. It helps them breed great families. Our country needs that,” he said on Meet The Press. More

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      His debate with Gavin Newsom showed Ron DeSantis will never be president | Lloyd Green

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      On Thursday night, Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, reminded the US why he will never be president. His voice grates, his visage a cross between a squinted grimace and scowl. He looks like Manuel Noriega, the ex-Panamanian dictator, without the scarring. On a personal level, he lacks humor, warmth, wit or uplift. He is ham-handed, an awkward social warrior.DeSantis comes across as too hot. This is the guy who picked a fight with Mickey Mouse, his state’s largest employer. He holds degrees from Yale and Harvard, but repeatedly flashes clouded judgment. In other words, there are plenty of reasons why he is getting walloped among Republicans by Donald Trump.“You’re down 41 points in your own home state,” California’s Gavin Newsom happily reminded DeSantis during their televised debate, which Fox moderated.And if you can’t win your own state, you are going nowhere. Recall: Senator Elizabeth Warren lost to Joe Biden in 2020’s Massachusetts primary and never regained her former stature.The dust-up was organized and moderated by Fox’s Sean Hannity, with Fox advertising the gubernatorial cage match – between the governors of two of the US’s largest states – as “DeSantis vs Newsom: The Great Red v Blue State Debate”.Over 90-plus minutes, DeSantis attacked Newsom – whose Republican ex-wife Kimberly Guilfoyle is engaged to Don Jr – without lasting impact. He ran through a litany of California’s woes but couldn’t make them stick. Then again, he carries a ton of baggage, from crime and abortion to January 6 and needless Covid-related deaths. A recent court settlement over Florida’s improper withholding of Covid records highlights the fact that DeSantis’s boasts were empty.Florida is plagued by high murder and gun mortality – as Trump, DeSantis’s bitter rival, is fond of reminding Republican primary voters. DeSantis has dangled the prospect of pardoning January 6 defendants but claims to love the police.By the numbers, Florida’s homicide rate tops California’s (and New York’s, for that matter). Beyond that, Christian Ziegler, the chair of the Florida Republican party, is under investigation for rape and sexual assault. Law and order; traditional family values; whatever.On the debate stage, DeSantis failed to land the blows he needed to rejuvenate his formerly promising campaign. His one-on-one confrontation did nothing to dent Nikki Haley’s rise or bring him any closer to Trump. Air continues to exit DeSantis’s low-flying balloon.He recently received the endorsement of Bob Vander Plaats, an evangelical leader in Iowa, but that gain has yet to move the dial. On the other hand, Haley just this week scored the endorsement of the Kochs’ political network, which translates into money and campaign foot-soldiers, as DeSantis knows from personal experience.“DeSantis wins formal Koch backing as momentum continues to shift,” a Politico headline from 2018 blared. Those days are so gone.“When are you going to drop out and give Nikki Haley a shot to win?” Newsom zinged. Great question, one that DeSantis failed to answer in front of the Trump fan boy Sean Hannity. DeSantis – a Rupert Murdoch personal favorite – fell flat on Murdoch’s own network. Meanwhile, the Fox board member and ex-House speaker Paul Ryan was touting Haley to whomever would listen.Much like Mike Pence, the former vice-president and former presidential wannabe, DeSantis is bogged down in abortion and Dobbs, the gift the right wing prayed for but is now living to regret. For Pence, it was a matter of conviction; for DeSantis it looks like a case of expedience that quickly headed south.In July last year, Florida enacted a 15-week cut-off for abortion. For DeSantis that wasn’t enough. He doubled down on the issue and lost. To burnish his rightwing credentials, he then pressed the Florida legislature to adopt a six-week abortion ban and it backfired. Tremendously.He got what he demanded and is now living with its consequences. A majority of Floridians are pro-choice, by a 56-39 margin. Florida isn’t Mississippi, to DeSantis’s chagrin.“You want to roll back hard-earned national rights on voting rights and civil rights, human rights and women’s rights, not just access to abortion, but also access to contraception,” Newsom fired. The US is still waiting for DeSantis’s retort.Here, Trump smells blood. He has privately derided anti-abortion leaders as lacking “leverage” to force his hand while tweaking them for having nowhere else to go once the supreme court struck down Roe v Wade. He has also reportedly mocked as “disloyal” and “out of touch” those evangelicals who cast their lot with DeSantis.Simply put, Vander Plaats won’t be receiving a Christmas card from the Trumps later this month. In that same vein, the evangelical rank and file has parted ways with its leadership. These days, Nascar and Florida’s Daytona are their spiritual homes; church pews on Sunday, not so much.In a sense, DeSantis is stuck in the past, rerunning yesteryear’s campaigns. Right now, Trump demonstrates traction with younger voters and is making inroads with minority communities. By contrast, DeSantis is picking losing fights.Gasping for attention, he unfurled a “poop map” of San Francisco to highlight the magnitude of the city’s homeless problem. The stunt backfired. Right now, it’s DeSantis’s campaign that seems to be the raging dung heap. The words “Florida man” usually precede a punchline or something gruesome.
      Lloyd Green is an attorney in New York and served in the US Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992 More

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      Undercard for Biden-Trump? Debate puts two Americas on same stage

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      American media billed it as a “slugfest” and the “Vendetta in Alpharetta”. Ron DeSantis’s campaign hyped it with a “tale of the tape”. In the era of politics as entertainment, everyone had an interest in turning a debate between two state governors with presidential aspirations into something resembling fight night in Las Vegas.After all, it seems the Elon Musk v Mark Zuckerberg cage match is not going to happen, so the showdown between Florida governor DeSantis and his California counterpart Gavin Newsom on prime time television on Thursday would just have to do.For Fox News, there was the promise for ratings for a White House race that might have been or might still be. DeSantis is desperate to be president but losing badly to Donald Trump in Republican primary opinion polls. Newsom equally aches with ambition but dare not say so while fellow Democrat Joe Biden has the big chair. Consider this Newsom’s audition for 2024 should the current president bow to old age or bad polling or both.There were plenty of low blows, blood on the canvas and less than impartial refereeing from Hannity. DeSantis, in the red corner, failed to land the big punch that could turn his fortunes around. Newsom, in the blue corner, floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee, ensuring that he will live to fight another day – quite possibly in 2028.So this remained effectively the undercard for the expected rematch between Biden and Trump next year. Newsom turned both presidents into a one-two punch, promoting Biden’s economic record while relishing Trump’s dominance of the Republican primary.He goaded DeSantis: “You’re trolling folks and trying to find migrants to play political games, to try to get some news and attention, so you can out-Trump Trump. And by the way, how’s that going for you, Ron? You’re down 41 points in your own home state.” DeSantis stared into the middle distance, his face contorted in a rictus like an overripe pumpkin.The governors represent two of the three biggest states in the US. DeSantis, 45, is a culture warrior who wages war on Covid science, gun control and pronouns. Newsom, 56, is a progressive peacock seen by his foes as part of the hypocritical liberal elite. The debate put two Americas on the same stage: hunter v hipster, heartland v Hollywood, Duck Dynasty v Modern Family, Cracker Barrel v Whole Foods, beer v wine.The gulf often appeared unbridgeable, a snapshot of a nation at odds with itself. Differences on policy soon descended into the governors talking over one another. DeSantis snapped: “You’re a liberal bully!” Newsom answered: “You’re nothing but a bully.” DeSantis retorted: “You’re a bully!” Repetitive it was, Socratic it was not. Over the past eight years Trump has coarsened the discourse so that no disagreement is complete without a personal insult or viral-friendly barb.After months of trash talking each other’s records from afar, DeSantis and Newsom finally came face to face in a studio in Alpharetta in swing state Georgia. The lack of audience and other participants made this feel less chaotic and raucous than the debates that have taken place so far as part of the Republican primary contest. The men stood at lecterns about eight feet apart with red and blue images from their states behind them, as well as their state flags. It was “not a cheap set that we’ve built for you all”, Hannity said.From the opening bell, both men were on brand. DeSantis, wearing the standard issue Trump uniform of dark suit, white shirt and red tie, was bleak and saturnine, like a graveyard at night, going on the offensive against Newsom in his opening statement: “He led the country in school closures locking kids out of school while he had his own kids in private school in person. Now he’s very good at spinning these tales. He’s good at being slick and slippery. He’ll tell a blizzard of lies to be able to try to mask the failures.”Newsom, by contrast, began with sunshine and charm like a sommelier at an overpriced restaurant. He smiled and complimented Hannity for wearing a tie. But then he responded in kind: “You want to bring us back to the pre-1960s or older, America in reverse … You want to weaponise grievance; you are focused on false separateness. You in particular run on a banning binge, a cultural purge, intimidating and humiliating people you disagree with. You and President Trump are really trying to light democracy on fire.”Over 90 minutes, the pair clashed on jobs, taxes, coronavirus pandemic lockdowns, immigration, crime, homelessness, abortion and more. Hannity often had to intervene to stop them talking over one another. Statistics flew back and forth on everything from murder rates to Covid deaths. So did allegations of lying, leaving Democrats to cheer Newsom, Republicans to cheer DeSantis and viewers none the wiser.DeSantis claimed that Newsom’s own father-in-law had moved to Florida because it was better governed and wielded a map of what he said showed the quantity of human faeces found on the streets of San Francisco. He called Newsom “a slick, slippery politician whose state is failing”.The California governor responded to the tirades with a raised eyebrow and wry smile. He accused DeSantis of “smirking” and was withering about his incorrect pronunciation of Kamala Harris’s first name, saying he should show more respect for the vice-president. He scored points by hammering home the threat a President DeSantis would pose to abortion rights.For a while, Hannity, who is friendly with both men, played the part of affable and even-handed host. But he showed his true colours when he stated as fact that Biden, 81, is experiencing “significant cognitive decline”. DeSantis claimed that Newsom agrees and that is why he is running a “shadow campaign” for president. Newsom had a response ready: “I will take Joe Biden at 100 versus Ron DeSantis any day of the week at any age.”Such lines ensured that the charismatic Newsom will avoid the charge of disloyalty and continue his ascent. DeSantis is still in his 40s but resembled an ageing, over-the-hill fighter throwing punches at a phantom opponent. He did nothing to stall rival Nikki Haley’s momentum or close the gap on Trump. Newsom observed that what the men have in common “is neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024”.The debate was also a chilling reminder that America is heading into another election torn between different realities. Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary, said on Fox News afterwards: “Democrats are from Mars and Republicans are from Venus.”DeSantis’s campaign sent out a statement with the wildly improbable headline: “DeSantis crushes Newsom and Biden, unites Republicans in debate win.” The governor dashed to a hotel press conference where he sought to justify taking part: “To have 90 minutes on national TV where I’m able to go and box somebody who is on the far left – that is good exposure for me.”The pugilistic metaphor was at least consistent. But it may be time to throw in the towel. Stuart Stevens, a veteran political consultant, tweeted: “In the history of American politics, @RonDeSantis will go down as the chump who not only lost every debate in his race, but lost to a guy who isn’t even in the race. That’s talent.” More

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      DeSantis v Newsom debate: governors clash on housing, taxes, immigration and more – as it happened

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      The unusual match-up between Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis has come to a close. Despite a substantive start addressing policy differences around taxes, the economy and the Covid-19 pandemic, the debate quickly devolved with the pair repeatedly talking over one another. Newsom had to contend with a moderator who offered leading questions centered on rightwing talking points.The debate addressed everything from book bans to abortion to the Israel-Hamas war and homelessness.Here are the highlights:
      Newsom, who has repeatedly said he is not seeking his party’s nomination, said that he was at the debate to support the president and highlight the differences between Biden and and DeSantis, who he argued is determined to rollback abortion rights and LGBTQ+ rights.
      DeSantis accused Newsom of running a “shadow campaign” for the presidency. Meanwhile, the California governor pointed to DeSantis’ lagging polls numbers – he is trailing Donald Trump by 41 points among Republican voters in Florida.
      The pair also addressed Florida’s move to abandon people seeking asylum to California. Newsom described DeSantis as “using human beings as pawns”. In response, the Florida governor said California is a sanctuary state.
      Newsom defended his state’s record on homelessness – more than 171,000 people experiencing homelessness live in California – and said the state has invested “unprecedented resources” to solve the crisis. Afterward, DeSantis criticized San Francisco and held up a map that he said showed where feces has been found in the city.
      DeSantis claimed that Biden is experiencing “cognitive decline”, claims echoed by moderator Sean Hannity. Conservative media has long fixated on claims that Biden is suffering from cognitive decline but this narrative has largely relied on outright deception.Read more here:
      In the lead-up to his prime time debate with DeSantis, Newsom, 56, has been busy campaigning over the last few months. He has travelled to several red states, where he also paid for billboards and television advertisements. He has challenged not just DeSantis, but a number of Republican governors including Greg Abbott of Texas. He launched a “Campaign for Democracy’’ political action committee. He met with Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel and Xi Jinping in China.But as his political star rises, his constituents are growing increasingly sceptical. The governor, who sailed through an election after thwarting a recall effort, has recently seen his approval rating sink to an all-time low. His vetoes of bills that would have expanded labour protections and rights alienated powerful unions. And his rejection of laws to outlaw caste discrimination, decriminalise psychedelics and consider gender affirmation in child custody cases has confused advocates who thought they could count on his support.A poll by UC Berkeley’s institute of governmental studies, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, found that 49% of registered voters in California disapproved of their governor. And 43% opposed him “taking on a more prominent role in national politics” via TV appearances and travel.“He’s taking on a new persona,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Berkeley-IGS poll. “He’s now broadening his overall political profile, and not all Californians are on board with that. They’d rather stick to the job that he was elected to do.”Despite pledges to continue for another 20 minutes, both Newsom and DeSantis have called it a night.The event unfolded as expected with the pair clashing over the same topics they have been for months – immigration, education and Covid policy – and Newsom emphasizing that he is not running for president and was there in support of Joe Biden.The governors threw barbs back and forth with DeSantis referring to Newsom as a “slick politician” lying to Americans and running a “shadow campaign” for the White House. Newsom, who described DeSantis as a bully intent on rolling back civil rights, said: “One thing that we have in common is neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024.”We’re nearing the scheduled end of the debate.After 90 minutes filled with tense exchanges and non-stop talking over one another, the pair exchanged their kindest words of the night with DeSantis praising California’s natural beauty and Newsom offering his appreciation for the Florida governor and his military service.“I also appreciate we do have fundamental differences about the fate and future of this country. And that’s why I’m going to be working so hard to get Joe Biden and Kamala Harris re-elected in 2024.”The debate has moved on to homelessness in America and long stretches of DeSantis and Newsom talking over one another in an almost indecipherable stream of references to LGBTQ+ policies and Disney.More than 171,000 people experiencing homelessness live in California – 30% of the homeless population in the US. California is considered the most unaffordable state for housing, where minimum-wage earners would have to work nearly 90 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom apartment. But Newsom defended the state’s record, arguing California is investing “unprecedented resources” to address the crisis.“We’ve gotten 68,000 people off the streets, close to 6,000 encampments, we’ve got off the streets. We’ve also invested in unprecedented resources in reforming our behavioral health system,” Newsom said. “Ron has literally the worst mental health system in America, forgive me, outside of Mississippi and Texas.”In response, DeSantis criticized San Francisco, and held up a map that he claims showed where feces has been found in the city.While criticizing DeSantis’ policies around guns in Florida, Newsom specifically mentioned the 2018 school shooting in Parkland and told the governor to address gun violence in his “own backyard”. His remarks have drawn support from Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in Parkland.In between claims that Biden is not fit for office, DeSantis has accused Newsom of running a “shadow campaign” for the presidency.“[Biden] has no business running for president. And you know, Gavin Newsom agrees with that. He won’t say that. That’s why he’s running a shadow campaign,” DeSantis said.Newsom has repeatedly said that he is not running for office and supports Biden’s re-election, but his rising national profile – and tonight’s debate – has fueled speculation about his presidential ambitions.“I will take Joe Biden at 100 versus Ron DeSantis any day of the week at any age,” Newsom said in response while again reiterating his support for Biden.Moderator Sean Hannity started the debate insisting he would be fair – while acknowledging he is a well-known conservative – but many of his questions have been leading and centered on rightwing talking points.“I am noticing some congnitive decline. Is Joe Biden experiencing cognitive decline?” Hannity said at one point.Conservative media has long fixated on claims that Biden is suffering from cognitive decline but much of this narrative has relied on outright deception.Now on to parental rights in schools and book bans. DeSantis has pulled out a censored print-out that he says depicts “pornographic” images that he claims are in books carried in California schools. Newsom countered by arguing DeSantis of on a book-banning binge.Last year school districts in Florida removed about 300 books from libraries in 2022. Among them were LGBTQ+ memoirs, including All Boys Aren’t Blue and Toni Morrison’s Beloved, the winner of the Pulitzer prize.“What’s wrong with Toni Morrison’s books?” Newsom said.Newsom also suggested poet Amanda Gorman’s poetry was banned in Florida schools. Politifact has pointed out that Newsom’s statement wasn’t entirely accurate.DeSantis accused Newsom of lying about claims that Florida made it easier for people with felony convictions to access guns. But DeSantis has loosened gun laws in the state, even those supported by most Floridians.Earlier this year the Florida governor signed a permitless carry bill into law. State law previously required that those who wish to carry a concealed gun complete safety training and undergo a more detailed background check.Gun safety groups have provided evidence suggesting the permitless carry law will contribute to an increase in violence.Read more here: More

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      in US Politics

      DeSantis v Newsom debate: governors clash on crime, abortion, guns and more

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      Ron DeSantis, a hard-right contender for the Republican presidential nomination, took the stage in Georgia on Thursday for a debate one eager website dubbed “The Vendetta in Alpharetta.”But the Florida governor’s opponent was not Donald Trump, the former president and clear primary frontrunner, or any other Republican contender. His opponent was Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California,who is not seeking his party’s nomination next year, given Joe Biden’s grip on the White House.Both governors smiled for the cameras then attacked from the off, often seeking to tie their opponent to the looming presidential race.DeSantis said: “I think California has more natural advantages than any state in the country. You almost have to try to mess California up. Yet, that’s what Gavin Newsom has done.“… They have failed because of his leftist ideology. And the choice for America is this. What [Joe] Biden and [Kamala] Harris and Newsom want to do is take the California model and do that nationally. In Florida we show conservative principles work. This country must choose freedom over failure.”Newsom said he was “here to tell the truth about the Biden-Harris record and also compare and contrast.“… Ron discusses his record in a Republican state. As a point of contrast that is different as daylight and darkness. You want to bring us back to the pre-1960s or older, America in reverse. You want to roll back hard-earned national rights on voting rights and civil rights, human rights and women’s rights, not just access to abortion, but also access to contraception.“You want to weaponise grievance, you are focused on false separateness. You in particular run on a banning binge, a cultural purge, intimidating and humiliating people you disagree with. You and [former] President Trump are really trying to light democracy on fire.”Fox News organisers called it a “slugfest” even before it began and that was what unfolded, both men throwing rhetorical jabs, but more often talking over each other in a series of windmilling brawls.It was moderated, such as it could be, by Sean Hannity. Long close to Trump, the prime time anchor and “culture war” warrior called his Trump-less project The Great Red v Blue State Debate. Fox News said it would highlight issues “including the economy, the border, immigration, crime and inflation”. It also said that without a studio audience, the governors would have “equal opportunity to respond and address each issue”.In the event, Hannity confessed immediately to being a conservative, then asked about internal migration, citing high numbers leaving California and half as many leaving Florida. Newsom cited his own statistics. DeSantis liked those from Fox. Another pattern was established.For both men, the debate carried risk. DeSantis, in reverse in the polls, risked being seen as desperate and, perhaps, lacking in political and physical stature. Subject to reports of lifts in his shoes, the 5ft 11in governor squared up to a 6ft 3in opponent who seemed to smile more naturally too.But Newsom risked – and duly received – repeated questions about what exactly he is up to, given Biden’s seat in the Oval Office but also polling which shows voters think the president too old for a second term. At 56, Newsom is 25 years younger than Biden. Of course, that most likely means his target is 2028, a post-Biden primary.Newsom defended Biden’s record and mental fitness, insisting he was not positioning himself to succeed. DeSantis insisted his rival was mounting a “shadow campaign”, and mocked Biden as old and infirm.Crosstalk and accusations of lying persisted. Newsom scored one early blow by using DeSantis’s bluster. “As he continues to talk over me,” he said, “I’ll talk to the American people.” That won him a spell straight to camera. On a question about Covid policies, Newsom scored again by focusing on DeSantis’s change in tactics, from following the science to waging culture wars.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionBut DeSantis hit back, using Hannity’s questions as most seemed intended: as tee-ups, hitting Newsom on crime, immigration and particularly alleged elitism in any policy to hand.When Newsom hit DeSantis on gun control, regarding loosened laws, DeSantis responded: “People are leaving California in droves, largely because public safety is catastrophic.” Newsom responded with more statistics. DeSantis talked over him, saying, “I know you like to jabber, I know you like to lie.” Hannity fought for control.Asked about Florida’s controversial “don’t say gay law”, regarding LGBTQ+ issues in schools, DeSantis produced a book he called “Gender Queer” [in fact Gender Queer: A Memoir, by Maia Kobabe], censors’ blocks applied to cartoon appendages, which the governor said he’d removed from schools. Newsom dismissed the claim such books were on the curriculum in California and asked about bans affecting Black authors including Toni Morrison and Amanda Gorman.“What you’re doing is using education as a source for your cultural scourge,” Newsom said, adding: “I don’t like the way you demean people, I don’t like the way you demean the LGBTQ+ community.”Each man called the other a bully. DeSantis held up another visual aid: a map he said showed San Francisco covered in “human feces”. Newsom laughed. Hannity switched the subject to Israel and Hamas, then China.On abortion – a losing issue for Republicans since the supreme court removed the federal right – Newsom hammered DeSantis for signing a six-week ban. Hannity gave DeSantis the floor, to explain why he introduced it. Would DeSantis support a national six-week ban, Newsom repeated. DeSantis did not answer.“It’d be great if you guys co-operated,” Hannity pleaded. “I’m not a potted plant here.”Neither man showed much interest in that. Then, a surprise. After what seemed a closing question, seeking good things about each others’ states, the governors agreed to stay onstage for some more.Only, they didn’t. When Hannity came back from an ad break, DeSantis and Newsom were gone. More