President Joe Biden speaks at a Democratic rally in Rockville final week. Picture by Danielle E. Gaines.
Final week’s Democratic rally in Rockville, headlined by President Biden and that includes an all-star forged of social gathering luminaries, was an enormous hit, a rollicking present. It gave the social gathering devoted the red-meat rhetoric they had been in search of, and simply as vital, it gave them hope. Perhaps the midterms received’t be as disastrous because the Democrats as soon as feared.
As I sat within the press part of the raucous health club at Richard Montgomery Excessive College, penned in by the digicam riser and a few momentary fencing, I discovered myself questioning, why Maryland and why now? And my thoughts flashed to a storyline from the Doonesbury caricature in 1974, when President Nixon, broken by the rising Watergate scandal, traveled to the fictional city of Fritters, Alabama. That was the one place supportive sufficient within the U.S. to listen to a Nixon speech, the story went.
So has Maryland, a Democratic state most days, and the place Democrats are feeling notably bullish given the Republican nominees for governor, legal professional common, and U.S. Senate, successfully turn into Fritters, Alabama? Was this the one place the place Biden may very well be assured a hospitable welcome? Or was he road-testing some marketing campaign themes for the autumn in entrance of a pleasant viewers earlier than hitting the marketing campaign path in earnest within the weeks forward?
Biden is visiting Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on Tuesday, for an official look on gun violence (it was initially scheduled for July however needed to be postponed after he contracted COVID-19). And he’s scheduled to participate within the Pittsburgh Labor Day parade subsequent week. However that’s about all we learn about his fall journey schedule. Biden appeared to acknowledge his middling political standing in Rockville when he jokingly advised U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D), who wasn’t current as a result of he was celebrating his thirty fifth marriage ceremony anniversary, that he’d marketing campaign for or towards him, whichever could be extra useful.
Advertisement
Biden’s remarks in Rockville acquired nationwide consideration, notably his assertion that MAGA Republicans are practising “semi-fascism” — offering a gap for Gov. Larry Hogan and different so-called GOP moderates like New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu to blast him for being divisive. You mix that combative language with vows to guard and strengthen abortion rights, a promise to move an assault weapons band, and motion, in the end, to fight local weather change, and Democrats suppose they’ve a fairly salable message — or sufficient of a message and file to not less than encourage their voters within the midterms.
Polls at the moment are displaying that Democratic enthusiasm for the midterm turnout is only a tick under Republican enthusiasm, and the congressional generic poll is about even between the events. How the Democrats want the midterms had been tomorrow as a substitute of two-plus months away.
Historic fashions, legislation of averages, and simply widespread sense inform us that the Republicans are prone to have a greater election night time than the Democrats — even with the undesirable specter of Donald Trump looming over all of it.
How Trump is each the dominant determine in Republican politics and one of many few issues that retains Democrats within the sport is among the enduring mysteries of recent American politics, and it’s fascinating to invest how historians will clarify this period a century or extra from now.
Whilst I contemplated these questions whereas sweating and pining for water on the Rockville rally, I additionally got here away with these stray observations:
Advertisement
The logistics behind presidential rallies are all the time wonderful. And Biden was at his greatest. Biden is gonna Biden, and his schtick isn’t for everyone, however you overlook that he’s fairly good at firing up a crowd. Wes Moore had a fairly good vantage level and enviable publicity as he sat on the stage a number of toes away from Biden in the course of the president’s remarks.
The one one that got here near producing as a lot enthusiasm with the group as Biden — and perhaps even surpassed it — was U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D), who appears to impress a reception worthy of The Beatles wherever he goes as of late, not less than within the eighth congressional district. I’ve by no means in all my years of protecting politics seen an elected official immediate such an outpouring of affection and gratitude as I’ve seen with District 8 Democrats and Raskin.
It’s the modern-day equal of the constituent gratitude you used to see when political bosses handed out vacation turkeys. These acts of charity engendered political loyalty, which the bosses took benefit of at election time. It’s not too early — or too inappropriate — to wonder if Raskin will have the ability to harness this rockstar mania into some form of a political pressure for good (or for himself). Raskin is a uncommon expertise at a uncommon second and will probably be fascinating to see the place this all goes.
His congressional colleagues actually appear to acknowledge the Raskin phenomenon for what it’s. U.S. Home Majority Chief Steny Hoyer (D), who has been delivering full-throated political stemwinders at Maryland political occasions for 5 and a half many years, lamented his misfortune, having to comply with Raskin on this system Thursday night.
Hoyer can nonetheless give a podium-pounding speech on the high of his voice, however not less than one factor appeared off. Noting the younger folks within the viewers, he recalled the time as a pupil when he heard President Kennedy talking on the College of Maryland, and all of the inspiration he took from that second. However it might be time to retire that a part of the speech. Speaking about JFK now could be the equal of a politician in that period enthusing to a younger viewers that he had witnessed the “Cross of Gold” speech.
Advertisement
Talking of bearing witness, whereas he didn’t have a talking gig or a distinguished position on the Biden rally, Montgomery County Govt Marc Elrich (D) was on the minds of most of the Democrats who attended, particularly his constituents. Elrich on Thursday was contemporary off a just-settled 32-vote victory within the Democratic main recount, which was notably mind-blowing when you think about he received a 77-vote Democratic main victory, towards the identical opponent, 4 years earlier.
In a rare latest interview with The Foyer, a podcast run by the oldsters at Middle Maryland, Elrich accused The Washington Submit of nothing lower than being in collusion along with his challenger, businessman David Blair, and with all of the moneyed forces backing Blair’s marketing campaign. He’s not that far off the mark.
The Submit’s criticism of Elrich in latest months has actually been manner past a typical editorial board’s endorsement for an opponent. There’s been a sky-is-falling aspect to the narrative, {that a} second Elrich time period could be an unmitigated catastrophe.
So how did the Submit editorial writers deal with the county govt’s razor-thin win? With a scolding headline that he “should do higher in his second time period.”
There are two methods of Elrich’s tiny Democratic main victories. One is that these near-death experiences, in multi-candidate fields, present that he and his message are actually not that in style, and that he should view them as a wake-up name to alter his model and priorities. The opposite is that he prevailed regardless of his opponent spending not less than $10 million of his personal cash over a four-year interval, regardless of the opposition of a strong array of forces that labored exhausting to make sure his defeat, and regardless of the hysterical opposition of one of the consequential newspapers in American historical past.
Advertisement
Given all these forces lined up towards him, why isn’t Elrich considered as a giant-slayer? And perhaps it’s time for the hand-wringers who cling on the fringes of Montgomery County politics opining like a Greek refrain to simply recover from it.
I requested Elrich lately whether or not he sees this as his final time period. He was noncommittal.
(Disclosure: The Blair Household Basis was a monetary supporter of Maryland Issues in 2017 and 2020.)
Proud Montgomery County, MD resident Gavriella Kaufmann (Potomac) won her episode of FOX’s game show “Name that Tune”, which aired last week.
Kaufmann, who was born and raised in Potomac and graduated from Churchill High School in 2015, stated in an interview with FOX 5, that she has always been into music and referred to herself as a music and game show savant. When she saw an ad on LinkedIn about being on season 4 of the game show, she immediately knew she had to do it.
“I’ve loved game shows for as long as I can remember, and music has always been a huge part of my life. Being on Name That Tune was the perfect combination of both passions—it was like a dream come true.” Kaufmann told us.
The episode had a happy ending, with Kaufmann winning a whopping $85,000! She added, “When I was on Name That Tune, I was so focused on doing my best and naming as many songs as possible that I completely lost track of the score. It wasn’t until Jane, the host, told me my total. I was in complete shock, but it was such an incredible moment!”
Who’s ready for Big Ten play to begin? In all honesty, I am not. I really wish Michigan State football had more tune-up games after seeing them struggle against Florida Atlantic and only win 16-10. But unfortunately, that is not how the schedule unfolds for Michigan State this season.
The Spartans will hit the road for an early Big Ten game as they face Maryland on Saturday at 3:30 pm. Going into the season I thought Michigan State and the Terps were on a pretty level playing field, but after seeing both teams play week one that doesn’t appear to be the case.
And Vegas agrees.
Michigan State opens as a 7.5-point underdog next week at Maryland. My guess is that grows to 8, 8.5.
As you all know, Michigan State only beat Florida Atlantic by six and did not look very impressive, especially on the offensive side of the ball. So it’s no surprise that MSU will be the underdog next week. But 7.5 points feels like a lot, and according to the Lansing State Journal’s Graham Couch, it likely will only go up from there.
So does Vegas have it right or are they underrating Michigan State?
Looking at Maryland’s week one game against UConn it appears Vegas has this line right. The Terps were up 23-0 at halftime and never looked back and went on to win in dominant fashion 50-7. UConn and FAU are very similar in terms of what level they’re at in college football, so that drastic of a difference in the final score is very scary.
So Vegas probably could’ve gotten away with Maryland being even bigger favorites in this one.
But maybe Vegas saw what I did and thinks a lot of Michigan State’s mistakes on Friday are easy to fix. Maybe they think Aidan Chiles will be much better next week. The Spartan’s defense was also fairly dominant so there isn’t much of a chance Maryland scores 50 points next week either.
Advertisement
I tend to not bet on Michigan State games, but even if I did this would be a line that I would avoid because who knows how much Jonathan Smith’s squad will improve by next week, and who knows how much Maryland might struggle against a Power Four opponent.
The University of Maryland on Sunday reversed its decision to allow an anti-Israel protest on the first anniversary of the October 7 Massacre, following backlash from local Jewish groups.
UMD Students for Justice in Palestine and UMD Jewish Voice for Peace had been set to hold their October 7 vigil for Gazans killed in the Israel-Hamas War at the campus’s Mckeldin Mall, but the University System of Maryland (USM) said in a statement that on the day of the Hamas-led pogrom it would limit campus events requiring permits or approval to those supporting “a university-sponsored Day of Dialogue.”
Advertisement
“From the beginning of the war, we have come together as a University System to urge that we use this moment to encourage conversation, compassion, and civility; to engage with one another across our differences and draw on our shared humanity and our shared values to bridge what divides us,” said USM. “These dialogues aren’t new. Many of our universities have been hosting this kind of programming for several months. Reserving Oct. 7 gives us a chance to continue these urgent conversations and to mark this solemn anniversary in a way that gives students—all students—the time and space to share and to be heard.”
USM said that its intent was not to infringe of the free expression and speech of students, but to be sensitive to the needs of students as October 7 was a “day of enormous suffering and grief for many in our campus communities.”
UMD Jewish Student Union, Maryland Hillel, Terps for Israel, and Israeli American Council Mishelanu at Maryland welcomed the USM decision and thanked UMD leadership in a joint social media statement on Sunday.
Advertisement
The campus of the University of Maryland in College Park. (credit: Courtesy)
“October 7, the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, is a day of mourning for the Jewish and Israeli community,” said the UMD JSU. “We are relieved that SJP will no longer to be able to appropriate the suffering of our family and friends to fit their false and dangerous narrative.”
The Jewish groups said that it was distraught that the decision to only hold university-sponsored event had to be made at all, and wished to used the campus space to “grieve together as a community” to promote unity at the university. The unideal situation was necessary, according to the Jewish groups, to ensure the physical and psychological safety of students on the day of mourning.
Advertisement
UMD JVP and SJP attacked the decision to cancel the event, claiming that the vigil for Palestinians killed since the October 7 Massacre was attacked without familiarity of the content. The anti-Israel groups said that the discourse was “the continuation inherently racist, Islamophobic, and dehumanizing rhetoric surrounding Palestinians.” JVP and SJP said that the actions against their event were an attempt to paint “Muslim, Arab, and anti-Zionist Jewish students as barbaric.”
The anti-Israel groups asserted that their vigil for Palestinians who died in the war was no threat to the campus’s Jewish community, but conflation of Zionism and Judaism did threaten UMD and the Jewish community.
“To claim that Palestinians cannot hold a day of remembrance in mourning one year of genocide, or lay claim to that date is an insult to every life lost in the Zionist entity’s genocidal campaign,” UMD SJP and JVP said on Instagram on Sunday. “The disproportionate scale of suffering experienced by the Palestinians over the past year necessitates their remembrance and our solidarity on this day. The suffering of all innocents killed must not be monopolized and necessitates a fair and just representation.”
Advertisement
Stay updated with the latest news!
Subscribe to The Jerusalem Post Newsletter
SJP and JVP demanded the right to organize and exercise their right to free speech, accusing Zionists of attempting to stifle Palestinian voices.
Advertisement
The organizations indicated on their Sunday Instagram post that they still planned to hold their all-day event at Mckeldin Mall, and on Monday a link to register still active and listing the campus building as the rally location.
UMD Jewish groups said that they would be holding their own event to memorialize the victims of the October 7 pogrom at the Maryland Hillel.