On Our 'Virtual Route 99" Here in the United States: On the Eve of #Elections2026 Day

June is before us, and we welcome all!!

A number of states, including California, are holding Primaries on June 2.   Our team chose this snapshot courtesy of the team at Politico on the State of Politics in the United States right now: 

By Adam Wren with Dasha Burns

With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco and Irie Sentner Good Friday morning, this is Adam Wren coming to you from beautiful and crisp Michigan, which feels these days like the center of the midterm universe. Get in touch. In today’s Playbook … — What we learned about 2028 from the Midwestern Davos. — Pam Bondi prepares to sit for Epstein interview. — The Boldfaces: Gretchen Whitmer, Pete Buttigieg, Elissa Slotkin, David Axelrod, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Scott Bessent, Brooke Rollins, Frederica Wilson, Pope Leo XIV, Jill Biden and more.

DRIVING THE DAY

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. — The factional and fiery Michigan Senate Democratic primary is shaping up to be a microcosm and harbinger of the party’s looming 2028 pileup. 2028 chatter and jockeying, both private and in the open, coursed through almost every meeting of the Midwestern Davos known as the Mackinac Policy Conference this week. On this bougie island frozen in time and reachable only by plane and ferry, one that in many ways celebrates the past — no cars allowed — the potential presidential candidates had all eyes on the future. There was news that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, spending her last summer at the governor’s residence on the island, would, in her words “not be one” of “a robust group of people running for president” in 2028, she told a Detroit TV station (That was before a person familiar with her thinking tried to give her some wiggle room, telling Playbook: “Sometimes she does change her mind.” Hours later, she walked it back herself: “Never say never.”) Then there was the private huddle that happened over drinks between Sen. Elissa Slotkin and fellow Michigander Pete Buttigieg, Playbook learned, both of whom are weighing potential 2028 bids. “I mean, we did not discuss it outright,” Slotkin told Playbook. A spokesperson for Buttigieg declined to comment. And there was another potential progressive dark horse no one saw coming, but who’s been increasingly talking about 2028 on the campaign trail. Earlier this year, Abdul El-Sayed, who’s surging in the battleground state polls and led his rivals Haley Stevens and Mallory McMorrow on ActBlue fundraising last month, re-registered three eyebrow raising domains: elsayedforpresident.com, elsayedforpresident.org and abdulforpresident.org. In an interview aboard a horse taxi, El-Sayed acknowledged registering the domains in 2017 “so nobody can misuse them.” “I am closing the door to 2028 — really not interested at all. I want to have a massively outsized impact on who gets elected in 2028. I want to make sure they want to get money out of politics, put money in your pocket, and pass Medicare For All,” he said. “I want to be able to demonstrate that you can win in this state that everybody seems to call purple.”

A message from Nike: At the new Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center, Nike is helping define the blueprint for U.S. Soccer excellence. As a founding partner of the facility, the Nike Sport Research Lab supports and empowers the next generation of U.S. athletes through a relentless focus on athlete performance and innovation. From grassroots players to seasoned pros, we are fueling players’ love for the game. Explore the National Training Center.

The way he sees it, the 2026 Michigan Senate Democratic primary could shape 2028 and beyond. “We take it for granted here, but we live in the carotid artery of American politics. All roads lead through Michigan,” El-Sayed said in Troy on May 16. That’s the real news out of Mackinac: The Michigan Senate Democratic primary offers the best 2028 proxy on the map. As Democratic strategist David Axelrod put it to Playbook: “Does the outcome of this race tell you who’s going to win the nomination? No. But it does tell you there’s a lot of support around a populist economic platform.” Amid it all, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are jockeying for influence. Sanders endorsed El-Sayed, while Warren backed McMorrow. And just like the 2028 field, everyone is waiting to see what Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) will do. If AOC weighs in here — where her Bernie-lane rival Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) is expected to stump for El-Sayed next month — that could signal an attempt to broaden her base in a battleground state. “Obviously we’d be honored to earn her endorsement, but you know, she's got a whole set of calculations she has to make about how she wants to play,” El-Sayed said. A spokesperson for AOC declined to comment. Put simply: 2028, in a lot of ways, is pure Michigan. On today's Playbook Podcast: Adam and Megan Messerly discuss the vibes out of Michigan, and why the Trump administration can't seem to land an economic message.

THE DOWNLOAD

EPSTEIN FILES FALLOUT: Pam Bondi will sit for a transcribed interview with the House Oversight Committee about the Jeffrey Epstein files at 9 a.m. But Epstein hawks on the panel are frustrated that she’s no longer required to be sworn in under oath or recorded after her firing and deposition downgrade, POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs reports. Assistant AG Harmeet Dhillon’s presence has also raised questions. It remains to be seen how many answers Bondi will provide; a group of Epstein survivors will be outside the room, publicly demanding them. IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID: Plenty of economic policy heavyweights are in Simi Valley, California, for the annual Reagan National Economic Forum, which will feature Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaking at 2:40 p.m. Eastern and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins at 5:20 p.m. There’s plenty for them to be anxious about. The administration’s repeated messaging that better economic days are right around the corner still has yet to convince many voters, and Republicans are running out of time, POLITICO’s Sam Sutton reports. New results from The POLITICO Poll show that a majority of Americans say the cost of living has never been worse in their memory, and the war has made their lives more expensive, per Erin Doherty. Only 28 percent blame Joe Biden. TRAIL MIX: Rep. Jim Clyburn hosts his annual fish fry today — a famous South Carolina stop for would-be presidents — with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) in attendance this year. … All eyes in Florida are on possible retirement news (or not!) from Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson, who’s teed up a “special announcement” at an event today. WAR REPORT: Israeli and Lebanese officials return to D.C. today for talks on their fragile ceasefire. (It hasn’t stopped ongoing heavy attacks by Israel, which killed at least 14 more people overnight Thursday, and Hezbollah.) The other ceasefire: The world is waiting to see if Trump signs off on a provisional Iran peace deal that’s reportedly on the table. “We perhaps have the makings of a deal here,” Bessent said. “Very close,” VP JD Vance said. At the same time, Treasury slapped fresh sanctions on Iranian oil transporters.

Watch the season finale of On the Road with Jonathan Martin On the Road with Jonathan Martin wraps Season 1 in South Philly with Gov. Josh Shapiro, who weighs in on the future of the Democratic Party, voter trust, 2028 speculation and more — from inside Angelo’s Pizzeria. Watch the finale and catch up on the full season.

THE FRONT PAGE

NOT SO FAST: Democratic-led states have started coalescing behind the idea of completely taxing all money any residents get from Trump’s controversial “Anti-Weaponization Fund.” But if those unusual plans can make it through state legislatures, it’s an open question whether they’d hold up in court, POLITICO’s Bernie Becker and colleagues report. BRAVE NEW WORLD: Pope Leo XIV’s landmark encyclical warning about the perils of unmitigated AI has landed smack in the middle of American political debate — and ticked off Silicon Valley’s anti-regulation accelerationists, POLITICO Magazine’s Calder McHugh reports. It also places Vance in an unusual spot between his Catholic faith, allies like Peter Thiel, laissez-faire administration officials and an emergent AI backlash on the right. The policy debate: Over the past two months, AI industry behemoths have been boning up on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, recognizing that its stewardship of the power grid is crucial to their data-center fortunes, POLITICO’s Kelsey Tamborrino and Joel Kirkland report. FIRST AMENDMENT WATCH: ABC slammed FCC Chair Brendan Carr for trying to mess with its broadcast stations’ licenses, POLITICO’s John Hendel reports. The network wrote that Carr’s order, which he maintained yesterday arises from a legitimate inquiry into Disney’s diversity practices, amounts to an “effort to suppress speech under the guise of bureaucratic process.” LOOK WHO’S BACK: Jill Biden’s reemergence with viral thoughts about that debate as she releases her memoir — on top of other new headlines from Joe and Hunter Biden — has many Democrats wishing 2024 would go away again, POLITICO’s Lisa Kashinsky, Dasha Burns and Andrew Howard report. LISTEN TO THIS: “The Conversation” is officially a year old — and Dasha is handing over the mic to you for a special anniversary episode answering questions about everything from prepping for interviews to managing her self-described “hot mess” news diet. Plus, she gets a few surprise calls from friends of the show, including Bret Baier and Abby Phillip. Listen and subscribe on Apple or Spotify

A message from Nike:   Where Nike’s innovations support the next generation of athletes.

5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. MAKING MOVES IN LATIN AMERICA: The U.S. and Guatemala may start launching joint attacks against drug traffickers as early as June, having reached an agreement to cooperate last week, NYT’s Maria Abi-Habib and Eric Schmitt report. Guatemala follows Ecuador, and Honduras is next in the administration’s sights for an agreement. “The White House’s broader strategy is to normalize an American military presence across Latin America to gain leverage over Mexico” and force it to cooperate, too, an idea backed by Stephen Miller. 2. DEMOCRACY WATCH: A federal judge for now turned away Democratic and civil rights groups’ efforts to stop Trump’s anti-mail-voting executive order. Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, said a preliminary injunction would be premature because any harm from Trump’s restrictions hasn’t happened yet. More from Roll Call 3. E-RING READING: In the wake of Dell’s $9.7 billion contract with the Pentagon, ethics watchdogs are raising questions about conflicts of interest and whether Trump’s stock trading positions him to reap the benefits, WaPo’s Maegan Vazquez reports. The White House and Trump Organization say he isn’t involved with his investments. On a related note, ProPublica’s Robert Faturechi reveals Peter Navarro stepped in to request that the Pentagon loan $620 million to Vulcan Elements, a firm with ties to Donald Trump Jr. — “the first time the awarding of a contract from a federal agency has been directly linked to White House intervention.” 4. SCARY STUFF: Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s Virginia home was apparently swatted this week, per National Review. Police responded to what turned out to be a fake call — a practice that can be dangerous — though Barrett was in court like usual the next day. 5. TOP TALKER: In Slate, Ben Jacobs revealed that Kip Talley, chief of staff to Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) was in a large group chat that included white nationalists Nick Fuentes and Richard Spencer. In it, Talley detailed his efforts to look into the incarceration of Holocaust denier Charles Johnson: “I’m going to try and use the levers of the legislative branch to check into his detention,” he wrote. Talley responded to Slate that he “acted solely in my personal capacity” and didn’t use official resources: “I was simply trying to help a suffering inmate connect with counsel.” THE WEEKEND AHEAD FRIDAY PROGRAMS … POLITICO “The Conversation”: One-year anniversary episode. C-SPAN “Ceasefire”: John Feehery and Meghan Hays … Mark Kimmitt and Nayyera Haq. PBS “Washington Week”: David Ignatius. SUNDAY SO FAR … Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures”: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent … Texas AG Ken Paxton … Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins. NBC “Meet the Press”: Mike Pence … Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. Panel: Leigh Ann Caldwell, Val Demings, Garrett Haake and Steve Hayes. MS NOW “The Weekend: Primetime”: Rep. Rob Menendez (D-N.J.) … Texas state Rep. Gina Hinojosa … Alex Bores. FOX “Fox News Sunday”: National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett … Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) … Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.). Panel: Michael Allen, Mark Bednar, Francesca Chambers and Juan Williams. CBS “Face the Nation”: Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) … Cindy McCain … Mike Pence. ABC “This Week”: Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). Panel: Donna Brazile, Chris Christie, Faiz Shakir and Patrick McHenry. CNN “State of the Union”: Panel: Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), Kate Bedingfield and David Urban. NewsNation “The Hill Sunday”: Panel: Margaret Talev, Andrew Desiderio and John Tamny. Heather Cox Richardson Jun 1 On June 1, 1950, Senator Margaret Chase Smith, a Republican from Maine, stood up against Republican Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin and his supporters, who were undermining American democracy in a crusade against “communism.” Margaret Chase was born in Skowhegan in 1897, the oldest child of a barber and a waitress, and became a teacher and a reporter before she got into politics through her husband, Clyde Smith, who was a state legislator and newspaperman. Soon after they married in 1930, she was elected to the Maine Republican State Committee and served until 1936, when Maine voters elected Clyde to Congress. Once in Washington, Margaret worked as her husband’s researcher, speechwriter, and press secretary. When Clyde died of a heart attack in April 1940, voters elected Margaret to finish his term, then reelected her to Congress in her own right. They did so three more times, always with more than sixty percent of the vote. In 1948 they elected her to the Senate with a 71% majority. When she was elected to Congress, the U.S. was still getting used to the New Deal government that Democratic president Franklin Delano Roosevelt had ushered in first to combat the Great Depression and then to fight for victory in World War II. Smith’s party was divided between those who thought the new system was a proper adjustment to the modern world and those determined to destroy that new government. Those who wanted to slash the government back to the form it had taken in the 1920s, when businessmen ran it, had a problem. American voters liked the business regulation, basic social safety net, and infrastructure construction of the new system. To combat that popularity, the anti–New Deal Republicans insisted that the U.S. government was sliding toward communism. With the success of the People’s Liberation Army and the declaration of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949, Americans were willing to entertain the idea that communism was spreading across the globe and would soon take over the U.S. Republican politicians eager to reclaim control of the government for the first time since 1933 fanned the flames of that fear. On February 9, 1950, during a speech to a group gathered in Wheeling, West Virginia, to celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, an undistinguished senator from Wisconsin named Joe McCarthy claimed that he had a list of 205 communists working for the State Department and that the Democrats refused to investigate these “traitors in the government.” The anti–New Deal faction of the party jumped on board. Sympathetic newspapers trumpeted McCarthy’s charges—which kept changing, and for which he never offered proof—and his colleagues cheered him on, while congress members from the Republican faction that had signed on to the liberal consensus kept their heads down to avoid becoming the target of his attacks. All but one of them did, that is. Senator Smith recognized the damage McCarthy and his ilk were doing to the nation. She had seen the effects of his behavior up close in Maine, where the faction of the Republican Party that supported McCarthy had supported the state’s Ku Klux Klan. Clyde and Margaret Chase Smith had taken a stand against them. On June 1, 1950, only four months after McCarthy made his infamous speech in Wheeling, Smith stood up in the Senate to make a short speech. She began: “I would like to speak briefly and simply about a serious national condition. It is a national feeling of fear and frustration that could result in national suicide and the end of everything that we Americans hold dear…. I speak as a Republican, I speak as a woman. I speak as a United States senator. I speak as an American.” Referring to Senator McCarthy, who was sitting two rows behind her, Senator Smith condemned the leaders in her party who were destroying lives with wild accusations. “Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism,” she pointed out. Americans have the right to criticize, to hold unpopular beliefs, to protest, and to think for themselves. But attacks that cost people their reputations and jobs were stifling these basic American principles. “Freedom of speech is not what it used to be in America,” Senator Smith said. “It has been so abused by some that it is not exercised by others.” Senator Smith wanted a Republican victory in the upcoming elections, she explained, but to replace President Harry Truman’s Democratic administration—for which she had plenty of harsh words—with a Republican regime “that lacks political integrity or intellectual honesty would prove equally disastrous to the nation.” “I do not want to see the Republican party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny—Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear.” “I doubt if the Republican party could do so,” she added, “simply because I do not believe the American people will uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest. Surely we Republicans are not that desperate for victory.” “I do not want to see the Republican party win that way,” she said. “While it might be a fleeting victory for the Republican party, it would be a more lasting defeat for the American people. Surely it would ultimately be suicide for the Republican party and the two-party system that has protected our American liberties from the dictatorship of a one-party system.” “As an American, I condemn a Republican Fascist just as much as I condemn a Democrat Communist,” she said. “They are equally dangerous to you and me and to our country. As an American, I want to see our nation recapture the strength and unity it once had when we fought the enemy instead of ourselves.” Smith presented a “Declaration of Conscience,” listing five principles she hoped her party would adopt. It ended with a warning: “It is high time that we all stopped being tools and victims of totalitarian techniques—techniques that, if continued here unchecked, will surely end what we have come to cherish as the American way of life.” Six other Republican senators signed onto Senator Smith’s declaration. There were two reactions to the speech within the party. McCarthy sneered at “Snow White and the Six Dwarves.” Other Republicans quietly applauded Smith’s courage but refused to show similar courage themselves with public support. In the short term, Senator Smith’s voice was largely ignored in the public arena and then, when the Korean War broke out, forgotten. But she was right. Four years later, the Senate condemned McCarthy. And while Senator Smith was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, McCarthy has gone down in history as a disgrace to the Senate and to the United States of America. — Notes: https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/SmithDeclaration.pdf https://observer-me.com/2020/07/06/news/this-maine-governor-never-publicly-embraced-the-klan-but-he-never-disavowed-its-support/ F