Debate Dance

Plus, an underestimated team.

The Flag

Good morning and Happy Wednesday! Here are the Flag’s Top Five stories that should be on your radar to start the day:

  • US: Trump charged in superseding indictment in election interference case following SCOTUS ruling (ABC News)

  • World: Hostage rescued by IDF from tunnel in south Gaza after 10 months of Hamas captivity (Times of Israel)

  • Business: Eli Lilly launches cheaper vial version of blockbuster weight-loss drug (Financial Times)

  • Technology: Chinese government hackers targeted US internet providers with zero-day exploit, researchers say (TechCrunch)

  • Sports: Catcher Danny Jansen becomes first player in MLB history to play on both teams in same game (NBC News)

And of course, some good news: Deaf Football Team Was Underestimated and Mocked — Until They Started 'Beating the Pants Off' Opponents.

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Right: Climate Zealots Know Which Side Harris Is On, Steve Milloy, New York Post

Right: Subpoenas Await If WH Keeps Hiding 'Bidenbucks' Plans Ben Weingarten, The Federalist

Right: Why Democrats' Convention Set Them Up To Lose Joe Concha, New York Post

Left: Trump Is Still Running Against Clinton, Chris Lehmann, The Nation

Left: A Convention That Placed Image Over Detail, David Dayen, American Prospect

2024

Debate Dance

Today’s Top Story: With the September 10 Presidential Debate looming, former President Donald Trump requested the debate be moved from ABC, citing bias, while Kamala Harris called for continuous open mics during the debate and rejected Trump’s request for an additional debate on Fox News.

Reporting from the Left: Trump suggests he may back out of a Sept. 10 ABC debate (NBC News)

Reporting from the Right: Ted Cruz says Trump should debate Harris regardless of how ‘rigged’ it will be (Washington Examiner)

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Harris Is Scared

The Top Argument From The Right: The Harris Campaign’s Cheap New Debate Gambit Reveals Its Fears, Jeffrey Blehar, National Review: “…[Harris] is still, for very different reasons, running a contemptuous bubble campaign designed to keep her away from even a single unscripted exchange. Biden himself adopted this strategy (to conceal his mental decline) and was wholly undone by the first debate, simply because Trump sat back and let the old man speak. Given Harris’s identical approach — adopted this time to conceal her progressive vacuity and stupidity — and her past performance in similar situations, her team is rightly terrified of that one awful unscripted moment. … So the new play is to kick up a cloud of dust and try to bait Trump into defeating himself. Per Politico, the Harris campaign is now asking to change one of the pre-agreed debate rules. … Harris knows that silence played to Trump’s strengths in the June debate, simply by muzzling his worst instincts. Her campaign is now desperate to unleash those instincts. … Now they insist the rules be changed. They themselves know they cannot contractually demand this — they are bound — which is why the issue is likely to fade away.”

Honorable Mention #1: Kamala Harris is scared of debating Trump, as she should be, Tiana Lowe Doescher, Washington Examiner.

Honorable Mention #2: Trump: Fine With Unmuted Microphones at Debate, Solange Reyner, Newsmax.

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Trump Is Scared

The Top Argument From The Left: Panicking Trump Scrambles for New Reason Not to Debate Harris, Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, The New Republic: “Donald Trump appears to be laying the groundwork to, once again, escape debating Vice President Kamala Harris. In a late-night post to Truth Social, Trump questioned why he would participate in the September 10 debate on ABC, which he agreed to earlier this month while announcing his intention to participate in two other debates, as well. … But actually failing to participate could be visually catastrophic for the supposed strongman candidate. … The announcement is the second time in a matter of weeks that Trump has reversed course on debating Harris. Earlier this month, Trump said that he had ‘terminated’ the September 10 ABC News showdown over the fact that the Democratic nominee had changed when he had only agreed to debate ‘Sleepy Joe Biden.’ In its place, Trump offered an alternative debate on Fox News in front of a live crowd, which Harris’s campaign did not sign up to. But that didn’t go over well with his base. In the following days, Second Amendment activists and white supremacists pulled support from the MAGA nominee, and Truth Social users got the hashtag ‘#TrumpIsACoward’ trending on the Trumpian platform after the news broke.”

Honorable Mention #1: Trump appears to undercut his campaign’s efforts over microphone rules at debate, Kristen Holmes et al., CNN.

Honorable Mention #2: Trump casts doubt on ABC debate with Harris, Rafi Schwartz, The Week.

FLAG THIS

Polling Update

In a nationwide poll released Tuesday by Florida Atlantic University and Mainstreet Research USA, Harris has taken a 4-point lead over Trump, with 47% to Trump's 43%. Among likely voters, Harris extends her lead to 49% compared to Trump’s 45%. The poll, conducted shortly after the Democratic National Convention, shows Harris receiving 53% of support from women and 45% from men, while Trump is backed by 47% of men and 41% of women (The Hill).

Should both participants' mics be turned on throughout the entirety of the debate?

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WATERCOOLER

I Have a Dream, Public Transit, Last Breath

On This Day in 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the African American civil rights movement reaches its high-water mark when Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech to about 250,000 people attending the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The demonstrators—Black and white, poor and rich—came together in the nation’s capital to demand voting rights and equal opportunity for African Americans and to appeal for an end to racial segregation and discrimination.

Today I learned Thomas Edison’s last breath is on display at the Henry Ford Museum.

POWERED BY MASTERWORKS

Over the last seven elections, this asset class has outpaced the S&P 500

Instead of trying to predict which party will win, and where to invest afterwards, why not invest in an ‘election-proof’ alternative asset? The sector is currently in a softer cycle, but over the last seven elections (1995-2023) blue-chip contemporary art has outpaced the S&P 500 by 64%, regardless of the victors, and we have conviction it will rebound to these levels long-term.

Now, thanks to Masterworks’ art investing platform, you can easily diversify into this asset class without needing millions or art expertise, alongside 65,000+ other art investors. From their 23 exits so far, Masterworks investors have realized representative annualized net returns like +17.6%, +17.8%, and +21.5% among assets held longer than one year. Learn more!

Past performance is not indicative of future returns. Investment involves risk. See Important Regulation A disclosures at masterworks.com/cd.

The content is not intended to provide legal, tax, or investment advice. No money is being solicited or will be accepted until the offering statement for a particular offering has been qualified by the SEC. Offers may be revoked at any time. Contacting Masterworks involves no commitment or obligation. 

“Net Annualized Return” refers to the annualized internal rate of return net of all fees and expenses, calculated from the offering closing date to the date the sale is consummated. IRR may not be indicative of Masterworks paintings not yet sold and past performance is not indicative of future results. For additional information regarding the calculation of IRR for a particular investment in an artwork that has been sold, a reconciliation will be filed as an exhibit to Form 1-U and will be available on the SEC’s website. Masterworks has realized illustrative annualized net returns of 17.6% (1067 days held), 17.8% (672 days held), and 21.5% (638 days held) on 13 works held longer than one year (not inclusive of works held less than one year and unsold works).

Contemporary art data based on repeat-sales index of historical Post-War & Contemporary Art market prices from 1995 to 2023, developed by Masterworks. There are significant limitations to comparative asset class data. Indices are unmanaged and a Masterworks investor cannot invest directly in an index. 

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