Leland Vittert’s War Notes: The Dam is (Fill in the Blank)

NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight’s 7 p.m. ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.  

Panic vs. Pivot vs. Project 2025 

The White House strategy of playing for time while pivoting to fear-mongering over Project 2025 can’t (yet) calm the panic among Democrats nor the questions about a Biden health cover-up.  

• For the second day in a row, reporters in the White House briefing did their jobs — a first during this administration — and aggressively questioned the press secretary.
  • Thought bubble: It was just like the Trump times — all four major cable networks took the briefing. 
  • Not only: Think Trump-like
    • Ari Emanuel, brother of former Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, writes in the Economist that Team Biden is going full Trump: “After a catastrophic debate, Joe Biden and his team are in danger of emulating the very movement they oppose.”
• The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025: What is essentially a government-in-waiting plan for a Trump presidency sounds scary, but Trump continues to distance himself from it and Democrats can’t get the messaging right.
  • Click here to see a Lincoln Project ad that will scare you. 
  • Now click here to read Democrat’s messaging on it — woof! 

Thought bubble: It’s a lot harder to make people afraid of a confusing plan for the future (Project 2025) than to focus on the current president who, as CNN’s Jake Tapper points out, makes major gaffes every time he speaks, like saying he’s the first Black female vice president.

House Divided

Quite literally, the Democratic caucus is divided on President Joe Biden, much like Republicans spent 2016 divided on Donald Trump — the similarities are stunning. 

“We are not even in the same book,” said Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., exiting today’s members-only meeting to discuss Biden’s debate disaster.  

• Ground truth: Many Democrats are worried; not so much about the president, but about themselves and their races.
• Our buddy Zachary Leeman at Mediaite highlighted a devastating CNN segment showing, “It’s President Joe Biden’s low polling that is affecting down-ballot races.”
  • CNN data reporter Harry Enten said, “Joe Biden may be in slightly worse shape in these polls, but the fact is when Biden is down four, five, six points in these polls, you can only run so far ahead of Joe Biden and at this particular point, at least in the race for the House, it does seem like Republicans are ahead because Donald Trump is so far ahead.”

Pop the popcorn: As my buddy Blake Burman from The Hill points out, for the first time reporters are now chasing Democrats (as opposed to Republicans) around Capitol Hill, demanding their position on every presidential snafu. 

The dam is (fill in the blank).

• Almost every time it appears the dam is holding
  • For example, the Congressional Black caucus stands behind Biden.
• Another leak springs: Like a second New York Times editorial telling Biden to step aside.
  • The Editorial Board writes, “The 2024 presidential election is not a contest between two men, or even between two political parties. It is a battle for who we are as a nation. President Biden clearly understands the stakes. But he seems to have lost track of his own role in this national drama. As the situation has become more dire, he has come to regard himself as indispensable. He does not seem to understand that he is now the problem — and that the best hope for Democrats to retain the White House is for him to step aside.”
• More leaks: Polling continues to show Biden losing ground — he is now down six points in an AARP poll for Wisconsin.
  • Even worse for Biden’s electability argument — the poll shows Wisconsin’s Democratic senator up five points. 
  • Jon Favreau of the Obama world shared his thoughts on X, “Nothing to see here, just the Democratic incumbent Senator in the pivotal swing state running TWELVE points ahead of Biden’s vote share. But alas, he believes he’s the only Democrat in the country who can defeat Donald Trump. So on we go.”
• A five-alarm leak: Even worse, our partners at The Hill report a Clinton-Harris ticket might beat Trump by a couple of points.

Fair question: If the threat from Project 2025 is so great, and Biden clearly isn’t the best-positioned Democrat to beat Trump — why the continued allegiance to a flawed candidate? 

• Coming question: Is loyalty to Biden a suicide pact? 

How Long Can Trump Stay Quiet?

For the first time in recent memory, former President Donald Trump isn’t the story, and he’s apparently OK with that. 

• For almost ten years, when the news cycle shifted away from Trump, even to stories that would help Trump but didn’t involve him, he’d say something outrageous to focus attention back on him. 
• Until now
• Since the debate where he acted (almost) presidential, he’s stayed quiet.
  • He’s played golf.
  • Said nothing particularly inflammatory
  • Held his power dry to announce a vice president 
• History tells us it won’t last.

Watch tonight: Former White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney under Trump will be on to discuss.

Hold my beer: Since Trump isn’t giving the media hits to trash Republicans, Josh Hawley stepped up to say he will advocate for Christian nationalism at the RNC. 

Can Jill Do It? 

Leaving an event yesterday, first lady Jill Biden snapped at reporters to “Just let me talk” and then promptly walked away — that’s just the beginning: 

• Typically the White House press corp leaves first ladies alone until a scandal reaches epic proportions.
  • Look back: The Monica Lewinsky scandal was the last time a first lady sat front and center in a major presidential scandal. 
  • Look forward: Jill Biden is now far more than a typical first lady.
    • She’s the gatekeeper and protector 
    • She’s doing more campaign events than her husband 
    • She’s participating in campaign press calls 
    • She will also be in the position of advocating for her husband above other women, like Vice President Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton and others.

Watch tonight: Former Obama official Ameshia Cross will talk about Jill Biden’s tightrope.

Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here. 

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.