Thank you to Susan Zakin and the ever-excellent Journal of the Plague Years for republishing my essay on anxiety and aging under the title “Uncovering the Mirror.” While we’re talking about the Journal, check out Susan’s remembrance of our mutual friend and journalist Walter Shapiro, who died recently, “The Seer Departs.”
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When the story is told about how Kamala Harris was able to so quickly and easily secure the Democratic Party’s nomination for President, I suspect it will also answer the question of what she was so quietly up to during in the last three-and-a-half years as Vice-President.
And that story, when it’s told, will be about building a network of relationships with power brokers and organizers around the country who could — when the time was right —help her do exactly what she has done.
Serving under an elderly President who had suggested that he would be satisfied with one term in office and would therefore serve as a bridge to the next generation of leadership, it was obvious that her opportunity would come around sooner or later.
And although she could not be sure about when exactly he would step aside, she had to notice that his health and stamina was declining earlier this year, so her discreet efforts to activate her network no doubt picked up in the weeks prior to his withdrawal from the ticket.
When he finally did withdraw and endorsed her, she sprang into action with amazing efficiency, reportedly making ten straight hours of phone calls. By that evening, she had landed enough major endorsements and triggered actions including the series of zoom calls and fundraisers that effectively wrapped up her ascension to the top of the ticket.
So who exactly were all those phone calls to? Relatively few of the 50* or so names have come to light so far, but their identities are key to this story. I, for one, look forward to reading it.
* I’m guessing the number. Do the math. Five minutes per call. She wasn’t introducing herself. She was implementing a plan.
HEADLINES:
Harris officially makes history as first Black woman, Asian American presidential nominee (USA Today)
Harris and Trump are tied in 538's new polling averages (ABC)
J.D. Vance Is Swallowing Any Pride He Might Have Had (New York)
Will Trump dump Vance? (The Hill)
US border migrant crossings fall for fifth month in a row (BBC)
Tech stocks plunge as Nasdaq enters correction territory (WP)
Hamas political chief buried in Qatar as Iran vows retaliation (CNN)
$10M cash withdrawal drove secret probe into whether Trump took money from Egypt (WP)
US recognizes opposition candidate González as the winner of Venezuela’s presidential election (AP)
U.S. Sues TikTok Over Child Privacy Violations (NYT)
New jobs numbers raise alarm bells on recession risk (Axios)
Wildfires are raging through Colorado’s densely populated Front Range. Four fires have killed one person and prompted hundreds of evacuations. (WP)
How Simone Biles and Team U.S.A. Gymnastics Came Soaring Back (New Yorker)
Google pulls Gemini AI ad from Olympics after backlash (Verge)
The Generative-AI Revolution May Be a Bubble (Atlantic)
Report: Greatest Factor In Employee Retention Boss Sending Out End-Of-Year Note Titled ‘Thanks Team’ (The Onion)
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