Abbreviated pundit roundup: Biden's big wins, Republican Senate candidates struggle, and more

We begin today’s roundup with an op-ed in The Hill by James Roosevelt, Jr. , grandson of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and others on President Biden’s agenda:

Democrats are on the verge of a huge legislative accomplishment, to significantly reduce energy and health care costs and tax inequality. This moment reminds us of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the historic 1934 midterm elections. There, the Democrats saw electoral gains instead of losses — generally a rare occurrence for the party in power.  

We, the descendants of FDR and his New Deal cabinet, believe FDR and Democrats in Congress saw gains in 1934 in large part because they weren’t afraid to propose and pass ambitious pieces of legislation known collectively as the New Deal. In 1933 and 1934, FDR and the 73rd Congress enacted a slew of historic legislation that stabilized the economy by providing jobs for millions of unemployed, rescued the banking system, held major corporations and the wealthiest more accountable, and invested heavily in basic infrastructure and the sustainability of our natural resources.  [...] 

We are frankly amazed that Democrats have accomplished so much for the common good with such slender congressional majorities. We think FDR would be mightily impressed — but also hyper-vigilant about the risks still lying ahead — from the health of our economy to our basic freedoms to our democracy.  

Alan Greenblatt at Governing:

Last week, President Biden signed into law a package that will devote $280 billion to scientific research and development, notably incentives to bolster the domestic semiconductor industry. This week, he’ll sign an even bigger bill — $430 billion-plus to fund priorities in areas such as climate and health care, including a plan to drive down prescription drug prices. These major pieces of legislation provide the capstone for Biden’s surprisingly successful summer. Biden signed the first significant gun-control legislation in years, has happily watched inflation and gas prices start to come down and oversaw the drone strike that killed terrorist leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. “Democrats try a new campaign strategy — getting things done,” ran a headline in the Los Angeles Times last Friday.

And the strategy is to communicate these wins directly with voters:

Starting this week through the end of August, Cabinet members plan to travel to 23 states, on more than 35 trips, to tout the "Inflation Reduction Act," according to the White House.

The administration also plans to roll out information online and on social media about the legislation's impact, and to collaborate with members of Congress to host hundreds of events, the White House said.

The blitz will highlight will highlight other major legislative wins as well as part of a "Building a Better America Tour."

While Democrats go into the midterms with a record of accomplishments, Republicans are struggling to keep some of their candidates treading water. Adam Gabbatt at The Guardian:

In Mehmet Oz, Herschel Walker and JD Vance, the Republican party has three celebrities running for Senate in November.

The only problem? At the moment, each of them looks as though they might lose.

Videos like this of Mehmet Oz  “shopping for ‘crudités’ at a Pennsylvania grocery store he didn’t seem to know the name of” certainly hasn’t made the GOP’s job any easier in Pennsylvania at least.

On the House side, where Trumpists are dominating primaries, Paul Kane at The Washington Post analyzes Rep. Liz Cheney’s legacy and future:

Cheney is looking far beyond Tuesday’s Republican primary for this state’s at-large seat in the U.S. House, a race that she is likely to lose, barring an unprecedented surge of non-Republican voters into the GOP contest.

She entered Congress six years ago as a relative celebrity, the daughter of the former vice president who spent several years using Fox News appearances to deliver acid-tongued critiques of the Obama-Biden administration. And she could exit the U.S. Capitol, likely in 4½ months, as the face of an anti-Trump movement that has cost her old alliances but left her with new supporters, clamoring for a next act more nationally focused.

On a final note, here’s an update on just how pervasive the plot to overturn the 2020 election was:

A team of computer experts directed by lawyers allied with President Donald Trump copied sensitive data from election systems in Georgia as part of a secretive, multistate effort to access voting equipment that was broader, more organized and more successful than previously reported, according to emails and other records obtained by The Washington Post. 

As they worked to overturn Trump’s 2020 election defeat, the lawyers asked a forensic data firm to access county election systems in at least three battleground states, according to the documents and interviews. The firm charged an upfront retainer fee for each job, which in one case was $26,000.