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Walz’s Call for Change
Plus, tragedy to triumph
Good morning and Happy Friday! Here are the Flag’s Top Five stories that should be on your radar to start the day:
US: Milton knocks out power to millions and spawns tornadoes across Florida. At least 5 dead (AP)
World: Israeli troops fire at 3 UNIFIL positions in southern Lebanon, U.N. source says (Reuters)
Business: United Airlines is launching new international flights. Here are the cities you'll be able to visit. (CBS News)
Technology: Alarmo Is the Latest in a Long Line of Weird Nintendo Hardware — and Some of It Failed Hard (IGN)
Sports: Rafael Nadal announces his upcoming retirement from tennis (CNN)
And of course, some good news: How Porter Ellett Lost Use of His Arm at 4 Years Old — and Now Is Patrick Mahomes Warm-Up Partner on the Chiefs
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👀 Sunday Sneak Peak: Wooden teeth? More like a toothy tale of intrigue and questionable materials! Dive into the strange saga of George Washington’s dentures and uncover what’s hiding behind the myth. Click to explore the story and subscribe for more captivating content!
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TRENDING
Right: Zelensky's Plan for Ukraine Is a No-Win Gamble, Rebekah Koffler, Fox News
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Right: Here's What Happened With the Border in January '21, Megyn Kelly, Megyn Kelly Show
Left: Notes for Harris, Robert Kuttner, American Prospect
Left: Biggest Difference Between Trump, Harris Economic Pitches, Hayes Brown, MSNBC
Left: Why Are Political Campaigns Always Guilt-Tripping Us? Nicole Narea, Vox
ELECTORAL COLLEGE
Walz’s Call for Change
Today’s Top Story: On Tuesday, Democratic vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called for the elimination of the Electoral College. The Harris Campaign has attempted to distance itself from the remarks, clarifying that it is not an official position of Vice President Kamala Harris or the campaign.
Reporting from the Right: Tim Walz calls for elimination of Electoral College at California fundraiser, says 'it needs to go' (Fox News)
Reporting from the Left: Tim Walz calls for scrapping of electoral college to decide US presidential race (The Guardian)
RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT
Walz Disenfranching Swing State Voters
The Top Argument From The Right: In Calling For Axing The Electoral College, Tim Walz Tells Swing State Voters To Get Lost, Shawn Fleetwood, The Federalist: “…Kamala Harris’ running mate Tim Walz is now backing another extreme Democrat policy: abolishing the Electoral College. … It didn’t take long for the Harris-Walz campaign to tell their buddies at anti-truth CNN that this is just another time the governor ‘misspoke.’ An anonymous campaign staffer claimed, the outlet says, that ‘Walz’s call for eliminating the Electoral College is not an official campaign position.’ OK, so who is running this campaign? The actual Democrat candidates whose names are on the 2024 ballot, or the unnamed staffers who keep claiming without evidence that neither of their top candidates backs the radical policies both have publicly endorsed?While Walz is certainly known for lying his way through politics, one thing neither he nor Harris have been shy about is their support for the most extreme positions adopted by today’s Democrat Party. That brings us back to leftists’ war against the Electoral College. Walz is not alone in wishing to eliminate this presidential election system that protects minority rights and prevents the United States from becoming a straight mobocracy.”
Honorable Mention #1: What Walz Is Telling West Coast Donors, James Freeman, The Wall Street Journal.
Honorable Mention #2: Tim Walz Says the ‘Electoral College Needs to Go’, David Zimmerman, National Review.
LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT
Walz Is Right
The Top Argument From The Left: Tim Walz Is Right: The Electoral College Should Be Abolished, Ari Berman, Mother Jones: “The US is the only major democracy where you can lose the popular vote but win the Electoral College (or that even has an Electoral College). Not only is the Electoral College out of step with the rest of the world, no other major elected office in America, at the federal or state level, uses a similar system. It violates the most basic notions of ‘one person, one vote.’ … The seven swing states that will decide the 2024 presidential election represent 15 percent of the country’s population. That leaves 85 percent of Americans with little incentive to vote for the nation’s highest office, whether you’re a Republican in California or a Democrat in Tennessee. … It’s unrepresentative of the country … The tiny handful of battleground states are whiter and more Republican than the rest of the country. Eighty-three percent of voters in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania in the 2020 election were white… The system remains dangerously vulnerable to partisan manipulation. … Most of the founding fathers, who wanted to protect the power of an elite, white male, propertied minority, opposed the direct election of the president. Both the small states and the slave states argued that a popularly elected president would threaten their influence. … The South would be at a major disadvantage in a popular election, [James] Madison was admitting, because its enslaved population could not vote.”
Honorable Mention #1: Harris Campaign Scrambles to Walk Back Walz’s Electoral College Stance, Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, The New Republic.
Honorable Mention #2: Tim Walz’s straight talk: ‘The Electoral College needs to go’, Steve Benen, MSNBC.
FLAG THIS
A Majority Want the Electoral College Gone
A recent Pew Research Center survey of 9,720 adults conducted from August 26 to September 2, 2024, found that 63% of Americans prefer a national popular vote to determine the presidential winner, while 35% support maintaining the Electoral College. Notably, 80% of Democrats advocate for a popular vote system, whereas Republican views are more divided, with 53% favoring the Electoral College and 46% supporting its replacement (Pew Research Center).
Do you think the Electoral College is a fair system? |
WATERCOOLER
Carter Awarded, Best Flex, Elephant Orchestra
On This Day in 2002, former President Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”
Men’s Health: How to Do the World's Greatest Stretch
Food & Wine: Why Do We Cook Too Much for the People We Love?
Today I learned there’s an elephant orchestra in Thailand.
POWERED BY FINANCEBUZZ
Did you know some credit cards can actually help you get out of debt faster? Yes, it sounds crazy. But it’s true. The secret: Find a card with a “0% intro APR" period for balance transfers. Then, transfer your debt balance and pay it down as much as possible during the intro period. No interest means you could pay off the debt faster. Check out the full list of cards you can use to do this here.
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