June 24, 2026
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Michael's Daily Notes
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The Mamdani Wave and the 2028 Problem
Last night in New York told us where the passion in the Democratic Party lives - and it isn't where the party's 2028 frontrunners are standing.
Zohran Mamdani went three-for-three on his congressional endorsements. Brad Lander unseated two-term incumbent Dan Goldman. Claire Valdez took an open Brooklyn-Queens seat. And Darializa Avila Chevalier edged out five-term Rep. Adriano Espaillat. All three are Democratic Socialists. The energy is on the left, it's organized, and in a primary it topples the establishment. It also enforced a litmus test: every winner was willing to criticize Israel.
But thirty miles north, in the swing 17th District, Democrats picked Cait Conley - an Army veteran and former counterterrorism official - to challenge Mike Lawler. That's not an outlier. It's the same instinct that elected Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer, governor of Virginia, and Mikie Sherrill, a Navy helicopter pilot, governor of New Jersey. When Democrats have to win, they reach for moderate women with national-security resumes. When the seat is safe, they reward the socialist.
Now hold that against Mark Halperin's latest "8 for 2028" ranking: Newsom, Shapiro, Harris, Buttigieg, Sanders, Ossoff, Pritzker, Emanuel. Which is the candidate of last night? Only Sanders - the 84-year-old who endorsed Lander and Valdez. The movement has a hero, not a future. And Shapiro, my home-state governor, would carry into that primary the very Israel litmus test New York just imposed.
The only certainty: the GOP will draw great fodder from casting the entire party as socialists. It's an age-old line of attack. The difference now is that, for some of these Democrats, it's actually true - and they ran on it.
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DAILY POLL
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Will the Nancy Guthrie case ever be solved?
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TOP STORY
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s influence surged in New York’s Democratic primaries as his slate of progressive House candidates scored major victories, while races nationwide highlighted battles over AI regulation, Trump’s endorsements, and the future direction of both parties.
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TODAY'S YOUTUBE
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SPONSORED BY PARX CASINO
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IN OTHER NEWS
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Experts say the blue polyurea coating flaking off the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool—renovated under an April order from President Trump at a cost ballooning to nearly $15 million—likely failed due to a mix of factors, from rushed application and adhesion to granite, to hydrogen peroxide dumped in to fight algae.
"Today" co-anchor Savannah Guthrie delivered a tearful on-air plea for tips about her missing 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, after NBC News reported that a second note sent to media outlets following her February disappearance indicated she had died.
France is facing a record-breaking heatwave as extreme temperatures claim dozens of lives, overwhelm public services, and raise fresh concerns about the growing impact of climate-driven weather events across Europe. At least 40 people have drowned while swimming in unsupervised areas to seek relief from the heatwave.
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A MESSAGE FROM COMCAST
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A Pew Research Center survey of 42,151 people across 36 countries finds a median of just 23% express confidence in President Donald Trump's global leadership, with favorable views of the U.S. and its reliability as a partner falling sharply in allies from Canada to Germany to South Korea.
Major beverage companies, including The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo, are embracing greater ingredient transparency with a new QR code platform aimed at giving consumers more information about what’s in their drinks, aligning with growing demands from the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement.
A federal judge ruled the USDA exceeded its authority when it allowed states to bar SNAP recipients from using food benefits to buy soft drinks and candy, dealing a setback to the Trump administration's "Make America Healthy Again" push.
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CARTOONS
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by Rob Rogers
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MORE NEWS
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The 21st Century Road to Housing Act, which bans large corporate investors from buying more single-family homes and streamlines homebuilding regulations, cleared the House 358-32 after similarly lopsided Senate passage and now heads to President Trump's desk.
After scoring twice in Portugal's 5-0 win over Uzbekistan in Houston to become the first man to score in six World Cups, Cristiano Ronaldo abruptly waved off a reporter's question about Lionel Messi, who a day earlier became the tournament's all-time leading scorer with 18 goals.
In a 6-3 ruling in Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections, the Supreme Court held that a Rastafarian man whose head was forcibly shaved by prison officials, despite his religious objection, cannot sue them for damages under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
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For the Left
Republican Senator Rand Paul has subpoenaed Dr. Anthony Fauci to testify before the Senate Homeland Security Committee in July on issues including COVID-19's origins, gain-of-function research funding, alleged record destruction, and his late-2024 presidential pardon.
For the Right
Former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams won Utah’s Democratic primary in the newly redrawn 1st Congressional District, defeating three progressive challengers and advancing to a general election race Democrats view as a key opportunity in their effort to regain House control.
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