Today\u2019s notice: Democrats\u2019 \u201cbehavioral targeting\u201d plan. Making sense of where Iran peace talks stand. Planned Parenthood\u2019s fortunes are about to turn. Patrick Kennedy talks to NOTUS about RFK Jr. Mayor Pete talks to NOTUS about the Biden years. Plus: the Reflecting Pool, America\u2019s most famous political metaphor?<\/p>\n
THE LATEST<\/p>\n
Democrats look for the edge, and maybe find it. Some in the party out of power have been dismayed at what they see as an immovable status quo that\u2019s left Republicans well ahead in the lexicon of the modern world \u2014 say, for example, any kind of digital presence that isn\u2019t instantaneously cringe. Other Democratic partisans scoff at these outraged colleagues, who they say ignore the many ways MAGA-powered politics blew up The Rules.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a scoop to throw right in the middle of this argument. NOTUS\u2019 Elena Schneider reports<\/a> on Priorities USA\u2019s $30 million plan to define the two guys it thinks will be at the top of the list for the 2028 Republican nomination: JD Vance and Marco Rubio. The super PAC\u2019s effort, starting a remarkable 869 days before the next presidential election, begins today with four digital ads aimed at young voters who sometimes show up but often do not. In Gen Z parlance, the first ads call Vance a cuck to Trump and cast Rubio as a callous warmonger. <\/p>\n The really interesting part: The group plans to use \u201cbehavioral targeting\u201d to find disengaged voters by using their own online search history. How that works: Searching for information about paying down student loan debt or buying a home, for example, are behaviors that indicate \u201cyou\u2019ve become persuadable,\u201d the group\u2019s leadership told Elena.<\/p>\n That\u2019s weirdly invasive, or finally bringing a knife to a knife fight, depending on your perspective.<\/p>\n There are a lot of ongoing debates \u2014 and even more to come \u2014 about the new tactics of campaigning.<\/p>\n The comically lame DNC autopsy fiasco drowned out that debate for a minute. But the group of Democrats at Priorities, hardly the biggest or most revered among the existing establishment, say it\u2019s time to get serious about the low-propensity voters MAGA activated, using some of the strategies MAGA proved can work. Two of those tactics are doing stuff online that gives normies a double-take and deploying negative campaigning all the time, years away from the election. If Democrats could decide what they actually want to run on, this kinda stuff might give them a chance to actually do it.<\/p>\n Open tabs: The Quiet Unraveling of America\u2019s Food Safety Net<\/a> (Politico); Trump keeps bringing up the number 22<\/a> (NBC); US treasury chief urged Trump not to host \u2018Mr Bean on crack\u2019 Zelenskyy, book says<\/a> (The Guardian); Trump Administration Shuttered a Criminal Probe Into Fraudster\u2019s Clemency<\/a> (NYT)<\/p>\n From Switzerland<\/p>\n Even as JD Vance touched down yesterday in B\u00fcrgenstock for the much-anticipated first round of peace talks with Iran since last week\u2019s \u201cmemorandum of understanding,\u201d his boss Donald Trump was lashing out at the country and threatening its negotiators<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cYou close it, and you won\u2019t have a country. \u2026 You won\u2019t even make it back to your effing country,\u201d Trump told Fox News\u2019 Trey Yingst, referring to Iran\u2019s latest announcement that it would close the Strait of Hormuz, again, over continued Israeli strikes on Lebanon.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s comments nearly derailed the negotiations. But early this morning, mediators said this first round of talks ended with \u201cencouraging progress.\u201d Both sides agreed to a framework for further discussions that included a \u201cde-confliction cell\u201d that would seek to end hostilities in Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n Abbas Araghchi, Iran\u2019s foreign minister, called the drawdown the \u201cfirst real test\u201d of the United States\u2019 willingness to achieve a deal.<\/p>\n From the Hill<\/p>\n Re-funding Planned Parenthood. Another consequence of the lack of Republican interest in a third reconciliation bill: no extension for the one-year ban on most federal funding to Planned Parenthood that was tucked into the \u201cone big, beautiful bill.\u201d NOTUS\u2019 Oriana Gonz\u00e1lez reports<\/a> that despite a push from abortion opponents, the movement\u2019s allies in the Republican conference say there\u2019s basically nothing they can do.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re so close to 50-50 in both chambers to get everything we, on my side of the aisle, that we want as Republicans,\u201d Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) said.<\/p>\n From HHS<\/p>\n His favorite cousin? Though many of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s family members have distanced themselves from him \u2014 or even disowned him \u2014 for his controversial views on things like vaccines, one has not, NOTUS\u2019 Paige Winfield Cunningham reports<\/a>. Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-Rhode Island), who has decades of experience advocating for mental health access, told Paige that although he has \u201csharp disagreements on a lot of stuff\u201d with RFK Jr., he fills the \u201cvacuum\u201d created by the family\u2019s reluctance to engage with Trump\u2019s HHS secretary.<\/p>\n The cousins walked a similar path, both struggling with substance abuse as teenagers \u2014 occasionally finding themselves at the same recovery meetings. Patrick Kennedy told Paige he doesn\u2019t know who else has \u201cthat kind of access to a guy that\u2019s going to end up directing a lot of policies.\u201d<\/p>\n NOTUS INTERVIEW<\/p>\n The Biden administration \u201cradicalized\u201d its transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg \u2014 or at least that\u2019s how he described his feelings about the \u201clayers of bureaucracy\u201d he had to push through to get \u201ceven common-sense things done.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt showed me the need for institutional change,\u201d Buttigieg told NOTUS\u2019 Alex Roarty<\/a> during a sit-down interview in Butte, Montana.<\/p>\n The former \u2014 and potentially future \u2014 presidential candidate laid out his vision for a post-Trump Democratic Party, saying \u201cit is not possible, or even desirable,\u201d to go back to the way things were before Trump\u2019s second term.<\/p>\n Though Buttigieg didn\u2019t shy away from laying the groundwork for the Democrats\u2019 future, the 44-year-old with over a decade of experience in public office wouldn\u2019t share where he sees his place in it. Buttigieg responded with \u201cno comment\u201d when audience members at his speech in Montana called for him to run for president.<\/p>\n NOTUS METRO<\/p>\n Sign up for our new local newsletter. NOTUS now features the best reporters covering D.C.-area news, sports and culture. Sign up for the NOTUS Metro Newsletter now!<\/a><\/p>\n Sports Desk: Who Will Be the Commanders\u2019 No. 2 Pass Catcher? Great Question.<\/a> By NOTUS\u2019 Martenzie Johnson<\/p>\n NEW ON NOTUS<\/p>\n Algae has taken over the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and a $14 million \u201cAmerican flag blue\u201d paint job almost immediately began to peel. But rather than blaming Mother Nature or the contractor who won a no-bid contract for the renovation, Trump has turned his ire on another alleged culprit: vandals, NOTUS\u2019 Brett Bachman reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n So far, there is no evidence to corroborate Trump\u2019s claims about the pool, which he says will have to be drained \u2014 again \u2014 and fixed. In the meantime, National Guard soldiers are patrolling the National Mall in search of saboteurs.<\/p>\n NOT US<\/p>\n The Unquiet American: Charles Kushner Brings Trump Diplomacy to France<\/a>, by Mark Landler for The New York Times<\/p>\n Tulsi Gabbard, her guru and the mysterious messages that helped shape her political career<\/a>, by Jon Swaine for The Washington Post<\/p>\n J. D. Vance\u2019s AI Doctrine<\/a>, by Vivian Salama for The Atlantic<\/p>\n WEEK AHEAD<\/p>\n Today<\/p>\n The Supreme Court issues its order list.<\/p>\n Tuesday<\/p>\n The Supreme Court announces decisions. There are 17 cases left on the docket.Maryland, South Carolina, New York and Utah hold primaries.Airline association executives testify before<\/a> the Senate Commerce Committee.<\/p>\n Wednesday<\/p>\n Trump attends the Senate Republican luncheon on Capitol Hill.The president is also scheduled to attend the opening of the Great American State Fair<\/a>.<\/p>\n Thursday<\/p>\n Friday<\/p>\n John Bolton is expected to plead guilty<\/a> to mishandling classified information.The Texas Democratic Party holds its state convention<\/a>, featuring guests JB Pritzker and Cory Booker.The RNC hosts a summer retreat with Vance and Howard Lutnick.<\/p>\n Saturday<\/p>\n Louisiana Senate primary runoffs.BE SOCIAL<\/p>\n Green on green.<\/p>\n Thank you for reading! If you liked this edition of the NOTUS newsletter, please forward it to a friend. If this newsletter was shared with you, please subscribe<\/a> \u2014 it\u2019s free! Have a tip? Email us at tips@notus.org<\/a>. And as always, we\u2019d love to hear your thoughts at newsletters@notus.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n The newsletter was produced by Brett Bachman, Thomas Burr and Nikie Johnson. Photo by Fabrice Coffrini\/Keystone via AP.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today\u2019s notice: Democrats\u2019 \u201cbehavioral targeting\u201d plan. Making sense of where Iran peace talks stand. 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