Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.
In today’s edition, we report on how Vice President Kamala Harris’ search for a running mate is nearing the finish line. Plus, a look at another big primary challenge for a House Democrat with major ad spending from pro-Israel groups.
Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here.
How a vice presidential pick can shape … everything
By Scott Bland
Presidents often describe picking a running mate as the most important decision they make in a campaign. In case that wasn’t already clear from the vetting, the interviews and the obsessive media attention, consider the long — and still lengthening — list of ways one selection shaped decades of national politics.
That decision is Barack Obama’s selection of Joe Biden in 2008.
The pick influenced not just Obama’s electoral victories and the Obama administration but also every successive presidential election since then. And it could keep doing so for years, as Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to make her choice Tuesday.
Obama’s team saw Biden’s ascension to the vice presidency as a “capstone” to his career, as campaign manager David Plouffe wrote in his 2009 book, and Biden’s decision not to run for president in 2016 cleared the way for Hillary Clinton to run without a heavyweight opponent from the Democratic establishment. Then, Donald Trump’s victory changed everything. Without having gained stature as VP, it’s inconceivable that Biden would have run or won in 2020 — but he did, based on his experience and voter relationships built as Obama’s running mate.
Now, Biden’s elevation of Harris put her in position to take over the Democratic presidential candidacy from him when he dropped out.
And Harris’ running mate selection could anoint the Democratic Party’s next presidential favorite, potentially into the 2030s.
That cascading series of events all stems from a pick that could easily have not been in 2008. Plouffe, a newly minted senior adviser to Harris’ campaign, recalled Obama describing his choice as a “coin toss” between Biden and then-Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, with then-Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine in the mix, too.
As we get further away from that decision, it’s clear what a huge difference another 2008 running mate would 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 whom she picks as her potential No. 2.
‘Squad’ member Cori Bush faces Democratic primary putting a spotlight on Israel
By Julie Tsirkin and Kyle Stewart
Democratic Rep. Cori Bush is known as a fighter; it’s how she went from being an unhoused single mom protesting on the streets of Ferguson to becoming a prominent member of the so-called Squad of progressive House members in D.C.
But now, the activist-turned-politician is fighting to avoid losing a primary against a well-funded challenger — four years after she came to Washington by defeating the then-incumbent in a primary.
“I’m just trying to make sense of why so much money would be spent in our congressional race when our district has so many needs,” an exasperated Bush told NBC News in an interview on a sweltering summer day.
She was referring to the more than $18 million spent in her race against Wesley Bell, making it the second most expensive House primary in the nation. Bell, who is St. Louis County’s prosecuting attorney, has had significantly more ad backup in the race thanks to a nearly $9 million infusion from a pro-Israel group seeking to oust Bush, an outspoken Israel critic.
Bell has consistently maintained that Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas and said he would be supportive of the U.S. ally if elected. There are other issues in the race, including a Justice Department investigation into Bush’s use of campaign money (Bush has said she’s cooperating with the investigation and denies using funds improperly.)
But Israel — and the ads pouring in to contest the issue — has become a central part of another campaign just five weeks after Bush watched a fellow “Squad” member, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, lose a New York primary that largely centered around Israel and the war in Gaza.
🗞️ Today’s top stories
- 👫 Playing defense: Sen. JD Vance’s wife, Usha, defended her husband’s “childless cat ladies” comment, arguing it was a “quip” about a larger, more “substantive” point that it can be “really hard to be a parent in this country.” Read more →
- 🐻 This story is a bear: The New Yorker released a deep dive into Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign, a story that prompted him to acknowledge Sunday on social media a story about his taking a bear carcass from a crash and using it to stage a bike accident in New York’s Central Park. Read more →
- 😓 More unrest in the Middle East: President Joe Biden is speaking to his national security team ahead of potential Iranian retaliatory attacks on Israel after strikes that killed key Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. Read more →
- 🙈 Don’t look now: Louisiana’s governor had a message to critics of a new law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms: ‘Tell your child not to look at them.” Read more →
That’s all from the Politics Desk for now. If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com
And if you’re a fan, please share with everyone and anyone. They can sign up here.
