My goal here is always to surface interesting things I’m seeing in Dem-world, and a lot happened this week. So instead of one main item, I’m giving you a bunch of quick hits – starting with two newsy tidbits I haven’t seen reported anywhere else…
Kamala Harris called for lowering the national voting age to 16.
In the final moments of a conversation with The Breakfast Club host Charlamagne tha God last week – at an event in Birmingham, Alabama on her 107 Days book tour – the former VP unexpectedly rolled out a notable new position:
“I think we should lower the national voting age to 16, because… [young people] are not invested in the way things have been. They are not benefiting from tradition or status quo as it has existed for decades. They’re right now present and very clear-eyed about how we need to address the future. And if we give them the power to make decisions about who is in elected office, and allow them to help inform the priorities, I think our future is brighter.”
However you assess the merits of the policy, I think we can all agree that Sleepy Joe would’ve crushed it with Gen Zzzzz… (Unlike geriatric Democrats, I’ll show myself out!)
On Oct. 14, Booker was grilled by I’ve Had It co-host Jennifer Welch – an increasingly common experience for centrist Dems – over his coziness with Israel, including taking money from AIPAC; Booker pushed back forcefully, arguing New Jerseyans “don’t care about the fact that I took 1% of my money from some group.” The heated exchange blew up on the left – but nobody seemed to notice what happened the next day…
Oct. 15 happens to be Q3 FEC filing day, and I like to peruse such reports for interesting tidbits, as one does for enjoyment. That’s how I stumbled upon this filing from Booker disclosing $226,628 in AIPAC-bundled contributions for the quarter. That’s about one-eighth of his total fundraising Q3 haul – although as you’ll see in the next section, still a fraction of the war chest he’s amassed.
NEW: Q3 fundraising totals + cash-on-hand for likely 2028ers.
Once again, AOC – who’s raised an astonishing $20M this year, roughly equaling Speaker Johnson & Leader Jeffries’ combined total – set the pace in Q3, pulling in $4.4M. MARK KELLY was next with $2.6M; no other likely 2028er topped $2M.
Still, it’s the aforementioned CORY BOOKER with the most in the bank. (NOTE: I exclude folks like JON OSSOFF, who’s raising metric fucktons for his competitive Senate race; Booker is technically up in 2026 as well, but nobody has even filed to run against him.) These funds can be transferred to one’s presidential campaign, giving congresspeople an advantage over others who may run – not that anyone is even thinking about that, they bristle at such outlandish suggestions!
Here’s the full Q3 snapshot from my Big, Beautiful Tracker:
Q3 fundraising totals + cash-on-hand for likely 2028ers in Congress
Gavin Newsom is cruising toward a signature win.
Two weeks out from Election Day, a new CBS/YouGov poll shows 62% of likely CA voters support Newsom’s redistricting initiative – a lead so big even Democrats probably can’t blow it – and President Obama is joining his volunteer calls, thanking Gavin for his leadership. Remarkably, opponents have effectively thrown in the towel.
With a comfortable victory on the horizon, it’s easy to forget that when Newsom first floated this idea in July, it was described as “far-fetched. The longest of long shots. A path that would require political gymnastics…”
To be candid, I saw it as an empty threat at the time – part of the spotlight-prone governor’s expansive Trump impression. When it became real, it seemed a huge gamble certain to split the party. Instead, he managed to navigate the tricky CA politics & unite national Dems from Obama to AOC behind it. The payoff will not only be ~5 key House seats, but the first flagship win any 2028 hopeful can claim in the Trump 2.0 era.
Wes Moore flashed his elite talent on the trail in New Jersey.
Campaigning for NJ-Gov nominee Mikie Sherrill in Newark last weekend, Wes Moore offered a glimpse of what could set him apart in a crowded field. There are plenty of Dems who can nail a TV hit or deliver a solid speech, but few who can fire up the troops like this – sleeves rolled up, no script, crowd buzzing as they vibe with his energy…
There’s certainly much more to winning a presidential campaign than retail politicking and charisma, but those are unteachable attributes, and Democrats do love to fall in love. So it’s worth taking a few minutes to watch this.
Everyone is hitting the road – a rundown:
It’s hardly just WES MOORE hitting the trail; GRETCHEN WHITMER also stumped for Sherrill last weekend – in between stops in WI & FL – and PETE BUTTIGIEG debuted a fiery new stump speech Tuesday in Charlottesville as he rallied 1300+ for Abigail Spanberger. There’s a lot more coming the next 3 weeks:
10/26 – ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, Bernie Sanders, & Zohran Mamdani hold a “New York Is Not For Sale” rally at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens.
11/7 – RUBEN GALLEGO, ANDY BESHEAR, CHRIS MURPHY, & RO KHANNA join Crooked Media’s Crooked Con in DC.
11/7 – ANDY BESHEAR co-headlines Nebraska Dems’ Ben Nelson Gala with Joe Biden in Omaha.
11/10 – JB PRITZKER headlines Dallas (TX) Dems’ annual Johnson-Jordan Dinner.
11/12 – ELISSA SLOTKIN will be in Overland Pass, KS for a VoteVets Economic Town Hall.
11/13-11/15 – WES MOORE, PETE BUTTIGIEG, AMY KLOBUCHAR, CHRIS MURPHY, TIM WALZ, & RO KHANNA will be at Texas Tribune Fest in Austin.
11/14 – CORY BOOKER headlines NH Dems’ Eleanor Roosevelt Dinner in Nashua.
Media highlights of the week:
CHRIS MURPHY on The Adam Friedland Show
JOSH SHAPIRO on The Breakfast Club
RUBEN GALLEGO on NYT’s The Opinions
JB PRITZKER on Semafor’s Mixed Signals
ANDY BESHEAR on The Blueprint with Jen Psaki
