22: Joe Biden

What Biden’s Decision Not to Run Means for America By bowing out of the presidential race, he appears to have increased the odds that Democrats can hold onto the White House and compete strongly for control of Congress. He may have set in motion a historic process that could result in a woman becoming the most important person in the world, a step that would reshape gender norms worldwide. ............ Biden’s act of political self-sacrifice caps an extraordinary career of public service, including a presidency more productive than others, even some that lasted twice as long. Biden’s announcement also offers a stark contrast between his devotion to the national interest and Donald Trump’s long focus on his own personal interest. ......... In his 1961 inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy celebrated the torch being passed to the greatest generation. Then, in 1993, President Bill Clinton claimed power for baby boomers, who have since held it for more than three decades. Once more the torch will be passed to a new generation of Americans. ........... Biden’s presidency already has reshaped towns across America with everything from broadband to insulin price caps to a (unfortunately temporary) refundable child tax credit that helped reduce child poverty by half. All that is an immense legacy. .......... My guess is that because a Democrat is now more likely to win the White House, Russia is less likely to defeat Ukraine and China is less likely to go to war with Taiwan. Women are more likely to be able to get a legal abortion. The Education Department is more likely to survive and so, for that matter, is a healthy American democracy. ........... What is clear is that Joe Biden had a productive term in office and should be proud of his accomplishments. But without diminishing those achievements, historians may look back in their assessments of Biden’s presidency and paraphrase what Shakespeare wrote in “Macbeth”: Nothing became his presidency like the leaving of it.

22: Kamala Harris

Biden’s Greatest Strengths Proved His Undoing The personal qualities that enabled Biden’s successes in office helped doom his candidacy for reelection. ......... Right now, most Democrats can see Biden only as a millstone, but history will remember him as one of the most effective presidents of his era. His fingerprints will be all over the American future.

Democrats Donate More Than $50 Million Online After Biden’s Exit Sunday was the single biggest day for online Democratic donations in years — a significant show of enthusiasm after weeks of sluggish fund-raising. ............. Democrats greeted President Biden’s departure from the presidential race with an avalanche of cash, donating more than $50 million online on Sunday and making it the single biggest day for online Democratic contributions since the 2020 election — with hours to go. ....... Donations spiked from an average of less than $200,000 per hour in the hours before Mr. Biden quit to nearly $11.5 million in a single hour later on Sunday .........

As of 10 p.m., Sunday was ActBlue’s third biggest day for online donations in its history.

........... The ActBlue ticker accounts for all donations made on the platform, not just those made to Mr. Biden or Ms. Harris. It includes contributions made to nearly every Democratic House and Senate candidate and to an array of politically minded nonprofits. ......... Party fund-raising had slowed considerably among major Democratic donors in the weeks after Mr. Biden’s poor debate performance.

This might be the greatest fundraising moment in Democratic Party history. https://t.co/Mn8ijlgDcN

— Kenneth Pennington (@penningtonkm) July 21, 2024