Newborn syphilis cases explode to highest level in 30 years: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/newborn-syphilis-cases-reached-dire-levels-cdc-says-rcna123856 . And 90% of these cases could be prevented by basic testing and treatment during pregnancy. Even if we can’t fix health care delivery in this country, I believe providing access to free testing during pregnancy would save money … and a ton of heartache.
Will the abortion issue affect the 2023 and 2024 elections?: https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/07/politics/fault-lines-suburbs-elections-2023/index.html . There are various aspects of OJ’s playing to the MAGA base which hurt the GOP in the general election. Democrats want to know if that’s still true, and this is the main test question in today’s election. The answer will significantly affect strategy for 2024.
Having said that, I want to further criticize David Axelrod’s comments suggesting Biden withdraw. No one knows what the events of the next year will be, but I calmly predict that most of the news will favor Biden’s re-election. As suggested previously here, Biden will pick up endorsements from people you would not expect, in particular GOP’ers who fear another OJ presidency will be a disaster (duh). Nothing good will happen for OJ in court. Also, the US economy remains remarkably strong. Joe’s got issues, but the alternative has mega MAGA problems. Rachel Maddow also (indirectly) tells David Axelrod he’s full of … prunes: https://www.rawstory.com/2023-election-shows-positive-polling-progressive-issues/?utm_source=ground.news&utm_medium=referral .
And, assuming Biden does win in 2024, I will also predict that Democrats will win in 2028. The GOP has to unwind MAGA to be a national party of potential governance, not a rural, regional party of grievance. That future does not involve OJ, his children, or Ron DeMentis (ugh, ugh, and ugh).
UPDATE: Democrats do well on Election Day 2023, as Andy Beshear is re-elected governor in Kentucky: https://www.npr.org/2023/11/07/1209090515/2023-results-key-kentucky-elections . Also, Ohio adds a constitutional amendment protecting abortion: https://apnews.com/article/ohio-abortion-amendment-election-2023-fe3e06747b616507d8ca21ea26485270 . The Beshear victory is only of partial guidance national as Beshear is pro-life and pro-gun. However, he is an excellent governor and did well during the pandemic and the devastating 2021 tornado. Also, his GOP opponent, Daniel Cameron has a weak grasp of the law and is Black, which does generate GOP base enthusiasm even with his OJ endorsement.
The Ohio victory does demonstrate that abortion remains a powerful issue for suburban women in both parties, and they are a powerful group in the Ohio electorate. Additionally, Democrats won a majority in the Virginia Senate, defeating Governor Youngkin’s intent to gain a GOP majority to pass a 15-week abortion ban. Also, Democrat Dan McCaffrey won the open seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court by pledging to uphold abortion rights. As a result, expect the GOP to stop talking about abortion for the next year while Democrats bring this issue up in every close race.
Bottom line, OJ’s court packing completed a long-term GOP goal that a strong majority of Americans reject. So Alito, Thomas, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch and Barrett remain (for life!) despite the utter failure of the abortion agenda that put them on the court. Nice screw-up, OJ and McConnell.
FURTHER UPDATE from WSJ: The Democrats control both houses of the Virginia legislature: https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/election-day-2023-gubernatorial-races-247b7d34 .The Journal tries to spin this as a minor setback for Governor Youngkin. This ignores: (1) he lost BOTH houses; (2) he spent a lot of donor money doing this; and (3) Virginia limits governors to one term. He may find another office to run for, but he has to explain himself to donors.
BBC: What to expect from third GOP presidential debate Wednesday night: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67339978 . Um, even fewer viewers than the last one? WSJ: More or less: https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/republican-debate-miami-what-to-expect-ab891722 . So, again, what is the reason to watch these fools?
Government shutdown looms: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4296547-senate-eyes-huge-maxi-bus-to-address-year-end-spending-crunch/ . We have 100 Senators and 435 Representatives, almost all of whom are asleep at the switch. The Senate is scrambling for a bipartisan bill to at least put the burden of shutdown on the House. That’s just not the same objective as intelligently funding the government.
WSJ: China’s exports weaken: https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/china-exports-drop-more-than-expected-signaling-continued-headwinds-dc57b719 . The “two axes” are starting to bite.
WSJ: Yet another Chinese property developer has serious liquidity problems: https://www.wsj.com/finance/china-vanke-shareholder-shows-confidence-plans-over-1-0-billion-investment-a9f7c9ed . As we have said regularly, the country is massively overbuilt. If you can’t get occupants for your apartment buildings, the leverage soon wipes out your equity. This is an ongoing problem the Chinese seem to have little willingness to address.
House censures Rashida Tlaib over comments on Gaza: https://www.aol.com/house-censures-rashida-tlaib-she-033448742.html . As readers know, while I am disturbed by Israel’s war against Hamas, there seems to be no alternative for Israel’s security other than to try to annihilate Hamas. The phrase “from the river to the sea” is generally considered anti-Semitic. Aljazeera explains the controversy here: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/2/from-the-river-to-the-sea-what-does-the-palestinian-slogan-really-mean . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/rep-rashida-tlaib-faces-house-censure-vote-over-israel-remarks-018fc64b . Aljazeera’s explanation is better than the Journal’s.
Tlaib undoubtedly understood the controversy when she spoke. Surely she has freedom of speech as we all do, but the general interpretation of this speech as hate speech made her use of it controversial. I don’t support the censure, but I also don’t see the value in Representative Tlaib crossing this line.
MAGA former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark circles the drain: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/there-seems-to-be-a-serial-delay-attorney-discipline-board-upbraids-pro-trump-lawyer-jeffrey-clark-in-order-setting-ethics-hearing-schedule-over-2020-subversion-efforts/ . Of course, Clark also faces charges in the Georgia RICO case, and he doesn’t appear to have received a plea offer. Nice career, you incompetent, power-hungry fool.