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| |  Animation by Shira Inbar for POLITICO | In April, when a pivotal Supreme Court race in Wisconsin drew the nation’s attention, voters turned out in record numbers. It was no surprise that Dane County — Wisconsin’s second most populous, the home of the state capital and the University of Wisconsin — went blue. But boy, did it go blue. Turnout in Dane was higher than anywhere else in the state, as was the Democratic margin of victory. It was so massive that it effectively rewrote Wisoncon’s electoral calculus. No more would Republican-leaning suburbs outside Milwaukee counterbalance Milwaukee and Dane. They can’t even counterbalance Dane alone. The college town has become “a Republican-killing Death Star,” writes senior politics editor Charlie Mahtesian. And Wisconsin isn’t alone. “In state after state, fast-growing, traditionally liberal college counties like Dane are flexing their muscles, generating higher turnout and ever greater Democratic margins,” Mahtesian writes. “They’ve already played a pivotal role in turning several red states blue — and they could play an equally decisive role in key swing states next year.” From Arizona to Kentucky and Texas to Virginia, livable college towns with flagship universities exert a magnetic pull that draws residents from other states. Combined with the already heavy Democratic lean among young, college-age voters, it presents a distressing trend for the GOP — and they’ve yet to come up with a clear response strategy. Read the story.
| | | |  | “People trusted the FBI more when J. Edgar Hoover was running the place than when you are.” Can you guess who said this about FBI Director Christopher Wray on July 11? Scroll to the bottom for the answer.**
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Illustrations by Paul Tuller for POLITICO | 5 Political Fashion Tips From the Twitter Menswear Guy … You’ve seen the dress sneakers. The suit jackets grafted onto jeans. The sweaters stuffed into too-tight sport coats. Men in politics aren’t looking their best. But with these fashion tips from Derek Guy — yep, he’s the “Twitter menswear guy” — presidential candidates have a good shot at looking like they actually belong in the Oval Office. (Whether they can get there is another matter.)
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| Forget Republican red vs. Democrat blue: America has turned Barbie pink. Does all the hype for the new movie have you feeling clueless as a Ken? These details will carry you through when America’s favorite doll comes up in conversation — even if you haven’t seen the movie (from POLITICO Magazine associate editor Dylon Jones): - Your conservative friends might bring up the “nine-dash line” — a contested maritime boundary Beijing uses to claim most of the South China Sea. At one point in the movie, a crude map drawn in crayon shows up in the background with a dotted line off the coast of Asia. Warner Bros. says it’s nothing. Vietnam says it’s worthy of a ban. And some Republican lawmakers like Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Rep. Mark Green are saying it’s propaganda aimed at pleasing the Chinese Communist Party. - There’s no sex in Barbie world, but the gender war still rages. If you’re talking Barbie with a more liberal crowd, bring up the hilarity of Ken’s failed attempt at patriarchy. If you’re around MAGA types, point out that he had “disappointingly low T.” - The internet has relished the stark contrast between “Barbie” and the new film “Oppenheimer” about physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, “father of the atomic bomb.” You’re either a bubblegum-chewing Barbie viewer or a grave Oppenheimer fan eager for the words, “I am become death.” Lawmakers have begun to sort themselves: Pennsylvania Sen. Jon Fetterman has apparently accepted his place as a Barbie. Sen. Ben Cardin?Confirmed Barbie. As for former Democrat Kyrsten Sinema, she advises us to “get you a senator who can do both.” - If someone directly asks you if you saw the movie, just deflect: “Well, I did have pink tacos at the British Embassy party with Tammy Haddad and Greta Gerwig.”
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POLITICO illustration/Photos by Getty Images, Library of Congress | You Can’t Expunge History … Yesterday, POLITICO broke the news that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had promised Trump, who was irate over McCarthy’s suggestion that he may not be the best nominee for president, that the House would vote to expunge his impeachments. But expunging blemishes on a president’s record after-the-fact doesn’t do squat, argues historian Joshua Zeitz. Congress expunged an earlier censure of President Andrew Jackson, but historians still “remember Jackson as the first president to face congressional rebuke for his conduct,” he writes. “The lesson for Kevin McCarthy is pretty clear. Once impeached — or, in this case, twice — a president cannot be un-impeached.”
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| |  “Barbie,” for all of its wraparound hot pink power femininity, is actually all about Ken, and his place in the world today. | Warner Bros. Pictures | Let’s Go Party (in the Post-Patriarchy) … The Kens have it made in the new Barbie movie. While Barbies run the world in their high-powered careers — there’s even an all-Barbie Supreme Court — Kens get to sit back like the accessories they are. Ryan Gosling’s leading Ken has a job, but it’s “beach” — no, not lifeguard, just beach. “But when Barbie and Ken travel to the Real World … Ken discovers something called the patriarchy,” writes Joanna Weiss. And his discovery drops our plastic friends right into the center of culture war politics.
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to guests at the Republican Party of Marathon County Lincoln Day Dinner annual fundraiser on May 6, 2023 in Rothschild, Wisconsin. | Scott Olson/Getty Images | There Is No DeSantis 2.0 … Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is stalling in the polls, canning staffers and turning up a mixed bag of fundraising numbers. Should we expect some soul searching? Not likely, argues Jack Shafer. Just look at his interview with Jake Tapper, in which he hit all his favorite, same-old notes on trans rights, abortion and the “woke mind virus.” “This was a reassuring moment for the voters who want a Donald Trump-type president but not Donald Trump himself,” Shafer writes. “But it was also a missed opportunity for somebody who shows no sign of catapulting from his status as first runner-up to Trump and into the winner’s circle.”
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Mattel 1991 African American Barbie for President doll being sold on eBay. | legitwidgets/eBay | Barbie has been with us for at least 13 administrations, since she was introduced in 1959, back in Eisenhower-time. The franchise has toyed with the idea of a President Barbie on many occasions, including with this doll from 1991, when George H. W. Bush was president, and Barbie was apparently gearing up to run. Perhaps the dollmakers knew something? George H.W. Bush proved to be vulnerable, and lost to Bill Clinton that year. For a reasonable $26.99, you can have your own special presidential Barbie. (From historian Ted Widmer.)
| | | **Who Dissed answer: That would be Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who accused the Trump-appointed FBI director of protecting the Biden family from investigations. Wray had a zinger of his own ready for Gaetz: “Respectfully, congressman, in your home state of Florida, the number of people applying to come work for us and devote their lives working for us is up over 100 percent since I started.” politicoweekend@email.politico.com | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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