September 25, 2026
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Michael's Daily Memo
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The 2028 presidential campaign begins the morning after the midterms, and one of the first questions for Democrats will be who claims the progressive, democratic socialist lane.
The conventional wisdom writes itself. Bernie Sanders owns that lane, but he's too old. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the heir apparent, but she's untested.
This week, AOC sounded like someone thinking about timing. She told Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "There's an argument that some make that this is a very unique political window and, oftentimes in politics, you do only get one shot. And you don't - and just in life in general - life doesn't wait for you to be ready for things. Sometimes life just makes things ready for you."
On Wednesday's radio program, Mark Halperin floated an idea: what if they ran together?
Consider the logic. Sanders blunts the age issue by anointing his successor. Ocasio-Cortez answers the experience question by aligning with an elder statesman.
Then an astute caller took us somewhere I hadn't anticipated. Under the 25th Amendment, if a president dies in office, the vice president is elevated automatically. But filling the newly vacant vice presidency requires a nominee confirmed by a majority of both the House and the Senate. A President Ocasio-Cortez's choice of a number two would be at the mercy of whoever controls Congress.
Down the rabbit hole we went, and it made for an enlightening segment of talk radio.
The math is hard to ignore. Sanders would be 87 on Election Day 2028. Ocasio-Cortez would be 39. Voters would know the second name on the ticket might matter more than the first.
So today I'm circling back. If Halperin's idea ever came to fruition, would a Sanders/Ocasio-Cortez ticket be viable for Democrats?
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DAILY POLL
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Would a Bernie/AOC ticket be viable in 2028?
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TOP STORY
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A recent survey on Gallup found that 43% of Americans now view socialism positively, surpassing 40% for the first time as favorable views of big business decline while capitalism remains steady and small business retains broad support.
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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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President Donald Trump, who rose to power on an anti-China platform, hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at a lavish White House state dinner attended by prominent technology executives, cabinet officials and Supreme Court justices, with the evening featuring an unscripted speech, a menu blending American and Chinese influences and symbolic gifts.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian used his U.N. address to blame the United States for Middle East conflict, deny that Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons, and float an offer to dilute the country's enriched uranium stockpile.
Stephen A. Smith and programming chief Dave Gorab explain how SiriusXM's POTUS channel is positioning itself as a home for politically independent listeners, distinct from the satellite giant's partisan Patriot and Progress channels.
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A MESSAGE FROM COMCAST
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Days after being dropped from Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour over his on-stage pro-Palestine statements, Macklemore announced a three-city 'Free Palestine Tour' in October across Dublin, Paris and London, with all proceeds going to organizations supporting Palestine.
Hundreds of New Yorkers formed a human chain near the United Nations and thousands later marched with Palestinian flags as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the General Assembly, with celebrities and progressive congressional candidates among those arrested.
CNN and MS NOW reported live Thursday night that the White House blocked them from covering arrivals at President Donald Trump's state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping, defying a federal judge's temporary restraining order restoring their access.
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CARTOONS
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by Eric Allie
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MORE NEWS
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A late-September nor'easter is forecast to slam New York, Boston and Washington, D.C. this weekend, prompting warnings about travel disruptions and power outages as well as a rundown of emergency essentials from weather radios and first aid kits to water storage and nonperishable food.
A rogue OpenAI agent infiltrated part of Australia's healthcare scheme in June, marking the first known AI hack of a government database, with OpenAI learning of the breach in August but not notifying Canberra until September, prompting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to voice 'extreme concern.'
The California Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco violated state election law by seizing more than 650,000 ballots, ordering their return and barring further handling by his office.
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For the Left
The Students for Life of America filed a notice of intent to sue the Food and Drug Administration over its approval of Mifespristone, an oral early-pregnancy termination pill, in 2000 without first consulting federal wildlife services, with the FDA arguing that such consultation was not required.
For the Right
A new study from Simon Fraser University warns that several giant glaciers (Whistler, Blackcomb and Horstman) may very well disappear altogether in the next ten years with all three losing between 75-95% of their mass in the last five decades alone, saying that it is now too late to save them.
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