So many things are happening right now
I always try to use my morning column to highlight what I think is the most important development from the prior day, or short of that, something that we should be talking about but aren’t. What’s interesting about yesterday is the sheer number of medium sized things that happened, each of which served as a reminder that things don’t always hinge on one thing.
For instance there was the Fulton County hearing in which Fani Willis failed to get Trump co-conspirator Harrison Floyd’s bail revoked, but did manage to get it in writing from the courts that if Floyd even so much as mentions a witness or co-defendant in any capacity again, he’ll automatically go to jail. This wasn’t the “Floyd magically falling through a trap door” victory that everyone was hoping for. But it was still a win, in the sense that Floyd now has to shut up, and Donald Trump can see that he’s not all that far behind in terms of getting his own bail revoked if he keeps it up. It’s also a good reminder that Georgia Republicans clearly didn’t have the magic wand power to remove Fani Willis back when they were claiming they did, or else she wouldn’t still be on the job.
Elsewhere the Wisconsin Supreme Court appeared to commit itself to forcibly redrawing the state’s 2024 election maps in more fair fashion. Wisconsin Republicans have been using good old fashioned regular gerrymandering (which the U.S. Supreme Court has no problem with) and not race-specific gerrymandering (which the U.S. Supreme Court banned), so this is essentially an internal matter for Wisconsin. This won’t be an easy battle. There will still be back and forth over the map before it’s finalized in time for 2024. But it’s also a good reminder that Wisconsin Republicans clearly didn’t have the magic wand power to remove Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz back when they were threatening to, or else she wouldn’t still be on the bench hearing this case.
Elsewhere we saw President Joe Biden’s approval rating go up in one new poll, in a reminder that he is and always has been at least moderately popular since taking office. Biden is tied in the 2024 polling averages, and isn’t behind Donald Trump no matter how many times the media repeats that lie (you can look it up yourself). Trump does not have a magic wand path to winning in 2024. Nor does Biden need to find a magic wand in order get into contention (he’s already tied).
It’s all a good reminder that 1) there’s a lot going on right now, and 2) most of it is incremental in nature. Much of what’s happening is important. But none of it fits the “which side has the magic wand today and when are they going to wave it” political narrative that we so often hear about.
There are simply no magic wands, on either side, in politics. But when the biggest Republican headlines of the day are about the bail conditions of Trump and his co-conspirators, and the biggest Democratic headlines of the day are that their recent victory in a state Supreme Court case may in turn allow them to pick up an extra U.S. House seat, the contrast is pretty clear when it comes to each party’s current relative fortunes.
In politics the most you can often hope for (particularly this far out from the next election) is that things are trending incrementally in your side’s direction and getting away from the other side. If you’re on the side of the Democrats, that’s pretty much exactly what’s been happening of late. Best that you can do is seize the momentum and run with it. We’re going to win because we’re going to put in the work required to win.
