Staff Reports
Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are set to debate on Sept. 10. Maybe.
For the first several weeks after Harris tagged in for President Joe Biden, a point of contention was when, whether, and on what network the two major-party nominees would square off.
Before the switcheroo, Trump had agreed to two debates with Biden. The first one was the catalyst for the 81-year-old being put out to pasture; the second was to be aired Sept. 10 on ABC.
Trump has argued Biden’s exit voided the agreement and has floated alternatives, including a Sept. 17 debate hosted by Fox News. The Harris campaign didn’t bite, presumedly because of the network’s Republican lean.
The former President added more life to the controversy over the past 24 hours, first with a Sunday social media post lambasting the ABC News team for their supposed anti-Trump bias.
“I ask, why would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network?” Trump’s post read, in part. He also singled out George Stephanopoulos (or “Slopadopolus”). However, Biden’s lackluster performance in an interview with the ABC News journalist arguably cranked the temp on the President’s hot seat from bake to broil.
Harris’ campaign used Trump’s comments Monday as a window to ask for their own edits to the agreed-upon terms, pitching a change to live mics. During the Trump-Biden debate, each candidate’s microphone was muted when it was the other’s turn to speak, a stipulation pushed for by Biden’s campaign.
The renewed squabble comes amid signs that Harris’ polling momentum is slowing. After entering the race as the underdog, Harris has caught up to and overtaken Trump in most national polls and the top polling averages.
However, Morning Consult’s latest tracking poll update, released Monday, indicates a “convention bump” might not be in the cards for Harris. Her lead held steady 48%-44%. The FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics averages put Harris up 47.1%-43.7% and 48.4%-46.9%, respectively.
One wrinkle in those numbers: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., hovering at around 5% in both averages, suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump over the weekend. Whether his supporters listen remains to be seen.
Evening Reads
—“Why Democrats aren’t talking much about one of their biggest issues” via Umair Irfan of Vox
—”The sharpest political divide in a generation on fighting poverty” via Jason DeParle of The New York Times
—”So where are we *now*?” via Chris Cillizza of So What
—“How much momentum will RFK Jr.’s endorsement give Trump?” via G. Elliott Morris and Mary Radcliffe of FiveThirtyEight
—”Meet the 50 megadonors pumping $1.5 billion into the election” via Clara Ence Morse, Luis Melgar and Maeve Reston of The Washington Post
—”Democrats still hope to remake the Supreme Court in 2025” via John McCormack, Michael Warren, and Charles Hilu of The Dispatch
—“The United States cannot counter China by itself” via Peter Coy of The New York Times
—”Elon Musk’s hard turn to politics, in 300,000 of his own words” via Andrea Fuller, Alexa Corse, John West and Kara Dapena of The Wall Street Journal
—“DEP confirms obscure foundation is dropping plans for golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson” via Kimberly Miller of The Florida Times-Union
—”Young men have invented a new way to defeat themselves” via Ian Bogost of The Atlantic
Quote of the Day
“We did not understand the local community landscape and appreciate the clarity.”
— The Tuskegee Dunes Foundation’s statement nixing plans to develop a golf course at John Dickinson State Park.
Put it on the Tab
Look to your left, then look to your right. If you see one of these people at your happy hour haunt, flag down the bartender and put one of these on your tab. Recipes included, just in case the Cocktail Codex fell into the well.
Florida drivers have saved enough cash through the state’s Toll Relief Program to order somewhere in the neighborhood of 16 million Highways to Heaven.
Alcohol isn’t all that popular in the LDS community, but if their proposed 52,450-acre annex goes through, someone should drink a Mormon Surprise on their behalf.
Nothing against the Tuskegee Dunes Foundation, but we’re toasting the withdrawal of their golf course plan with a Good Riddance.
Breakthrough Insights
Tune In
Rays open series in Seattle on national TV
Sitting at the 0.500 mark with 32 games remaining, the Tampa Bay Rays open a series in Seattle against the Mariners tonight (9:40 p.m. ET, FS1).
Tampa Bay (65-65) sits in fourth place in the American League East, two and a half games behind third-place Boston and two and a half games ahead of last-place Toronto. The final month-plus of the season could find the Rays finishing third, fourth, or fifth in the AL East.
The Rays have been a rollercoaster team since purging the roster of most of the high-priced veterans before the trade deadline. Earlier this month, they were swept in a three-game series by the Houston Astros, only to bounce back and sweep the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-game set.
Then, the Rays split a four-game series with lowly Oakland before dropping two of three to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Seattle (66-65) has plenty to play for. Although they are six and a half games out of the wild card race, the Mariners are closer to the Astros in the American League West standings, four and a half games out entering play today. Seattle has lost seven of their last 10 games entering the series with the Rays.
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Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.
