Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* The Democratic National Committee has announced new threshold standards for presidential contenders who wish to compete in the third debate, scheduled to air on ABC in September. By that point, the party expects participants to “register at least 2 percent in four major polls conducted this summer and receive donations from at least 130,000 individual donors, including at least 400 in 20 states.”
* A fascinating catch from the Wall Street Journal: “The majority of senior aides and advisers on the top-tier Democratic presidential campaigns are women, and roughly a quarter identified as women of color.”
* Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) unveiled a plan yesterday for a Reproductive Rights Act that would be shaped like the Voting Rights Act: states with a history of restrictions on reproductive rights would need to get Justice Department approval before implementing new abortion laws.
* In his first policy address since launching his national campaign, former Vice President Joe Biden (D) yesterday unveiled his education plan. It includes, among other things, a provision on universal pre-K.
* Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) is unveiling a new immigration plan today, which includes a call for comprehensive immigration reform in his first 100 days. * Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is rolling out a new proposal today intended to give workers a greater ownership stake in their private employers. * As disgraced former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore (R) inches closer to another U.S. Senate campaign in Alabama, Donald Trump is pleading with him not to run. In a pair of tweets this morning, the president said he has nothing against Moore, but Trump believes the right-wing Alabaman, who lost a Senate race in 2017, “probably won’t” and “cannot” win. * And as Rachel noted on the show last night, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), another presidential hopeful, has begun talking about his experiences with PTSD after his combat deployments in Iraq. As part of the same message, the Massachusetts Democrat unveiled a plan yesterday to expand access to mental health services for veterans.
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." Recommended
