Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike — what tab is it? …
Former Vice President Kamala Harris announced Wednesday that she would not run for governor of California in 2026, ending questions about her interest in the role but raising new ones about the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee’s plans for the future.
“For now, my leadership — and public service — will not be in elected office,” she said in a statement released Wednesday. “I look forward to getting back out and listening to the American people, helping elect Democrats across the nation who will fight fearlessly, and sharing more details in the months ahead about my own plans.”
Ed: Perhaps Harris finally realized that she would be forever encumbered by what she had been … and remained. I’d bet that she’s looking to get appointed to future roles rather than run in competitive campaigns, but that choice would require true self-knowledge about her limitations. I’m skeptical that Harris has that quality. Pay attention to the “for now” qualifier on that statement. On the other hand …
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Let’s face it — Kamala didn’t pick Walz over Shapiro because of her “gut.” It was because of her gutlessness. https://t.co/XSJyTyfGEb
— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) July 10, 2025
Ed: Worth remembering.
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The former vice president passed up the opportunity to run for governor once before when she chose instead to run for the U.S. Senate, which she and her advisors concluded was a better fit for her national policy interests and her investigative and prosecutorial background as the state’s former attorney general.
Although she was said to be intrigued by the opportunity to help lead California’s recovery from the wind-driven fires that ravaged the Pacific Palisades and Altadena and to tackle the state’s housing crisis, she concluded that she could make a greater impact continuing her work on the national stage, according to interviews with former aides, allies and friends, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private deliberations. Many in her inner circle believed that running for governor would foreclose her chance seeking the Democratic nomination again in 2028.
Ed: J.D. Vance couldn’t get any luckier than to face Harris in 2028. Same if it’s Marco Rubio. Or practically any other Republican. Democrats wouldn’t let her within a hundred miles of the nomination anyway — which is true in California too. Harris didn’t clear the field with the trial balloons about potential interest in the gubernatorial primary, which means she’d have to compete for it. And she simply can’t win without a gimme.
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Kamala Harris’s entire political career summed up. pic.twitter.com/JIq4Ujdh2w
— John Ekdahl (@JohnEkdahl) July 30, 2025
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Both Michaelson and the New York Post (in its piece) adopt a curious bit of framing, themselves: They speak of Harris’s decision not to run for governor next year as “clearing the way” for a 2028 presidential campaign. Put simply, this is farcical. There are few things I can guarantee from my position here in 2025, but one of them is that Kamala Harris is not going to be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2028. You know how I know this? Because she already was the Democratic presidential nominee in 2024, and she lost. Will she tease an exploratory committee? Put some feelers out there? Perhaps. But I doubt even that. There is no organic demand among the Democrats for Harris and there never was.
Do not go gentle into that good night, Kamala Harris — just go.
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Zohran Mamdani looks like a deer in headlights when asked if he regrets calling to defund the police:
“My statements in 2020 were ones made amidst a frustration that many New Yorkers held at the murder of George Floyd.” pic.twitter.com/JVMzdxhhdf
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 30, 2025
Ed: Ah, the “I’m a moderate Marxist” dodge. It’s New York City, so it’ll probably sell there.
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Elon Musk’s new political party is so far a no-go on the launch pad.
Why it matters: A Musk-backed “America Party” could disrupt the midterms and escalate his feud with President Trump. But “Musk has read the room,” said Dan Ives, a Wedbush Securities analyst who’s followed him for decades.
The rockets-to-robotaxis billionaire hasn’t taken visible steps to make formal filings for the America Party, and once-frenetic whispers from third party consultants about working for him have gone radio silent.
Ed: I doubt this will go anywhere. Musk seems pretty disillusioned by his foray into the political sphere, for one thing. It also did a significant amount of damage to his business interests. I’d bet that Musk will focus much more on the latter than the former for the next couple of years, and perhaps rebuild bridges with both the Left and the Right to the extent he can. That’s what I’d advise, at least, if Elon wanted to ask me.
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Liberals are not often this honest. https://t.co/D72QMd8eoo
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 30, 2025
Ed: But we all know that this is the subtext. Some men don’t want the responsibility that comes with promiscuity, so they want abortion as a backstop.
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Prostitution is illegal in the state of Virginia, but dozens of brothels nevertheless operate openly in Fairfax County alone, according to local officials.
How did the state’s largest municipality, a wealthy and highly educated suburb of Washington, D.C., become a sanctuary county for pimps, madams, and whorehouse operators? All signs point to the Commonwealth’s attorney, self-styled progressive prosecutor Steve Descano.
Ed: Descano got backing from George Soros’ group that works to elect progressive DAs that abdicate law enforcement. At least the brothel is well located next to the whores and pimps that populate the federal swamp next door, but that still doesn’t mean that Fairfax voters deserve to see their community degraded. Maybe they should recall Descano, or at least work to replace him in the next election.
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The collective freak out on the left over a normal sized blonde woman being the center of attention is somewhat hilarious. https://t.co/EIdvvF19gl
— Erielle Azerrad (@politicalelle) July 30, 2025
Ed: I swear I could have done nothing but Sydney Sweeney reactions for tonight’s Final Word. I’m valiantly resisting the effort, but it’s so difficult …
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The body positivity movement told us, loudly and constantly, that everyone is beautiful, that all bodies are worthy of the spotlight, that a triple chin was not only normal, but empowering. Obesity wasn’t a health crisis, it was an identity. That era wasn’t really about celebrating women. It was about neutralizing beauty. Sanding down the sharp edges of desirability until no one felt left out, and no one stood out.
And now here comes Sweeney, basking in her exceptional, remarkable, jaw-dropping body. Selling sex and looking like an unreformed Victoria’s Secret Angel, draped across a convertible in low-rise denim. Saying: Yeah, I’m lucky, I got really, really good genes. The contrast is almost comical. Whether she meant to be or not, she’s a kind of a walking middle finger to the movement that tried to blow up all of our old-fashioned ideas about beauty. She’s not the future of advertising. She’s the past, revived, and making more money than ever.
And Sweeney embodies a bigger vibe shift that is—whether she is or not—fundamentally MAGA.
Ed: I don’t think it’s fundamentally MAGA. It’s fundamentally rooted in reason and human experience. Sex matters. Biology matters. Humans respond to many stimuli, but attractiveness is among them and legitimate. The fact that the Left has attempted to deny all of those things do not make the MAGA … but they do allow MAGA to essentially own the truth and reality, mainly by default.
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The hilarious thing about the whole Sydney Sweeney drama is realising there are STILL people out there who think they can play the “Everything I dislike is racist” card, and get away with it. pic.twitter.com/vPdbeHRIYK
— The Critical Drinker (@TheCriticalDri2) July 30, 2025
Ed: They’re learning otherwise, hopefully.
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“During a Zoom call with Sydney we asked the question ‘How far do you want to push it?’” she wrote. Sweeney’s response was immediate and exactly what the brand was hoping for. “Without hesitation, she smirked 😏 and said, ‘Let’s push it, I’m game.’” The team’s reaction was just as swift. “Our response? ‘Challenge Accepted.’”
From that moment on, the executive explained, Sweeney’s daring sentiment became the guiding principle for the entire massive rollout. “Syd’s sentiment guided every frame, every stitch and every unexpected twist of The “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” 👖 campaign,” Schapiro continued, “Infusing our own personal cheeky energy and making us 😂 as we envisioned how the world would experience the launch.”
The goal was to go bigger than ever before, fueled by Sweeney’s willingness to embrace the playful concept. “A desire to stretch beyond anything we had done before,” Schapiro noted. “The ideas kept building. The stunts topping themselves.”
Ed: Alissa Heinerscheid could not be reached for comment, one assumes, but she certainly disapproves. And Sydney Sweeney may be my new hero.
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I love how the media so wants this Sydney Sweeney AEO campaign to be a disaster but the stock is up 20% since the campaign launched. @NBCNews & all the woke crisis specialists found by @wwd can’t will a crisis to be so. It isn’t 2020. And they’ve lost their cancellation power. pic.twitter.com/B59As2ccSl
— Jennifer Sey (@JenniferSey) July 30, 2025
