Biden Rises in Presidential Rankings While Opponents Lag Behind, Harris Campaigns to Help Biden Enthusiasm Gap, Trump Imperils Sanctions Over Space Nuclear Scheme
A new survey ranking American presidents has placed President Joe Biden at number 14, a rather respectable position within the top third of presidents. The survey, conducted by the Presidential Greatness Project, which has been ranking presidents periodically for six years, placed Biden ahead of presidents such as John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and William Howard Taft. Interestingly, the rankings have trended more towards Democratic presidents in recent years, with Barack Obama and Bill Clinton rising in their respective rankings. On the other hand, Donald Trump remains at the bottom of the rankings, where he has been for six years.
Unfortunately for Biden, presidential rankings don't matter much for winning elections. Biden still lags far behind Trump in polls for the 2024 presidential race, with concerns about his candidacy no longer being written off as Democratic "bedwetting." These concerns have led some, including some within Biden's inner circle, to wonder if it might be better to pass on Biden as the Democratic nominee and instead focus on a lesser-known but potentially stronger general election candidate.
On the subject of the 2024 election, a CNN report suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris has been making efforts to collect information to help penetrate what she calls the "bubble" of the Biden campaign thinking, with the goal of pushing for changes to the strategy and tactics that will better position the ticket for victory. Harris has defended the president and expressed confidence that he will win if he were to run against Trump again, but she has also expressed worries about the ticket's current position and the lack of enthusiasm for Biden.
Trump continues to make waves as he prepares his campaign for his second term, should he succeed in winning the Republican nomination. Recently, it was revealed that Trump had hired a new campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who was seen as one of the masterminds behind Trump's successful 2016 campaign. Lewandowski has a contentious history with the Biden campaign, having been involved in a physical altercation with then-candidate Biden's wife, Dr. Jill Biden, during a 2020 campaign event.
Another interesting development is the news that America's intelligence agencies are concerned about a scheme from Russia to place a nuclear weapon in space. While there is no agreement about whether Putin would actually go through with such a crazy plan, the possibility alone has sounded alarm bells across the federal government. How it would work is that the weapon would be detonated but would linger in low orbit as a threat to Putin's opponents. This would lead to a global communications failure, taking out everything from emergency services to cell phones to the regulation of generators and pumps, causing chaos worldwide.
Finally, some Sunday morning readings for you: A roundup of the week's most noteworthy opinion pieces, including pieces by Anne Applebaum, Robin Givhan, Matthew Yglesias, Graeme Wood, Rhaina Cohen, Gordon LaForge, Charlie Warzel, and Kara Swisher.