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Super PAC spending $10 million to get low-propensity voters of color to polls

The progressive nonprofit organization Community Change Action (CCA) and its Super PAC arm will spend $10 million ahead of the November midterm elections in an effort to increase voter turnout for people of color.

In a memo obtained by The Hill, CCA and the affiliated Community Change Voters Super PAC announced a campaign effort “targeting high-potential, low-propensity voters of color in races where these voters can provide the margin of victory.”

CCA will target six states in the voter engagement initiative: Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The engagement campaign includes a goal of reaching one million potential voters through the phone, online or at events to encourage them to vote and inform them on election-related information.

The Nov. 8 election is expected to be a close race between Democrats and Republicans vying for control of Congress and statewide offices.

Polls have tightened as a once significant Republican advantage has dwindled and Democrats have won recent bellwether tests in New York and Alaska House races by campaigning on abortion rights.

CCA estimates that Democrats have an opportunity to retain control of Congress if they can mobilize communities of color ahead of November.

“Despite a challenging political environment, Democrats have an unprecedented opportunity to advance the progressive agenda this November if Black, brown and low-income voters are mobilized and turn out to vote,” CCA officials wrote in the memo. “Our program is designed to achieve that goal so that we can continue to move our country forward with policies for an economy where we can all thrive.”

In Arizona, CCA is focused on re-electing Sen. Mark Kelly (D) over his GOP opponent Blake Masters and electing Democrat Reginald Bolding for Secretary of State against Republican Mark Finchem.

The organization will work to boost Democrats in the other five states on the targeted list, including Sen. Raphael Warnock in Georgia and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan while striving to defeat Republican Sen. Ron Johnson in Wisconsin by supporting candidate Democratic Mandela Barnes.

In New Mexico, CCA will additionally push voters to support a ballot initiative that would enshrine child care into the state’s constitution.

CCA said a major focus this year will be to “invest heavily in digital organizing” and coordinate campaign efforts with local community influencers.

“With our partners, we are providing a political home to thousands of Americans who want to be engaged on issues they care about,” the memo reads.

Source: TEST FEED1

Woman jumps from car to escape alleged kidnapper; suspect arrested

VANCOUVER, Wash. (KOIN) — “I thought he was going to kill me.”

That’s what a Washington family was told after they woke up to a distressed woman yelling and trying to get inside their house early Saturday morning.

Concerned and confused, Jamie Woods and his wife, Caitlin Martin, of Camas, said the woman appeared to be intoxicated.

“The woman came to the back door,” Martin told KOIN.

“She had told me that someone was trying to kill her and took her car, so I said OK and I walked off into the street with her to see if I could see anything,” Woods said. “Right then and there, the car that she explained to me had turned the corner.”

At that point, he said, he “still didn’t really understand or know that was her car and that was the man that had kidnapped her.”

Woods called 911.

“But the whole time she was out front, I stayed behind the gate because 911 told me to stay inside the house,” he said. “But for the safety of my family and the safety of the woman and myself — I wasn’t going to go back inside and just ignore her — just in case the story was true.”

Deputies investigated and confirmed that the woman was in her car early Saturday morning when a man asked her for water. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office said the woman – who has not been publicly identified – let the man in her car.

He then threatened her with a knife, officials said, then drove her car to another location, where she jumped out and got help from residents in the area.

Deputies spotted the suspect in the woman’s car, and after a 10-minute car chase, deputies arrested him with the help of the Vancouver police.

The Clark County Sheriff’s Office said the man was taken into custody but has refused to identify himself. He is being held under a John Doe booking on charges of kidnapping, robbery, reckless driving and attempt to elude.

Source: TEST FEED1

Russia purchasing military equipment from North Korea, US assesses

Russia’s Ministry of Defense is purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea to bolster its forces in Moscow’s war in Ukraine, according to a U.S. official.  

The official told The Hill that the assessment, which is based on downgraded U.S. intelligence, is a sign of Moscow suffering from “severe” military supply shortages driven in part by export controls and economic sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.  

The U.S. anticipates Russia purchasing more North Korean military equipment in the future, the official said, without providing additional details on what type of equipment. The New York Times was first to report on intelligence suggesting Moscow was buying North Korean equipment.  

Russia has also turned to Iran to bolster its weapons stockpile. Biden administration officials said in late August that Tehran had transported its first shipment of Mohajer-6 and Shahed-series drones to Russia for use on the battlefield in Ukraine but cited information suggesting they have experienced mechanical failures.  

Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to deepen relations with North Korea, which is isolated due to international sanctions over its nuclear program, since Moscow invaded Ukraine.  

The United Nations currently bars Pyongyang from importing or exporting arms from or to other countries, meaning that the sale of rockets and artillery shells to Russia would violate that arms embargo.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has relied on billions of dollars in equipment from the U.S. and other nations to supplement its own military as it fights back against the Russian onslaught.  

Russia’s military campaign against Ukraine has stretched more than six months and shown no signs of winding down. Russia fell well below expectations in its military strength, failing to achieve its initial goal of capturing Kyiv.  

Source: TEST FEED1

Preserving the Rule of Law: Successful law enforcement has a domino effect

Need evidence that successful law enforcement actions in cases involving the rule of law can have a domino effect?

Exhibit A: On Sept. 3, we learned that former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows had recently coughed up texts and emails that he had previously failed to produce to the National Archives. “It could be a coincidence,” an unnamed source told CNN, “but within a week of the Aug. 8 search on Mar-a-Lago, much more started coming in.”

The court-approved search of former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence occurred after Trump had failed to comply voluntarily with multiple government requests to return all documents, including classified ones. The search warrant listed three criminal statutes that Trump may have violated. Anyone paying attention could see that Trump had put himself in danger of being prosecuted.

Meadows was apparently paying attention.

Exhibit B: No Jan. 6 participant whom the DOJ has charged has gone to trial since May 2. That’s likely the domino effect of a jury’s guilty verdict against Thomas Webster — a Marine Corps veteran and former NYC policeman — that day and two other similar verdicts in the weeks before.

The jury took less than four hours to convict Webster, as did the juries that rendered guilty verdicts against Gary Reffitt and Dustin Byron Thompson.

Since then, no one else involved in Jan. 6 has tested their luck with a jury. That doesn’t mean there won’t be future trials, but it suggests that swift justice in a courtroom has an impact on others. They learn the lesson: When the evidence is strong against you, juries don’t waste a lot of time convicting you. So you might as well get the benefit of a guilty plea.

Exhibit C: And if others had any doubt, Webster’s and Reffitt’s sentencings likely dispelled it. On Aug. 2, Reffitt was sentenced to more than seven years in prison. At the time, that was the longest term of imprisonment any judge had meted out for being part of the insurrection. Then, on Sept. 1, Webster received a 10-year sentence. (Thompson, the other insurrectionist who went to trial, remains to be sentenced.)

While every accused person has a right to a trial, our judicial system deploys carrots and sticks. It encourages those against whom the evidence of guilt is compelling to acknowledge their wrongdoing, and it penalizes those who don’t.

So do not expect to see many future trials of the Reffitt and Webster variety. Effective law enforcement by good investigators, prosecutors, judges and juries has a compounding effect.

Finally, here’s Exhibit D: Smart law enforcement actions can domino into unsmart defendant reactions.

After the FBI released the photo of top secret documents placed on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago office carpet, Trump posted a response on social media: “The FBI took them out of cartons and spread them around on the carpet, making it look like a big ‘find’ for them,” he asserted. “They dropped them, not me — Very deceiving.”

Trump was again playing his “aggrieved martyr” card to his base — but in the process, he added to prosecutors’ portfolio against him. His own words confirm that he held sensitive national security documents at Mar-a-Lago — in “cartons,” in his desk and elsewhere.

Take note: What a subject of investigation doesn’t say when he talks can be as important as what he does say. Prosecutors will note the absence of any assertion that the FBI “planted” the evidence, as Trump had previously suggested. So there goes that defense if Trump tries to make it at a future trial.

Trump may not understand that when a Justice Department he doesn’t control is breathing down his neck, he’s in a different world from the one he’s known. It’s not smart to play the same old cards. The ones that worked on social media won’t have the same effect in a courtroom.

Political narratives are not what count with the FBI, with prosecutors and judges or with juries. What matters is how the facts fit into the criminal code. And what you say in public “can and will be used against you.”

Dennis Aftergut is a former federal prosecutor, currently of counsel to Lawyers Defending American Democracy.

Source: TEST FEED1

Vote.org unveils $10M campaign to register young Americans

Voter engagement organization Vote.org is launching a $10 million campaign to boost young voter turnout ahead of the midterm elections.

The campaign effort, called Vote Ready, seeks to reach out to four million voters aged 18 to 30 and register more than one million young Americans by Nov. 8, according to a press release to be published later Tuesday.

Vote.org will use social media and other online resources to inform people how to register, fill out an absentee ballot or navigate election laws ahead of election day.

Vote Ready builds on a previous announcement from the organization to register more than one million young Americans for the 2022 midterm elections.

Boosting young Americans in elections is a key goal for Vote.org. Gen Z is the third-largest generation alive with 17 million youth becoming 18 in time for this election.

Vote.org CEO Andrea Hailey said, “younger voters have the power to shape their future but successfully navigating elections can be a barrier to making their voices heard.”

“The first two times someone votes are the most important elections to ensure that voting becomes a lifelong practice,” Hailey said in a statement. “Fundamentally, that must start with educating young people on the power of having their voices heard and represented, making clear the cause and effect of being civically engaged on a national level and in their communities.”

The midterm elections are set to be a tight race between Democrats and Republicans for control of Congress, which could shape the congressional agenda for the next two years.

In 2020, Gen Z came out in record numbers during a high-stakes presidential election, but it’s unclear if that will be matched for a midterm election in 2022, which historically see less turnout.

An April Harvard Institute of Politics poll shows youth turnout is on track to match a record youth turnout for a midterm election in 2018, but 42 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds also said they don’t feel like their vote matters and expressed other discontentment with the political system.

The elections also come amid a number of hot-button issues that youth are passionate about, including climate change and LGBTQ+ rights.

Jack Knoxville, the founder and executive director of the Trans Empowerment Project, said his organization is working with Vote Ready to empower his community in the November elections.

“The disenfranchisement that many of us feel is by design – there are some who do not want us to vote,” Knoxville said. “That very fact should be clear evidence as to how powerful your voice really is.”

Vote.org led its largest ever voter turnout drive in 2020, registering more than four million voters that year.

This year, Vote.org is concentrating its efforts on boosting young voter turnout in Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, Nevada and Pennsylvania, which the organization estimates to be “key states pivotal to increasing youth turnout.”

Vote Ready is partnering with the NAACP, Taylor Swift, the NBA, Sony Music Group, The CW, Meta and OkCupid to engage youth this year.

The CW CEO Mark Pedowitz said in a statement his television network was honored to partner with Vote.org.

“We will be working with Vote.org to create and share new content with our audience so they can make their voices heard, this election cycle and beyond,” Pedowitz said.

Source: TEST FEED1

Feehery: Biden’s disgraceful speech is proof that only divided government can heal nation’s soul

Last week’s “Red Wedding” speech, in which President Biden rhetorically butchered every MAGA-loving Donald Trump supporter in the spirit of the famous “Game of Thrones” episode, was a national disgrace and will go down in history as one of worst national addresses ever made by a president.

What’s the strategy behind the Biden campaign to demonize his political opponents and further divide the country? 

Well, if you were Biden, what would you do? 

You can’t really talk about the economy, because inflation is still out of control, and most voters think things are going to get worse before they get better. 

You can’t talk about crime, because many in your political party unwisely advocated defunding the police, and while the American voters have a short memory, it’s not that short. 

You can’t talk about education, because your policies have contributed to a major decline in student performance at all levels.  

You can’t talk about immigration, because your open-border policy has proven toxic to many of the Hispanic voters who in the past were the biggest supporters of comprehensive immigration reform. Those voters now want safer streets and a stronger border because they are worried for their families. 

You can’t scare people about COVID-19 or divide people on their vaccination status because most Americans have wisened up about the so-called experts’ failed promises and faulty data. 

You can’t really talk about gun control because Congress just passed a gun control bill, no matter how ineffective it was.  

You can talk about climate change, but few voters really care about climate change.  

You can call the Republicans racist, but why would a racist political party work so hard to elect Black candidates like Herschel Walker in Georgia and John James in Michigan and a host of other rising stars? You can call the GOP homophobic, but then a significant chunk of House Republicans voted to codify gay marriage, and a significant chunk of Senate Republicans will likely follow suit in September.  

Nope, if you are Biden, you are kind of out of bullets. So, the only thing you can do is attack the Make America Great Again Republicans.  

Clearly, divided government is the only way to plausibly heal the soul of the nation. 

Most voters think something is wrong with our democracy. Polling shows that Democrats, Republicans and independents are all concerned about the state of our government. As well they should be.  

Our political system is a complete mess. The political class takes the wrong messages from the voters, and instead of working to solve problems, it goes out of its way to create new problems.  

It’s not just the politicians. Even worse are the bureaucrats. 

Health bureaucrats completely botched our response to COVID-19, making claims that were provably false and promises that had no basis in fact.  

Public school bureaucrats took incompetence to a new level and mistreated our children, and now we have a real education and mental health crisis on our hands. 

Some in the intelligence community, which once was so good at undermining and overthrowing foreign governments it didn’t like, turned their attention to undermining and then overthrowing our elected leadership that it didn’t like. 

No wonder America is so divided and angry.  

One-party rule has been bad for this country and bad for the soul of the nation.  

We need more balance in our system — balance that will come from effective oversight hearings, fully-funded congressional investigations and a better accounting of taxpayer money.  

The Biden administration has done a lot of harm in the last two years, a lot more than many of us could have anticipated. I knew it was going to be bad; I didn’t think it would be this bad. 

If you care about the soul of the nation, vote for divided government. Republicans might not be perfect, but somebody must stop this out-of-control president, who seemingly wants to demonize the half of the country that voted against him in 2020.

Feehery is a partner at EFB Advocacy and blogs at thefeeherytheory.com. He served as spokesman to former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), as communications director to former House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and as a speechwriter to former House Minority Leader Bob Michel (R-Ill.). 

Source: TEST FEED1

Unidentified body found in search for missing Memphis jogger

Amid the search for a missing jogger in Memphis, Tenn., local police announced Monday that officers had found an unidentified body. 

The discovery hasn’t been connected to the recent disappearance of 34-year-old Eliza Fletcher, but comes as the Memphis Police Department (MPD) continues its ongoing search.

“At 5:07 pm, officers in the 1600 block of Victor located a deceased party. The identity of this person and the cause of death is unconfirmed at this time. The investigation is ongoing,” MPD shared on Twitter.

Fletcher was last seen jogging the University of Memphis campus when an unknown individual approached her and forced her into an SUV, according to authorities.

The MPD on Sunday announced that 38-year-old Cleotha Abston had been charged in connection with Fletcher’s kidnapping and disappearance.

At the time of Abston’s arrest, Fletcher had not been found, and MPD has not released new information on her case since.

Source: TEST FEED1

Liz Truss’s job won’t be easy — and the West needs her to succeed

A principled, conservative stalwart, former Foreign Minister Liz Truss has won the leadership vote of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party to become Britain’s 56th prime minister. A formidable politician, Truss is capable and dynamic, and embraced the sound economic policies that lifted her nation out of the miseries of its socialist hangover — the polar opposite of doddering, globalist President Biden. While her predecessor, Boris Johnson, accomplished the Herculean task of finally accomplishing Brexit, albeit with unresolved issues pertaining to Northern Ireland, Truss inherits a premiership fraught with challenges, foreign and domestic.

So, who is Liz Truss? The 47-year-old who was foreign minister in Johnson’s administration did not start out in life as a conservative. She grew up in a left-wing family, the daughter of a professor and a nurse, and cut her teeth on the ideological left, serving as student head of the Liberal Democrats student group at Oxford University, where she studied politics, philosophy and economics. Truss explains her political epiphany late in her studies at Oxford, where “she had met like-minded people who shared her commitment to ‘personal freedom, the ability to shape your own life and shape your own destiny.’”

After working in the private sector, Truss won a seat in Parliament in 2010 with a committed philosophy of free market principles. Through a combination of excellent promotional skills, political acumen and effective career management, she not only survived but excelled in three changes of government. In 2012, she was named an education minister, and in 2014, was elevated to environment secretary, and then climbed higher to Justice Secretary and Chief Secretary to the Treasury. 

Johnson appointed her to head the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, putting her in line for the top job upon his ouster. Queen Elizabeth will invite Truss today to form a government in her name.  

While Truss’s rise up the greasy pole may sound effortless, she capably managed opposition to emerge triumphant. She will need to deploy such skills to the geopolitical situation in which the UK now finds itself. Truss must address a dire inflation-triggered, cost-of-living crisis that is likely to lead to recession; surging energy prices; disruptive labor disputes; and some unresolved Brexit stalemates that continue to poison the waters with an intransigent, spiteful European Union.  

Sadly, Britain’s foreign policy challenges extend far beyond the EU, and thanks to the Biden administration’s policies and posturing, our strongest ally has no confidence that it can rely on American support. Consequently, Truss inherits a situation in which the time-tested “Special Relationship,” which has tended to stabilize markets and global conflicts, is severely taxed. While the U.S. and Britain are largely aligned on issues relating to Ukraine and NATO, the Biden administration has been a false friend and antagonist to the UK — most notably with respect to defense cooperation and support of its Brexit position.  

Biden’s catastrophic troop withdrawal from Afghanistan without coordinating with our British defense partners — gifting control and an enormous weapons cache to the Taliban and sacrificing the lives of American service members — earned widespread, vocal scorn from our British fighting partners and, unprecedentedly, from the UK Parliament. 

Moreover, in one of the most highly charged, unresolved issues of Britain’s leaving the EU, Biden chose to sell out our stalwart trading and intelligence partner, preferring instead to accept the bad-faith positioning of the EU with regard to the post-Brexit trading relationship involving Northern Ireland.

The West is severely imperiled at the moment, thanks in part to a lack of effective U.S. leadership. Biden’s instincts have inflamed the catastrophe. There is a legacy of Britain holding the U.S. to positions of resolve, as when Margaret Thatcher brought around George Bush Sr., warning him to not “go wobbly” regarding Saddam Hussein, with resolve that created a coalition to fight and win the first Gulf War. To that end, one would hope that Truss can have a positive influence on Biden’s errant foreign policy instincts. At best, perhaps she can coax the Biden administration toward better international policy.

The concept of the Special Relationship, as Winston Churchill baptized it, arose when Britain and America were on wartime footing. This partnership enabled the conquest of the darkest threats humanity faced. Not since those days has the West been as imperiled as it is at the moment, without such luminaries as Churchill, Thatcher and Ronald Reagan to guide it against aggression by Russia and China. Let’s hope that Britain’s new prime minister can play a constructive role to fill the leadership void.

Lee Cohen, a senior fellow of the Bow Group and the Bruges Group, was adviser on Great Britain to the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee and founded the Congressional United Kingdom Caucus. Follow him on Twitter @LeeLeesco3.

Source: TEST FEED1

16 killed in mass shootings over long holiday weekend: watchdog

Sixteen people were killed and 47 were injured in the U.S. as a result of mass shootings over the long Labor Day weekend, according to watchdog data.

The nonprofit Gun Violence Archive logged 12 mass shootings between Sep. 3-5. 

Three people were killed and two others injured in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday in the deadliest incident. Police have confirmed a suspect has been identified for the triple homicide, local media reported, but authorities haven’t released further details, citing the ongoing investigation. The victims were identified on Monday.

Law enforcement officials in Philadelphia, meanwhile, are still searching for a shooter who killed two people and injured four on Monday. Two of the injured victims are in critical condition. 

At least 10 people were also shot and one killed in Cleveland on Monday, according to local news outlets, and police are looking for a suspect and motive. 

Another shooting in Norfolk, Virginia, left two people dead and five injured. Among the victims were students at Norfolk State University, according to the school.

The Gun Violence Archive notes there have been over 30,000 gun violence deaths, including suicides, to date in 2022, and 464 mass shootings in which four or more people were shot or killed, excluding the shooter.

The House Oversight and Reform Committee, led by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), is investigating gun violence and the firearm industry in the wake of recent high-profile mass shootings, like the Robb Elementary School massacre that left 19 children and two teachers dead in Uvalde, Texas.

A recent report by the committee found that major gun manufacturers earned more than $1 billion from sales of military-style assault weapons, often used in the deadliest mass shootings, to Americans.

Source: TEST FEED1

2022 is a tale of 2 presidents

2022 started as a typical midterm contest. During the spring and early summer, President Biden’s approval ratings fell dramatically as inflation tightened its grip on the economy. By June, Biden’s numbers cratered at 37 percent — lower even than President Trump’s 40 percent at a similar point in 2018. Skyrocketing gas and grocery prices served as de facto campaign signs for Republican candidates. Using President Obama’s memorable 2010 phrase, Democrats were poised for a “shellacking.”

That Republicans were poised for victory validated a political truism — that first term presidents suffer defeats in midterm elections. History proves the point. In 1982, President Reagan’s Republicans lost 26 House seats. That year, 47 percent disapproved of Reagan’s performance, and 51 percent gave him a grade of D or F in handling unemployment, which had risen to 10.8 percent.

1994 was a disaster for another presidential newcomer. President Clinton’s Democrats lost 54 House seats, and Republicans gained control of that body for the first time in four decades. Clinton’s ban on assault weapons, and his “don’t ask, don’t tell” order permitting gays to serve in the military were met with fierce resistance. “HillaryCare” also proved deadly, as the first lady offered a complex health care plan that few could decipher. 2010 was another debacle for a beginner president. Forty-seven percent disapproved of Obama’s health care law, and Democrats lost their congressional majorities. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) stated that his “top political priority” was to make Obama a one-term president, and the midterm result seemed to prove his point.

The axiom that midterms produce failing grades for rookie presidents points to another truism — the harsh realities they face once in office are quite different from the eutopias promised during their campaigns. Even the rare presidents who defied the conventional wisdom illustrate the point. In 1934, Democrats increased their congressional majorities to a staggering 322 House members and 76 senators. The results were a validation of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.

In 2002, President George W. Bush won belated ballots thanks to uniting the country behind him after the 9/11 attacks. That year, Republicans gained eight House seats and two senators. Both elections were previews of coming attractions. In 1936, FDR routed the Republicans and won 5 million more votes than in 1932. In 2004, national security  was a potent issue and George W. Bush defeated John Kerry because of it.

Another cardinal rule is that while midterms are referendums, presidential elections are choices. In 1984, Reagan castigated former Vice President Walter Mondale as a “tax and spend” Democrat. In 1994, Clinton painted Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kansas) as a throwback to a dated past. Eight years later, Obama cast Mitt Romney as an out-of-touch plutocrat. Biden likes to quote his Dad’s aphorism: “Joey, don’t compare me to the Almighty. Compare me to the alternative.” Presidential contests bear out the truism behind Biden’s oft-repeated line.

This year is different. Biden has rebounded from his summer doldrums thanks to falling gasoline prices, some easing of inflation and using his presidential pen to make big things happen. When asked about specific provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, 71 percent support allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices; 65 percent approve extending health insurance subsidies for middle income Americans; and 61 percent want businesses earning $1 billion or more to pay a minimum 15 percent corporate income tax.

As for Biden’s executive order forgiving $10,000 in student loans, 46 percent say they are more likely to back a congressional candidate supporting the measure, while 33 percent are less likely. Sixty-five percent approve of Biden’s infrastructure law, which is the largest government investment since the Federal Highway Act was signed by President Eisenhower in 1956. Finally, 64 percent like the recently passed gun legislation, and 63 percent think Congress needs to do more — something Republicans have staunchly resisted.

But this election is about more than Biden’s compelling message. Once again, Donald Trump is dominating the headlines. The search warrant of his Mar-a-Lago estate and the recovery of classified information there potentially violates several federal laws and is currently under intensive investigation.

In Georgia, prosecutors are looking into Trump’s involvement in attempting to “find 11,780 votes” that would have invalidated Biden’s win in the Peach State. New York’s attorney general is investigating whether the Trump Organization misled lenders and tax authorities. And the Jan. 6hearings will resume in September after devastatingly portraying Trump as actively engaged in an insurrection.

Each day’s headlines are filled with new investigative details and courtroom dramas. Not surprisingly, Trump’s approval numbers have suffered: 54 percent view him negatively, and 50 percent want him prosecuted for his mishandling of top-secret documents. Moreover, the overturning Roe v. Wade by the Trump-packed Supreme Court has been met with overwhelming disapproval. Fifty-eight percent reject the court’s decision, and suburban women along with young voters are newly energized to vote against Republicans in November.

Biden has a disconcerting habit of finding himself with his back to the wall and digging deep to stage a comeback. This Harry Truman-like quality has made a mockery of pundit wizardry.

In 2020, Biden suffered devastating losses in Iowa and New Hampshire, and political prognosticators were writing his political obituary before he bounced back in South Carolina. The start of this year’s campaign found Biden facing even more daunting circumstances. But in a prime-time address last week, Biden found his voice, casting the “MAGA Republicans” as extremists who threaten “the very foundations of our republic.” Trump, meanwhile, has labeled Biden “an enemy of the state.”

All of a sudden, the conventional wisdom has been upended. While the outcomes of the 2022 contests remain uncertain, the old rules no longer apply. 2022 has become a tale of two presidents. We have reached the political equivalent of finding ourselves on Mars. Surprises await.

John Kenneth White is a professor of politics at The Catholic University of America. His latest book, co-authored with Matthew Kerbel, is titled “American Political Parties: Why They Formed, How They Function, and Where They’re Headed.”

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