Notable Quotes of the Day

“Biden shouldn’t worry about the campaign narrative. Or about unproven and unlikely effects on voter turnout. Or about how his pick contrasts with Donald Trump or Mike Pence. And certainly not about which potential running mate would annoy Trump the most. None of that is likely to matter during the campaign because running mates usually don’t matter. Mainly, Biden should just try to avoid disaster or harming the party.

And remember: If Biden does well, two weeks after the convention we’ll rarely think about his running mate for the rest of the campaign. No matter how strong a selection she is.”

– Jonathan Bernstein, Bloomberg

“The vice presidency in 2020 is more consequential than it has ever been before. We are in a moment when the Black Lives Matter movement and demands for racial equality are at the forefront of the public discourse. Biden would be wise to seize on that and choose a woman of color for balance. He is an older white man who seems well aware of the opportunity to name a woman like Sen. Harris or Rep. Demings and give them a real shot at succeeding him as president one day.

That is the single most important role of any vice president, the ability to step into the president’s shoes.

– Kate Andersen Brower, author of First in Line: Presidents, Vice Presidents, and the Pursuit of Power

Election Updates

• Progressive Democrats of America and RootsAction.org—which together represent 1.2 million activists—published an open letter to Joe Biden on Tuesday calling for him to select Sen. Elizabeth Warren as his running mate. “Biden-Warren would represent a unity ticket, one capable of generating enthusiasm from across the Democratic Party and beyond – and defeating Donald Trump in November,” they wrote.

• Biden hired Eric Hyers, who managed successful campaigns for Gov. Andy Beshear (Ky.) in 2019 and Gov. Steve Bullock (Mont.) in 2016, as his Michigan state director.

• The Donald Trump campaign made a $95 million ad buy across several battleground states—Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—starting in September for the two months leading up to the general election.

• Twitch temporarily suspended Trump’s campaign account. A Twitch spokesperson said, “Hateful conduct is not allowed on Twitch. In line with our policies, President Trump’s channel has been issued a temporary suspension from Twitch for comments made on stream, and the offending content has been removed.”

• Jacksonville, where the majority of the Republican National Convention is taking place, adopted a face mask requirement on Monday for public and indoor locations. Republican press secretary Mandi Merritt said, “The event is still two months away, and we are planning to offer health precautions including but not limited to temperature checks, available PPE, aggressive sanitizing protocols, and available Covid-19 testing.”

Flashback: June 30, 2016

The Washington Post reported that Chris Christie, Bob Corker, Newt Gingrich, Mike Pence, and Jeff Sessions were on Donald Trump’s shortlist for vice president.