Biden Rises in Presidential Rankings, But Concerns about His Candidacy aren't Fading
The Presidential Greatness Project, a survey of historians and scholars, is out with the results of its latest ranking of the presidents. President Joe Biden "makes his debut in our rankings at No. 14, putting him in the top third of American presidents," Justin Vaughn and Brandon Rottinghaus, two academics who lead the project, write in the L.A. Times. "Trump, meanwhile, maintains the position he held six years ago: dead last." But in the polls that actually matter—those of the American voting public—Biden continues to lag behind Trump in the 2024 race, with support that verges on anemic. It's to the point now that concerns about his candidacy cannot be written off as Democratic "bedwetting." In a deep dive this morning, CNN's Edward-Isaac Dovere cites more than two dozen sources in reporting that "Harris has been gathering information to help her penetrate what she sometimes refers to as the 'bubble' of Biden campaign thinking, telling people she's aiming to use that intelligence to push for changes in strategy and tactics that she hopes will put the ticket in better shape to win." For his part, Biden rising in presidential rankings could help him hype his administration's achievements and renew Democrats' enthusiasm ahead of the midterms.
The U.S. is still pressing ahead on trying to strike a cease-fire/hostage release deal in the Israel-Hamas war, but Israel continues to bombard Gaza for now, reportedly killing 18 more people overnight and today, AP's Wafaa Shurafa, Samy Magdy and Tia Goldenberg report. And U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said last night that she'll veto the latest Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire. Middle East Latest: The U.S. is still pressing ahead on trying to strike a cease-fire/hostage release deal in the Israel-Hamas war, but Israel continues to bombard Gaza for now, reportedly killing 18 more people overnight and today, AP's Wafaa Shurafa, Samy Magdy and Tia Goldenberg report. And U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said last night that she'll veto the latest Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire. At the same time, American visions of the Palestinian Authority governing Gaza after the war are imperiled by the group's financial straits, WSJ's Vivian Salama reports, leading the Biden administration to try to find ways to get money to the organization.