Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Joe Biden made his first public appearance in quite a while yesterday, laying a wreath to honor the fallen at a Delaware war memorial. (The former vice president and his wife both wore masks at the event.) As NBC News’ report added, “The visit comes during a solemn week for the Biden family. This Saturday, May 30, marks five years since the death of his son Beau from brain cancer. His son was an Iraq war veteran, having served there in the Delaware Army National Guard.”
* On Memorial Day, Donald Trump used his Twitter account to endorse Republican congressional hopeful Sean Parnell, and in the process, smeared Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.) in a variety of strange ways. Among the problems: the president managed to misspell both “Conor” and “Lamb.”
* Over the holiday weekend, NBC News reported that a federal judge rejected a Florida law that requires felons to pay legal fees before regaining the right to vote. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle ruled that the law is unconstitutional.
* Two weeks after California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced plans to send mail-in ballots to all registered voters in the state, the Republican National Committee and other GOP groups filed suit challenging the policy and hoping to make it less easy for Californians to cast ballots.
* The latest Minneapolis Star Tribune poll found Biden with a modest lead over Trump, 49% to 44%. The Great Lakes State is literally the only state to back the Democratic ticket in every election cycle since 1976, but in 2016, Hillary Clinton won by only two points. * On a more surprising note, a new UtahPolicy.com/KUTV 2 News poll found Trump leading Biden in Utah, but only by 3 percentage points, 44% to 41%. The president carried Utah four years ago, of course, but he won the state with only 45% of the vote, reinforcing impressions that Utahans were not overly impressed by him. * Bill Stepien, perhaps best known for his alleged role in Chris Christie’s “Bridgegate” scandal in New Jersey, has a new job: he’ll serve as the deputy campaign manager for Donald Trump’s re-election effort.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
Latest Post
Recommended
