These days, it feels like the highest echelons of American politics – from the halls of Congress to governor’s mansions nationwide – are dominated by shitposters and polemicists.
Senator Reverend RAPHAEL WARNOCK is… not that.
He is a man who would rather be posting, “Happy National Dog Day to Alvin the Beagle! 🐶” than clapping back at his foes.
He is (literally) the heir to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s pulpit at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he (still!) preaches love virtually every Sunday.
He is a Senator who broadly treats business as a partner in his quest to uplift working people, and innovation as an imperative. He not only consistently finds ways to work across the aisle, but does so with Ted f—ing Cruz. In fact, the pair introduced an AI bill together just six weeks ago.
But on Friday, at a spirited presser in Effingham County, Warnock tore into OpenAI over plans for a $20 billion project there that were hatched in secrecy, accusing tech giants of running roughshod over communities, and calling for a statewide data center moratorium.
“This is not OpenAI County — this is Effingham County… It is the height of arrogance and hubris to presume that you should do this without even hearing from the people who live here,” Warnock said.
When you’ve turned the bridgebuilding pastor into a firebreathing populist – and half of MAGA is saying ‘Amen!’ – you are running out of friends, my friend.
There is, of course, one major holdout:
It does feel like every time Mr. Trump takes a break from the important work of renaming and redecorating, it is to inflict political trauma on Republicans. And mocking everyone who isn’t stoked about living next to a gargantuan human obsoletion machine as “backwards and poor” may be his magnum opus.
The mild-mannered Warnock was sufficiently incensed to post a two-minute rebuttal: “This President is doing what he always does: Putting his wealthy donors and friends above everyday people.”
AOC was characteristically snappier, suggesting we build them at Mar-a-Lago.
If there is a silver lining for the ‘Golden Goose’ brigade, it’s that Warnock’s moratorium is less absolute than the one AOC has championed; he’d lift it for specific projects if safeguards around utility bills, transparency, and pollution had all been put in place. But that burden is very high for an industry that prefers to move fast and break things.
And even the most pro-business, anti-’moratorium’ 2028ers are now embracing those conditions, in one form or another. What was the left flank in this debate mere months ago, is now table stakes.
That movement mirrors the shocking velocity with which public opinion has swung: In just one year, net support for a data center being built in Americans’ own communities has cratered from +1 to –60, with 61% now strongly opposed.
To wit, here is a sampling of other developments from the past week alone:
GAVIN NEWSOM appears poised to sign into law a package of seven bills to regulate data centers – one of which would force them to pay special electricity rates – after vetoing a narrow water usage reporting bill last year.
Politico detailed how three governors who once raced to lure data centers – JB PRITZKER, GRETCHEN WHITMER, & JOSH SHAPIRO – have embraced ‘community benefit agreements’ that would force developers to negotiate deals directly with locals before breaking ground, on top of statewide standards.
And NOTUS chronicled the myriad commitments (known simply as “the bribes” in the biz) developers are already making to appease their reluctant neighbors-to-be – lazy rivers, public Wi-Fi, $10k bags of cash – with Gov. WES MOORE’s admin telling counties to prepare wish lists.
Finally, Reuters reported that proposed data centers across the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic & South have requested as much electricity as it takes to power every home in America. But many of those projects will never materialize, and this “ghost demand” upends grid planning and threatens to hike utility bills – one reason Gov. SHAPIRO imposed new transparency requirements on developers.
Over the past year, I’ve often been frustrated by Dems’ myopic focus on data centers – in all their tangibility – in lieu of outlining a fuller AI agenda. But it does seem to be pointing them in the right direction, tapping into working people’s fury that corporate overlords are robbing them of agency and identity to pad unprecedented profits.
Indeed, this bleak trajectory is not preordained. “Let data reign” is a policy choice – and “make AI serve humanity” is a better one.
Quick Hits
GAVIN NEWSOM embarked Wednesday on a 4-day tour of the South, which will include stops along the AL Civil Rights Trail, in at least 6 different counties in SC, and a Labor Day weekend rally in NC – all in coordination with the respective state parties.
The homefront has been equally eventful for NEWSOM. The legislature just wrapped their final session of his tenure, with CA Dems defeating his wildfire liability plan and sending a slew of notable bills to his desk – including the aforementioned data center package and many others meant to guard against AI and social media harms.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly appealed directly to NEWSOM for changes to a landmark kids’ chatbot safety framework. The Gov. has until Sept. 30 to decide which bills to sign and which to veto.
Axios’s Holly Otterbein & Alex Thompson reported on AOC’s potential 2028 candidacy exposing internecine DSA tensions – and separately, on comings and goings within her inner circle, including the departure of Oliver Hidalgo-Wohlleben, her campaign manager since 2023.
AOC received a warm introduction from Al Sharpton before delivering remarks at last Friday’s March On Washington 2026: Defend The Vote rally on the National Mall.
AOC also delivered a torrent of soundbites from the Hill this week, including:
Giving TMZ an extremely candid, thoughtful answer about balancing her career and family aspirations (which has somehow gotten very little pickup!)
Throwing shade at Hakeem Jeffries over his Kushner meeting
Suggesting MI voters care more about prices than Twitch streamers
KAMALA HARRIS endorsed NH-Sen candidate Chris Pappas and will campaign for NV-Gov nominee Aaron Ford, boosting allies in two early states as Dems in red states and districts politely keep their distance.
JOSH SHAPIRO received endorsements from the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association, Philly’s police union, and five other local law enforcement unions, many of which have a history of backing Republicans.
SHAPIRO mailed creator-specific (!) postcards to influencers, per Kyle Tharp, who has previously documented Shapiro’s next-level creator engagement efforts in his excellent newsletter, Chaotic Era.
RUBEN GALLEGO visited Ottawa on Tuesday, holding a press conference at the U.S. embassy and meeting with Canadian politicians to underscore the importance of the two countries’ alliance amid Trump’s escalating trade war.
CHRIS MURPHY began his 10th annual Walk Across Connecticut, a tradition that allows him to hear from constituents in all corners of the state.
RO KHANNA made the case for California’s 5% billionaire tax in a WSJ op-ed.
RAHM EMANUEL campaigned for Sean McCann (MI-04) in Benton Harbor & Holland, MI.
Here is a partial list of PETE BUTTIGIEG events in the next couple weeks…
Sept. 5-6 – Events in Cincinnati, Dayton, & Columbus, OH
Sept. 12 – Rally with JoAnna Mendoza (AZ-06) in Tucson
Sept. 13 – Rally with Rep. Gabe Vazquez & NM-Gov nominee Deb Haaland in Las Cruces, NM
Sept. 14 – Virtual town hall with SC Dems
Sept. 17 – Fireside chat at The Atlantic Festival in NYC
Sept. 19 – Keynoting TX Dems’ Johnson-Jordan Dinner in Dallas
Sept. 20 – Keynoting Travis County Dems’ JBR Brunch in Austin
Sept. 21 – Keynoting the First Amendment Awards at St. Anselm’s Loeb School in Manchester, NH
MARK KELLY & RAHM EMANUEL will join BUTTIGIEG as featured speakers at The Atlantic Festival in NYC on Sept. 17-19.
EMANUEL & RAPHAEL WARNOCK will appear at the Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 24-26.
The Politico Playbook team pushed back on conventional wisdom that Nevada is a home run for progressives in 2028. (I agree; if anything, they may have underplayed how significant the switch from caucus to primary is.)
Puck’s Peter Hamby is launching a new podcast focused on the road to 2028 and the business of campaign politics: The Making of a President
Shameless Self-Promotion
I spoke to The Bulwark’s Lauren Egan for her buzzy look at the 2028 shadow campaign – which is waning in shadowiness – and the scramble for talent that will soon ensue.
We got into both the staffing and AI questions on the latest episode of Nobody Knows Anything with the great Guy Cecil.
NKA co-host Rob Flaherty & I joined The Briefing with Jen Psaki to talk about Trump’s political harakiri, the tech oligarchs, and whether Dems will hold any of them accountable.
I talked to the Washington Post’s Dan Merica about court expansion becoming a universally held position among 2028 Dems.
Highlights from the Big, Beautiful Tracker
ANDY BESHEAR on The Bakari Sellers Show
RO KHANNA on State of the Union
RAHM EMANUEL on Morning Joe
