David Dayen/The American Prospect:
Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer Have a Surprise for You
An 18-month odyssey culminates in a smaller-than-promised, bigger-than-expected agreement to lower health care costs, tax corporations, and protect the planet.
There is no such thing as a genuine surprise in Washington—usually. This was a genuine surprise. I had been talking to people this week who would or should have known that talks between Manchin and Schumer, thought to be moribund, were taking place. The closest I got to foreknowledge was one source saying that they just didn’t believe it. An army of reporters, lobbyists, and hangers-on didn’t know this was happening.
David Leonhardt/NY Times:
Joe Manchin’s climate announcement has the potential to be a very big deal.
If Manchin and other Democrats remain united, it would be a very big deal. “This has the opportunity to be an enormous breakthrough for climate progress,” Sam Ricketts, co-founder of Evergreen Action, an environmental group, told The Times.
It’s especially significant because congressional Republicans have almost uniformly opposed policies to slow climate change (a contrast with conservatives in many other countries). And it remains unclear whether Democrats will again control both Congress and the White House anytime soon. If Congress fails to pass a climate bill this summer, it may not do so for years — while the ravages of climate change worsen.
Mona Charen/Bulwark:
Mike Pence Sold His Soul for Nothing
He was honorable on January 6th, but not before or after.
Marc Short, Pence’s vice-presidential chief of staff, offered that, “If he were to run, he may not be the biggest celebrity. But if we’re going to go back to a principled conservative who represents the things we stand for, then there’s no one better than Mike.”
“If we’re going to go back.” Not likely. But Pence seems to think there’s a yearning for that. He’s blown the dust off yellowing copies of his Before Time speeches and sprinkled his text with the sort of Christian-y talk that got him a House seat and the Indiana governor’s chair: “Pray for our opponents,” he told a (small) audience at a South Carolina church, “that their hearts would soften and their minds would open to the unimaginable beauty that is life.”
Isn’t that nice? But there are a few flies in the ointment.
The Yinzers vs. The Jagoff
The key to understanding the Fetterman-Oz Senate race in Pennsylvania.
Sure, this is just one Fetterman stan on the internet. But one word caught my eye.
Not “jagoff”—I’m from Cleveland and we hear Pittsburgh people saying that all the time because the Terrible Towel folks like to hurl it at the Dawg Pound.
Not “chipped ham”—which, for the uninitiated, is a below-average lunch meat Pittsburghers seem to love.
No, what stopped me in this tweet was the word “yinz,” which is the Pittsburgh version of the plural of “you.” You may also hear it in the form “yinzer,” which is the plural of the plural.
Fetterman’s fans use this term a lot these days.
…
This has boxed Oz into a corner. If he starts addressing Pennsylvanians as “yinzers” (and not all of them are; don’t go trying that in South Philly) it’ll just highlight the phoniness of his Pennsylvania roots. If he keeps ignoring the yinzers, then he’s ceding connection to a chunk of voters—especially in Beaver, Butler, and Westmoreland counties outside of Pittsburgh—who should be solidly his.
Daily Beast:
Inside the GOP Freakout Over J.D. Vance’s Senate Campaign
Republicans are increasingly concerned that the author-turned-MAGA crusader is “running the worst campaign you can possibly run,” as one talk radio host put it
Bill Cunningham, a fixture on conservative talk radio airwaves in Cincinnati for decades, told The Daily Beast that voters, party activists, and even statewide officials are telling him that Vance has been phoning it in. Vance is allegedly missing from many of the county fairs, party meetings, and campaign stops where candidates in this state are expected to be.
“The Republican faithful are telling me,” Cunningham said, “they can't find J.D. Vance with a search warrant.”
NY Times:
Republicans Confront Unexpected Online Money Slowdown
In an otherwise favorable political climate, small-dollar donations have dropped for Republicans, making the party more reliant on megadonors to compete.
More alarming for Republicans: Democratic contributions surged at the same time. Total federal donations on ActBlue, the Democratic counterpart, jumped by more than 21 percent.
The overall Democratic fund-raising edge online widened by $100 million from the last quarter of 2021 to the most recent three-month period, records show.
