3 Stories You Should Read 06/28/2019: Dem Debate, Putin, Biden

June 28, 2019 Confluence

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Confluence Daily is your daily news source for women in the know.

In the category of: My time is up…

Joe Biden throws own campaign into turmoil after Harris attacks his record on race

Joe Biden stumbled into a potential campaign-defining moment Thursday that pitched his effort to win the Democratic nomination onto suddenly shaky ground.

Reeling from an attack by a much younger rival, Kamala Harris, the 76-year-old delivered an unfortunate soundbite at the Democratic debate that threatens to symbolize his biggest political liability.

“My time is up,” he said, meaning to cut short one of his own answers but instead drawing attention to a question that haunts his campaign: Has his generation’s time come and gone?

Harris’ assault was breathtaking, appeared planned ahead of time and exposed a willingness to attack she had not previously shown in a campaign that started strong but has slumbered ever since.

The immediate impressions left after a debate are often not how things appear a few days later. So it may be that Biden’s bad night does not end up being as damaging as it first appeared.

Continue

In the category of: The joke is on us

‘Don’t Meddle In The Election’: Trump And Putin Are Openly Joking About It Now

The president wagged his finger at the Russian leader and told him not to meddle in the U.S. election.

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin joked about election meddling on Friday at the G-20 summit in Japan.

As the two sat next to each for a meeting and media opportunity, a reporter asked Trump if he would tell Putin not to meddle in the upcoming U.S. election as Russia had done in 2016.

“Don’t meddle in the election,” Trump, smiling, said to Putin, then wagged a finger and repeated it. “Don’t meddle in the election.”

Putin laughed, as did Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was seated near Trump.

Trump infamously defended Russia and Putin from allegations of meddling in the 2016 election during a disastrous joint news conference in Helsinki last year.

“I hold both countries responsible,” Trump said at the time. “I think that the United States has been foolish. I think we’ve all been foolish.”

Continue

In the category of: Family fight

A Wild Night on MSNBC: Why the Latest Presidential Debate Has Donald Trump Shook—and 4 More Observations

Thursday’s debate was Donald Trump’s biggest nightmare: A loud, creative, diverse and television-ready slugfest that lasted for two hours, went off the rails a few times and left the audience wanting more.

While policy matters, Trump knows that his biggest weapon against any Democratic challenger is making enough of a circus that issues, facts, and values don’t matter. The only way to beat that is to come up with a bigger, louder show where facts do matter, policy can seem cool, and you still have a car wreck factor. That and more happened in Thursday night’s Democratic debate, a contest that will totally throw a wrench in our 2020 Black Power Rankings next week. For now, here are the top four takeaways from the second Democratic debate.

Continue

Confluence Daily is the one place where everything comes together. The one-stop for daily news for women.