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August 29th 2024

A sharp round-up of the most important political news

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The US in brief

A sharp round-up of the most important political news

Kamala Harris will sit down for a television interview with Dana Bash, a CNN reporter, on Thursday. Tim Walz, her running-mate, will also take part. It will give her an opportunity to rebut a reputation for being gaffe-prone, developed during her disastrous attempt to win the Democratic nomination for president in 2019 and reinforced by an interview early in her vice-presidency where she gave a stumbling explanation of the Biden administration’s border policy. Since she became the Democratic nominee journalists and Donald Trump alike have called her out for avoiding the press.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who attempted to assassinate Mr Trump in July, saw the former president’s rally in Pennsylvania as “a target of opportunity”, the FBI said. He had apparently searched online for events held by both Mr Trump and Joe Biden. The agency added that it had not linked Mr Crooks to any “definitive” political ideology. His motive remains unknown.

The Supreme Court rejected an emergency request to lift a lower court’s block on some parts of Joe Biden’s plan to offer relief from student debt owed to the federal government. Republicans had complained that the so-called SAVE plan—which was issued after the Supreme Court rejected a previous attempt to suspend payments, interest charges and collections on more than $1trn of student debt—had not been approved by Congress.

The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Authentic Campaigns, which employs the daughter of Juan Merchan, the judge who oversees Mr Trump’s hush-money case. The committee demanded records of the company’s communications with Mr Merchan. Republicans have repeatedly requested that he recuse himself because his daughter has worked on campaigns for top Democrats. Authentic Campaigns’ boss claimed that the subpoena was an “abuse of power”.

Robert Telles, a former Las Vegas county official, was convicted of murdering a journalist who had written articles that were critical of him. Jeff German, a veteran reporter, was killed in September 2022 shortly after his article detailing corruption in Mr Telles’s office was published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Glenn Cook, the newspaper’s editor, called the verdict “justice for slain journalists all over the world”.

A smashing time

When Rob talks about his ‘73 Dodge Dart, it is not with the preciousness you expect of a proud car owner. His vehicle is “full of rust and crust, rotted to death,” he says, patting it fondly. Now in middle age, Rob has been competing in demolition derbies since he was 13. Read our story about America’s favourite socially acceptable space to engage in anti-social, unacceptable behaviour.

A view from elsewhere
Ms Harris’s emergence has “radically changed” the contest, leaving Mr Trump with two options, wrote Antonio Salgado Borge in Proceso, a Mexican news magazine. The “moderate” option would be to “move towards the centre” to “capture undecided and independent votes”. The “nuclear” option would be to “double down” on his “aggressive, racist, sexist and notably pessimistic” rhetoric to motivate his base.

We want to hear from you
Readers are sending us lots of thoughtful emails so we’ve decided to publish some every Wednesday. If you have views on what is happening in America drop us a line at usib@economist.com. And, of course, we still welcome your feedback on this newsletter.

Editor’s picks

Our latest US coverage

Campaign calculus

To hold the Senate, Democrats have to do something extraordinary

They must pull off the biggest reversal of electoral disadvantage since 1978

Recession scares

What to make of America’s topsy-turvy economy

Don’t panic just yet

Schumpeter

Why America’s tech giants have got bigger and stronger

Whatever happened to creative destruction?

Today’s poll

Every week YouGov polls Americans on behalf of The Economist. This week we asked people’s views about some of the policies touted by the campaigns. Whether well thought out or not, economic giveaways proved popular with respondents of all political leanings. Culture-war issues were more decisive, and had noticeably less support.

Daily quiz

From Monday to Thursday we’ll quiz you on all things America. This week’s winner is Sonia Barrad in Long Beach, California. The answers were:

Monday: The official name of the “Sears Tower” is the Willis Tower.

Tuesday: Electricity had its American debut at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. So too did the incandescent lights and ferris wheel it powered.

Wednesday: In John Hughes’ “Ferris Bueller’s day off” the eponymous character pretends to be ill to go on a tour of Chicago with his mates.

Thursday: McDonald’s founded Hamburger University.

From Monday to Thursday we’ll quiz you on all things America. This week’s winner is Sonia Barrad in Long Beach, California. The answers were:

Monday: The official name of the “Sears Tower” is the Willis Tower.

Tuesday: Electricity had its American debut at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. So too did the incandescent lights and ferris wheel it powered.

Wednesday: In John Hughes’ “Ferris Bueller’s day off” the eponymous character pretends to be ill to go on a tour of Chicago with his mates.

Thursday: McDonald’s founded Hamburger University.

From Monday to Thursday we’ll quiz you on all things America.

Thursday: In August 2009 Barack Obama was photographed tooling around which holiday destination on a bicycle without wearing a helmet? (The ensuing outcry did not quite reach the volumes of his wearing a tan suit—another August controversy.)

Wednesday: The White House’s first tennis court was installed under Teddy Roosevelt, who convened a regular “Tennis cabinet”. Which of his successors, known to be a micromanager, reportedly oversaw the court’s playing schedule personally?

See how to take part in the quiz at the bottom of this page.

If you enjoyed this week’s quiz, play Dateline, The Economist’s new history game.

Figure of the day

$30,000, the cost of the electricity needed to mine one bitcoin in Texas last year. Read our story about why Texas Republicans are cooling on cryptocurrency.

Heard in Erie, Pennsylvania

I think Kamala turned out the lights.

—J.D. Vance, speaking to supporters at a deli which lost power 30 minutes before he arrived.

Read all of our recent coverage of the 2024 election. Confused about a term? Check out our A-Z of American politics.

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