David Wright

NEW: Democrats are pumping out content of themselves, pumping iron:

"People want to see vigor, they want to see action, that you’re prepared to do the job, doing more than sitting behind a podium regurgitating a litany of nonsensical acronyms"

www.cnn.com/2025/07/26/p...

Buttigieg: "Look, we already know that there were Democrats, Republicans, like, there are all kinds of people mixed up with this guy. I think most Americans say, okay, let the chips fall where they may, like, we gotta know."

Buttigieg on Trump/Epstein: "So obviously, there's something there. It's not even arguable that there's something there.”

Buttigieg: "The pictures and footage that were there years ago, and not just him, like shaking hands, getting his picture taken with the guy, but like ogling women with him, right? Like dancing, like grooving with him – and now, we find out he was at his wedding."

“It's especially weird with Trump, right?,” Buttigieg said. "Because it's not -- it's not some wild liberal conspiracy plan that he was involved with Jeffrey Epstein. There's pictures, pictures still coming out now after all these years."

Buttigieg: "We should be pounding on that, even if it's not a central policy priority of the party."

Buttigieg on Trump: "He says, day one, these Epstein files are going to come out. Because at the time, it was in his interest to pretend that he was going to do that, and now it is in his interest to block those files coming out. And I don't think it's unreasonable to ask, why?”

Buttigieg: "Speaker Mike Johnson and the Republicans would rather shut that branch of government down than let the Epstein files come out."

Buttigieg: "Even if you don't give a shit about the news story or the sensationalism of it -- this now affects you, because one of your branches of government is not operational between now and September."

Buttigieg: "Look, I think there's some folks who might say this is a distraction...you think to yourself, what I care about is how the Congress is dealing with health care, taxes, etc. Okay. Well, Congress just got shut down.”

Pete Buttigieg rips into Trump & congressional GOP over Epstein files during appearance on The Breakfast Club this AM:

"Republicans just shut down the United States House of Representatives for two months in order to avoid having to vote on Donald Trump blocking the Epstein files"

Let's get George RR Martin and Robert Caro in a room together and finish this

Guy who won one of the doodle auctions

Plus:
-Dems looking to off-year elections in VA see promising signs
-Gov nominee Abigail Spanberger is dominating GOP rival, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, in fundraising -- $10.7M to $5.9M beat in Q2
-Dems w/ 4-to-1 advantage on VA airwaves so far
www.cnn.com/2025/07/16/p...

Beshear on SC's primary calendar spot: "Where South Carolina is right now makes sure that all potential candidates learn more about sometimes the unique challenges that we face, but also get invested in every single state.”

Beshear answered, "Well being a southern Democrat, I think that we need to make sure that the South is represented in the primary calendar, for the Democratic Party. For too long, the investments haven't been made in places like Kentucky and in places like South Carolina."

Toward the end of his question and answer session, Beshear fielded a pointed question about the state and its spot in the primary process, asked if it should “remain first on the presidential nominating calendar?”

Beshear is the latest 2028 contender to stoke speculation about plans with travel to South Carolina -- California Gov. Gavin Newsom swung through the state last week, while another Californian eyeing a White House campaign, Rep. Ro Khanna, is set to visit this weekend

Beshear: "I’m traveling more because I’m trying to be a common sense, common ground, get things done type of voice that can pull not just Democrats back together, but hopefully pull Republicans and Independents together too"

During Q&A after his remarks, Beshear was repeatedly pressed about the 2028 presidential race. While parrying questions about his future, he acknowledged plans to travel “more” and be a “voice” for his party.

Beshear: "At night when they’re going to bed. In the morning when they’re waking up. So making sure that we are talking to people in the same language that they do every day, Democrats can win again.”

“Take this big ugly bill. If we want to push back against it, if we want to try to undo it, we can’t say it’s going to lessen food assistance, or that it’s going to make more people food insecure – what it’s going to make people do is go hungry,” Beshear said.

The red-state Dem’s remarks were also threaded with advice for his party, still grappling for a unified message following losses in 2024. He pushed back on what he called “advocacy speak,” saying that “the language that we use is a big part of” what the party needs to improve.

Beshear: “We have to make sure Americans know that right now, Trump Republicans are decimating Medicaid and food assistance, and that this big, ugly bill is the most anti-worker, anti-job, anti-rural, and anti-health care piece of legislation that we have seen in our lifetimes."

Throughout remarks at an AFL-CIO gathering in Greenville, Beshear touted his record in KY as a model for the country – promoting union membership, health care expansion, and taking shots at the landmark GOP policy bill passed last month, referring to it as the “big, ugly bill."

Beshear: "I’m also traveling more, I’m traveling more because I’m trying to be a common sense, common ground, get things done type of voice that can pull not just Democrats back together, but hopefully pull Republicans and Independents together too."

Beshear: "I’m looking forward to it, it’s in Charleston, he’ll play three to five games - my son is sixteen, and one of my joys in life is watching him play baseball; my daughter rides horses, that’s the most expensive sport ever known to man."

Beshear asked , "Are you here ... because you’re running for president in 2028?"
"I’m here in South Carolina this week for three reasons: the AFL invited me, the Georgetown Dems invited me, and my son has a baseball tournament here at the end of the weekend, in South Carolina."

2028 preview -- Andy Beshear takes a shot at JD Vance, during swing through SC today:
"I won areas in eastern Kentucky, Appalachia, that normally vote for Republicans by large margins. That includes Breathitt County in Appalachia, which is the county JD Vance pretends he’s from."

Q2 FEC deadline takeaways:
-Vulnerable House Republicans next year building significant cash reserves
-Early indicators in Democratic primaries for open US Senate seats
-Potential 2028 contenders from Congress showing fundraising strength
www.cnn.com/2025/07/16/p...