Day 1295: "It’s personal."

WTF Just Happened Today

Tuesday, August 6, 2024

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1/ Kamala Harris officially secured the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, making her the first woman of color in U.S. history to lead a major party ticket. Harris received 4,567 votes from delegates in a virtual roll call – or about 99% of votes from the participating delegates. Harris also named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Walz, a former public school teacher, high school football coach, and military veteran, served in the House for 12 years. In a late July interview, Walz called Trump and Vance “weird,” which Harris began using almost immediately. “One of the things that stood out to me about Tim is how his convictions on fighting for middle class families run deep. It’s personal,” Harris said in a statement. As governor, Walz signed a law ensuring 20 weeks of paid family and medical leave; signed a law protecting abortion rights in Minnesota after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade; signed a pair of “shield” laws protecting people who travel to Minnesota to receive gender affirming care and abortions from prosecution; legalized recreational marijuana; restored voting rights for 55,000 felons on probation; pushed aggressive targets on climate change and renewable energy; made Minnesota one of six states that provides universal free school lunches; proposed an expansion of the child tax credit; and created a prescription drug affordability board. Harris’s choice of Walz ensures that 2024 will be the first presidential ticket without a Bush, Clinton, or Biden since 1976. (Axios / Washington Post / Politico / CNN / New York Times / NBC News / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / NPR / ABC News)

• Where Tim Walz stands on key issues: Abortion, climate, marijuana and more. (Washington Post)
• Five things to know about Tim Walz. (Associated Press)
• 19 Facts About Tim Walz. (New York Times)
• 55 Things to Know About Tim Walz. (Politico)

2/ The Supreme Court rejected an attempt by Missouri’s Republican attorney general to delay Trump’s sentencing in the New York criminal case, where Trump was convicted on 34 counts of orchestrating an illegal conspiracy to influence the 2016 presidential election by falsifying business records. Andrew Bailey claimed that Trump’s sentencing and gag order in...

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