* Biden to donors: “Not sure I’d be running” if Trump were not in the 2024 presidential race. We get it, but don’t say it. It begs the question: why? The honest answer is not helpful.
* Remember November numbers: The unemployment rate drops to 3.7 percent; inflation down to 3.2 percent. The latter had been at 9 percent a little over a year ago. But, no, the pre-pandemic economy hasn’t returned.
* “One thing…that we have in common is: Neither of us will be the nominee of our party in 2024.” A Gavin Newsom debate jab at Ron DiSastrous.
* Vice President Kamala Harris set a new record by casting her 32nd tie-breaking Senate vote. The previous record was held by John C. Calhoun (vice president from 1825-32). Most of Harris’ votes have involved judicial nominees, but it also notably includes the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act.
* Speaking of, the vice president is not just a rallying force for the pro-choice vote, but was the leader of the U.S. delegation to the UN Climate Summit in Dubai. Her portfolio gets an increasingly higher profile as the 2024 election nears. She has to look ready for whatever might lie ahead.
* The U.S. was the only UN Security Council member to not vote for a resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.
* “While the Democratic and Republican parties increasingly cater to the extreme, most Americans are moderate, level-headed folks, and they are plain worn out.”–West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who won’t be running for re-election, but will be looking to build a common-ground, middle-of-the-road movement. Yeah.
* With another cult-rally-around-Trump candidacy looming, a fractious Democratic coalition is hardly helpful.