Welcome to the online version of From the policy deskevening bulletin that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill from the NBC News Politics team.
In today’s edition, we report on how Vice President Kamala Harris’ search for a running mate is nearing the finish line. Plus, consider another major challenge for House Democrats, with pro-Israel groups spending heavily on advertising.
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How a vice president can shape an election … everything
By Scott Bland
Presidents often describe the selection of candidates as the most important decision they make in the campaign. If it’s not already clear from scrutiny, interviews, and obsessive media attention, consider the long and still-stretching list of ways one choice has shaped national policy over the decades.
This decision is Barack Obama’s choice of Joe Biden in 2008.
The choice affected not only Obama’s election victories and the Obama administration, but every subsequent presidential election since then. And it can go on for years, as Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to make her choice Tuesday.
Obama’s team saw Biden’s rise to the vice presidency as a “landmark” for his career, as campaign manager David Plouffe wrote in a 2009 book, and Biden’s decision not to run for president in 2016 cleared the way for Hillary Clinton to run without a heavyweight. A challenger from the Democratic establishment. Then the victory of Donald Trump changed everything. It’s inconceivable that Biden would have run or won in 2020 without his clout as VP — but he did, based on his experience and voter relations built as Obama’s running mate.
Now, Biden’s promotion of Harris has put him in a position to take over from him when he leaves the Democratic presidential nomination.
And Harris’ choice of running mate could be the Democratic Party’s next presidential favorite, potentially in the 2030s.
This chain of events stems from a choice that could not easily have been made in 2008. Plouffe, newly appointed general counsel He recalled that during Harris’ campaign, Obama described his choice as a “coin toss” between Biden and then-Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana is also in the mix, as is then-Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine.
Moving away from this decision, it becomes clear how much of a difference another candidate in 2008 could have made in the last few elections. And we still don’t know the full effects. It depends on how Harris does in this election and who he picks as a potential No. 2 pick.
‘Squad’ member Cory Bush puts Israel in the spotlight with the Democratic primary
By Julie Tsirkin and Kyle Stewart
Democratic Republican Cory Bush is known as a fighter; she went from being a homeless single mother protesting on the streets of Ferguson to a prominent member of the so-called group of progressive House members in DC.
But now, the activist-turned-politician is fighting to avoid losing a primary against a well-financed challenger — four years after he arrived in Washington, defeating the then-president in a primary.
“I’m just trying to figure out why so much money is being spent on our congressional race when our region needs so much,” an exasperated Bush said in an interview with NBC News on a hot summer day.
He was referring to the more than $18 million spent on his race against Wesley Bell, making it the second most expensive House primary in the country. Bell, a St. Louis County prosecuting attorney, has a large advertising budget in the race thanks to nearly $9 million from a pro-Israel group seeking to unseat Bush, an outspoken critic of Israel.
Bell has consistently argued that Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas and has said he would support the US ally if elected. There are other issues in the race, including a Justice Department investigation into Bush’s use of campaign funds (Bush has said he is cooperating with the investigation and has denied any wrongdoing).
But Israel — and the ads that came out to fight the issue — became the centerpiece of another campaign just five weeks after Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a member of Bush’s “Squad,” lost in the New York primary. War in Gaza.
🗞️ The best stories of the day
- 👫 Playing defense: Senator JD Vance’s wife Usha has defended her husband’s “childless cat ladies” comment, saying it was a “joke” about a bigger, more “substantial” point that it can be “really hard to be a parent in this country.” More →
- 🐻 This story is a bear: The New Yorker took an in-depth look at the campaign of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a story that prompted him to acknowledge news on social media Sunday that he had taken a bear carcass from a crash and used it to stage a bicycle accident in New York. York Central Park. More →
- 😓 More unrest in the Middle East: President Joe Biden speaks with his national security team ahead of potential retaliatory strikes against Israel following Iran’s strikes that killed Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. More →
- 🙈 Don’t look now: Louisiana’s governor has a message for critics of a new law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms: “Tell your kids not to look at them.” More →
That’s all for the Policy Desk for now. If you have feedback – like it or not – send us an email politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com
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