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🇺🇸 New Entrants

🇺🇸 New Entrants

Plus, here are the 10 US cities where people are most satisfied with their jobs.

June 13, 2023

Good morning, and happy Tuesday. Sometimes you just miss your best friend. That’s what this dog must’ve been thinking when she scaled this wall…

Plus, the 10 US cities where people are most satisfied with their jobs

Also, looking for life insurance without a medical examination? Your Wysh has been granted…

QUICK CLICKS

Trump in Court, Biden Tapes, Pat Sajak Retiring

US: Trump arrives in Miami for arraignment on first-ever federal charges against an ex-president (CNBC)

US: Senator Reveals FBI Informant File References 17 Biden Audio Recordings (Daily Wire)

US: Body recovered after a truck crash caused the inferno that toppled part of I-95 in Philadelphia, official says (CNN)

US: Government watchdog says White House press secretary violated federal law ahead of 2022 midterms (Fox News)

World: 'Dead' woman found breathing in coffin at own funeral (BBC)

World: Silvio Berlusconi’s death draws tributes, even from critics, in Italy and beyond (AP)

Entertainment: Pat Sajak to Retire as ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Host (Hollywood Reporter)

US: 2 active-duty Marines plead guilty to Jan. 6 charges (Mercury News)

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2024

New Entrants

Last week, two prominent names joined the list of GOP candidates for president, when former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced their candidacies.

Reporting from The Right: Pence flames Trump in 2024 campaign launch, says former boss put himself 'over the Constitution' Paul Steinhauser , Mark Meredith, Fox News

Reporting from The Left: Chris Christie kicks off 2024 campaign with sharp attacks on Trump Gregory Krieg and Shania Shelton, CNN

From The Flag: Both Pence, former President Trump’s VP, and Christie, who served as an advisor in the Trump Administration, came out with criticism of their former ally while joining the race. Meanwhile, Trump faces a new indictment concerning classified documents kept at his home in Mar-a-Lago. Here’s more from both sides.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

For Never Trumpers, Christie and Pence Spark Some Hope

Trump’s third nomination would tear the GOP apart, but Chris Christie is a worthy rival of the former president.
Chris Christie, and to a lesser extent Mike Pence, are set to serve the “take down Trump” role during the Republican primary.
Pence already did his campaign in, as conservatives noticed his comments about Biden and funding being sent to Ukraine.

Chris Christie and the Republican Party’s Peril Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal Opinion: "If Trump Republicans propel Donald Trump over the top in the primaries, they will be doing and will have done two things. They will have made him their nominee for the presidency, and they will have ended the Republican Party. ... Republicans of the suburbs, of the more educated and affluent places, won’t agree to be the official Trump Forever Party. ... They will leave. Some will go third-party and try to build something there. Some will blend into the Democratic Party... Mr. Christie is a wholly undervalued executive talent. People forget what a good governor he was when he was being a good governor, which is not a typo. In eight years (2010-18) in deep blue New Jersey he capped property taxes, used the line-item veto to limit spending, increased school funding, got more charter schools, and got the state through the true disaster of superstorm Sandy."

Pence is uniquely situated to torpedo Trump's campaign Henry Olsen, Washington Post Opinion: "Mike Pence is entering the GOP presidential contest with little hope of winning. But if the former vice president joins forces with another candidate in the field, Chris Christie, he could serve a more noble purpose: torpedoing former president Donald Trump’s campaign. Christie has already made clear defeating Trump is his intention, and he is well-suited for the role. Since the 2020 election, the former New Jersey governor has increasingly been publicly critical of Trump, and his bombastic personality and sharp debating skills give him the tools to be a thorn in Trump’s side. ... It’s harder to imagine Pence taking up the task in such a manner. He is a courtly man who rarely displays anger publicly. He’s been courteous toward Trump despite the danger the former president put him in on Jan. 6, 2021. ... Still, if Pence lacks Christie’s rambunctious flair, his earnestness might wound Trump more with a key group of voters: evangelicals."

One more opinion piece from the Right: Mike Pence Does in His Campaign With One Astonishing Remark About Ukraine Nick Arama, Red State

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Pence Has the Chops To Be POTUS, if Not for the Trump Connection

Mike Pence is a bonafide conservative candidate that hits all the Republican talking points — but Trump is a millstone around his neck.
A fiscal hawk before becoming Trump’s VP, Pence’s role within the former administration torpedoed his chance at the White House.
We know that Pence wants to be president, but what’s less clear is how he intends to actually make that happen.

Pence has twisted himself into a pretzel on Trump John Avlon, CNN Opinion: "If a perfect Republican candidate was created in a lab, it would look a lot like former Vice President Mike Pence. He is an earnest evangelical, a family man with Midwestern modesty, a social and fiscal conservative and national security hawk. ... an 'aw shucks' right-wing policy wonk with an impeccable resume, bridging the George W. Bush era with the Tea Party and former President Donald Trump’s administration. ... For the moment, at least, this remains very much Trump’s Republican Party and Pence learned a thing or two while nodding approvingly by his side. Whenever possible, he deflected direct questions about Trump and attacked President Joe Biden instead. ... If Pence can’t gain momentum, it will say more about the underlying appetites of the current Trump coalition than it will about his conservative credentials."

Mike Pence's Presidential Campaign Makes No Sense David Graham, The Atlantic: "Trump’s election made Pence vice president and rescued him from the risk of being a failed one-term Indiana governor, but it also demolished the case for his presidential campaign. Trump showed that Republican voters don’t actually want to rein in spending on Social Security and Medicare—one of the few areas where Pence has been willing to actually draw a sharp (and quixotic) contrast with Trump. Pence is a man of intense individual rectitude, but Trump showed that voters don’t care about personal failings, so long as a leader takes the right positions. Trump did manage to deliver on overturning Roe v. Wade, but now that voters are rebelling against abortion restrictions, Pence’s own strong anti-abortion views are a potential drag on his candidacy. Maybe some of these challenges would be superable if Pence were a little more personally compelling, but his affect is as flat as the Hoosier State’s landscapes."

One more opinion piece from the Left: What Lane Does Mike Pence Think He's Driving In, Exactly? Ben Mathis-Lilley, Slate

FLAG THIS

Vice Presidents and the White House

Going back to 1949, six current or former vice presidents have secured their parties’ nomination for president. Three eventually became president (Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush, and Joe Biden).

But for Mike Pence, it will be an uphill climb, according to polling and analysis organization FiveThirtyEight. As of June 5, he was polling just above 5% in their national average.

Early polling from 538 in the key primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire also shows Pence in the single digits.

In fact, Pence’s low poll numbers are worse than Dan Quayle in 2000, who set the previous low mark for VPs.

Will either Pence or Christie end up as the GOP nominee for president?

FLAG FINDS

Best Wishes, Click Click, Good News First

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WATERCOOLER

Miranda Rights Established, No Getting Ahead, The Most Terrible Polar Exploration Ever

An officer reading the Miranda Rights

On June 13, 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision in Miranda v. Arizona, establishing the principle that all criminal suspects must be advised of their rights before interrogation.

NPR: Picking the 'right' sunscreen isn't as important as avoiding these 6 mistakes

Fast Company: 3 Simple Habits That Can Protect Your Brain From Cognitive Decline

TIME: There's No Such Thing as Getting Ahead

Today I Learned of the Explorer Douglas Mawson. Desperation led him to eat one of the sled dogs. Soon after the skin began peeling off his entire body due to acute vitamin A poisoning from the dog's liver.

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