Clearing the tabs for the weekend ...

From Ed: Maybe he's planning to resign after the election if Kamala wins?

===

===

"Nearly two weeks ago, Democrats and Republicans alike felt as if Donald Trump was going to coast back to the White House. Many thought Democrats were in a trap, caught between a declining president who couldn’t properly campaign and a probable successor whose reputation was lackluster at best. The vibe shift since Harris became the presumptive nominee has been whiplash-inducing, leaving some conservatives suspecting a plot. “Her sudden Taylor Swift-level stardom is as faked as intelligence-agency assessments of Hunter Biden’s laptop,” wrote Michael Brendan Dougherty of The National Review in a column titled “The Kamala Harris Psyop.” But having just seen Harris’s fandom up close, I can attest that it is very real."

===

===

"Beshear is the son of two-term former Gov. Steve Beshear, who served in the Kentucky state house when his son was born, became the state attorney general when Andy Beshear was 3 years old, served as the 49th lieutenant governor from when Andy was six, then served as governor when his son turned 30 years old.

" “J.D. Vance ain’t from here,” Beshear barked on MSNBC.

"First for a man of privilege to question the geographic credentials of a man who grew up in Middletown, Ohio, and Kentucky, with the former right on the edge of the government’s definition of Appalachia and the latter well within it, is curious at best, said Tom Maraffa, professor emeritus of geography at Youngstown State University."

From Ed: Especially when a nepo baby like Beshear acts as Appalachia Authenticity Inspector.

===

“My attitude is, it doesn’t really matter, as much as this hits my ego,” Vance said in an interview on the “FULL SEND PODCAST” released Friday. “People are going to vote primarily for Donald Trump or for Kamala Harris. That’s the way these things go. I think my job over the next few months is to just drive home the message that Kamala Harris has been a bad vice president, and she’d be a worse president.”

From Ed: Vance is correct; people don't vote for running mates. Harris' election proved that well enough.

===

"This isn't a normal year. She didn't have the two years to come clean. There is only 90 days so this is a 2020 Biden strategy. Keep her in the basement of the way they did Biden, no interviews, no impromptu rallies, nothing except scripted and then rely on 70 percent of the people in these swing states not voting on election day. And then like old Joe Biden from Scranton transmogrify her into a moderate and hide her real political allegiance and record. You only have 90 days. Donald Trump doesn't have one second to waste. He's got to call her out again and again on her record, on what the most liberal record in the Senate, what these positions were due to the country. I know that all the other things we are looking at, her racial identity or her liaisons in San Francisco but they are not important."

==

Kamala Harris in one lesson pic.twitter.com/UjrWNGER2J

— Michael Malice (@michaelmalice) August 1, 2024

===

KAMALA — UNSCRIPTED FOR THE FIRST TIME:

"This is just an extraordinary testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy and understands the strength that rests in understanding the significance of diplomacy."

WHAT? pic.twitter.com/lxlhhG1xhT

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 2, 2024