R&R: The waiting game
Looking back at the week that was
Hello and welcome back to R&R, my Sunday recap and recommendations email.
Last week’s R&R was titled “The calm before the storm,” a reference to the flood of the news that was coming down the pike: Supreme Court opinions, a contentious New York primary, the debate. Little did I know just how big a storm was brewing.
This Sunday, we find the political world engaged in a massive waiting game, sitting on tenterhooks for any tea leaves from the Biden universe about what the president will do next after Thursday’s disastrous debate performance. I’ll update you on the latest signs tomorrow, but — spoiler alert — so far they all point to Biden plunging ahead with the presidential race, despite calls from pundits and voters alike for him to step aside.
To summarize Team Biden’s thinking, here’s what his deputy campaign manager said on an all-staff call Friday morning, per the New York Times: “Nothing fundamentally changed about this election last night.” Now, we wait — mainly for polls and fundraising data — to see whether that’s true, and if it isn’t, whether Biden will shake up (or end) his campaign in response.
I’ll have plenty more analysis Monday on the campaign. The R&R emails are about looking back to the past week, a secret weapon for you to catch up on stories you may have missed or that flew under the radar, so that’s what I’ll do now. I’m trying something new this week, splitting up the email by categories instead of days of the week. Reply by email or in the comments to let me know which format you prefer. Let’s dive in!
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
President Biden pardoned about 2,000 veterans who were convicted by the military for engaging in consensual same-sex relations. From 1951 to 2013, Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice criminalized sodomy, including between consenting adults.