Five Ways Harris Can Navigate the Politics of the Middle East
Plus: The War Comes Home to Russia
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ADAM KINZINGER: Five Ways Harris Can Navigate the Politics of the Middle East
CONVENTIONAL WISDOM SAYS that voters don’t cast ballots based on foreign policy. But that doesn’t mean the topic won’t have a profound impact in November. Arguably, it could prove to be among the trickiest for Vice President Kamala Harris to navigate amid pressures of a Democratic base angered over the Israel-Hamas war and attacks from Republicans over the record of the Biden-Harris administration.
The last three administrations have tried to disengage from the Middle East, but none has fully succeeded. What Harris says about the region on the campaign trail will matter not only for winning votes, but for setting her up for a successful presidency if she wins in November.
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Brian Beutler: Vibe Shift [YouTube]
The Secret Podcast: Everything Is Good. Too Good. 🔐
Beg to Differ: "Rational Exuberance" w/ guest Charlie Sykes [YouTube]
Across the Movie Aisle: The Streaming Games 🔐
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CATHY YOUNG: The War Comes Home to Russia
ON MONDAY, NEARLY A WEEK after the incursion of Ukrainian troops into Russia’s Kursk region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged the daring operation in his daily video address: Ukrainian forces, he said, had taken some 1,000 square kilometers (more than 500 square miles) of Russian territory.
On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a televised meeting with his top security officials to discuss the situation in Kursk and promised to “drive out and beat back the enemy from our territories and ensure reliable border protection.”
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Friday! The first week of school is over, and we’re spending the weekend seeing some family. We got some much needed rain, too. Hope you have some fun planned before the hectic convention schedule of next week. (Yes, we’ll be doing nightly live streams.)
Kentucky held a contest… to develop a new “I voted” sticker, and there’s a clear choice for winner. At least to me.
Watch… how a father’s risky plan to save his house from the Park Fire paid off (WaPo)
Behind the Pageantry of Shen Yun… Untreated Injuries and Emotional Abuse 🎁 (NYT)
Our democracy could quickly become an autocracy… Our friend & former colleague Amanda Carpenter explains "How it happens here” in a free three part series. Sign up!
JD Vance's Theory of Menopause… Thoughts from Bulwark Navigator and famed parody artist Holly Berkley-Fletcher.
…and speaking of my neighbor… Senator Vance wants you to know that movies like Gangs of New York inform his opinions, as if works of historical fiction make his gaffes any better.
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