News
Politico, – May 5, 2022
The 2024 election begins as a high-stakes staring contest.
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have both told aides and confidants that they’re more likely to run for the White House next cycle — and confident in their chances of winning — if the other runs, too. But as each camp gears up for a rematch of the bitterly contested 2020 contest, there remains a small hiccup: Neither is inclined to take the plunge first.
It’s a game of political chicken that — as described by more than a half dozen advisers to the two men — has largely frozen the field among Democrats and Republicans alike, raising questions about the future health of two parties being led by a pair of candidates who, by that Election Day, would have long ago celebrated their 75th birthdays.
The 2024 election will likely be the most important election in United States history. Democrats can ill afford to put resources into states that will not pay dividends in the next presidential election — and beyond.
And that means they must pay special attention to where they hold their first primary. After the Democratic National Committee voted to essentially strip Iowa of its status as the first state to vote in the primary season, it established a new set of criteria for the first caucus or primary state. It must be a state that is demographically diverse, has a proven history of filtering strong winners and will be competitive in the next election cycle.
There is only one state in the entire country that fits those criteria — Texas.
Democrats may finally knock the Iowa caucuses out of their prized first position in the presidential nominating process, in what could be that calendar’s biggest shakeup in decades.
States that want a shot at holding an early primary or caucus must submit a letter of intent to the Democratic National Committee by Friday, May 6. And the existing early states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina — must reapply, arguing why they deserve their spots.
A total overhaul is unlikely, but Iowa is in real danger of being moved from the start of the early lineup or dropped from it after the botched 2020 caucuses, which were plagued with technical difficulties and extraordinarily slow reporting of results. A new Midwestern state could be added to the mix, as could a fifth early state, and the order could be changed.
CNN – May 5, 2022 (05:47)
A Ukrainian nurse shared her first dance with her husband in a hospital room, weeks after losing her legs in a landmine blast. CNN’s Scott McLean reports.
Russia’s annual spring military draft is under way, and with the war in Ukraine entering a third month, human rights advocates say pleas for help to avoid military service have increased.
On the first day of the spring conscription, which runs from April 1 to July 15, a government-issued disclaimer appeared in Russian news articles, offering families information on the nature of service: “Conscription events are not related to the special operation in Ukraine.”
The articles included a message of reassurance from Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu: “I would like to emphasise that conscripts will not be sent to any hot spots” – a euphemism for the war in Ukraine.
In today’s episode of The Point, CNN’s Chris Cillizza unpacks how the draft opinion from the Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v. Wade could affect the midterms.
NBC News – May 5, 2022 (01:40)
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko admitted on Thursday that he didn’t think Russia’s “operation” in Ukraine would “drag on this way.” The authoritarian leader and Putin ally also said that he was doing everything “so that there isn’t a war,” including trying to broker negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
May 5, 2022 – 10:00 am to 10:15 am (ET)
May 5, 2022 – 10:30 am (ET)
