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Abbreviated Pundit Roundup is a long-running series published every morning that collects essential political discussion and analysis around the internet.

The New York Times:

Abortion Jumps to the Center of Arizonas Key 2024 Races

Democrats quickly aimed to capitalize on a ruling by the states highest court upholding an 1864 law that bans nearly all abortions.

Democrats seized ona ruling on Tuesday by Arizonas highest courtupholding an 1864 law that bans nearly all abortions, setting up a fierce political fight over the issue that is likely to dominate the presidential election and a pivotal Senate race in a crucial battleground state.

Even though the court put its ruling on hold for now, President Biden and his campaign moved quickly to blame former President Donald J. Trump for the loss of abortion rights, noting that he has taken credit for appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned a constitutional right to abortion. Just a day earlier, Mr. Trump had sought to defang what has become a toxic issue for Republicans bysaying that abortion restrictions should be decided by the statesand their voters.

But remember,abortion is fading in saliency as an issue, say umpteen anonymous male Republican consultants.

Dan Balz/The Washington Post:

The Arizona Supreme Court just upended Trumps gambit on abortion

On Monday, Trump declined to support a national abortion ban, seeking to neutralize the political issue. A day later, Arizonas ban gave it new life.

On Monday, the former presidentdeclined to supportany new national law setting limits on abortions. Going against the views of many abortion opponents in his Republican Party, Trump was looking for a way to neutralize or at least muddy a galvanizingissue that has fueled Democratic victories for nearly two years. He hoped to keep it mostly out of the conversation ahead of the November elections.

On Tuesday, the Arizona Supreme Court showed just how difficult it will be to do that. The courtresurrected an 1864 lawthat bans nearly all abortions, except to save the life of the mother. The law also imposes penalties on abortion providers.

Trump had said let the states handle the issue. The Arizona court showed the full implications of that states rights strategy.

Put another way: Arizona Supreme Court destroys news organizations plans to declare the abortion issue neutralized).

Marc A Caputo/ The Bulwark:

MAGA Takes Aim at RFK Jr.: Radical Fing Kennedy

They turned on him overnight once they realized hed be a threat to Trump and not only to Biden.

TRUMP ADVISERS QUIETLY acknowledge they and the right helped build up RFK Jr., especially after the pandemic when Kennedys anti-vaccine activism gained broader attention and support among conservatives.

For more than two years, Kennedy was on more conservative media than any of the Republicans who ran for president, so hes partly a monster of our own making, said one adviser in Trumps orbit. But the same conservative media apparatus that built him up is starting to tear him down. Its easy. Hes a liberal.

That cocksure sentiment pervades Trumps campaign, where they view Kennedy more as an opportunity than a danger.

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Matt Bennett, executive vice president of Third Way, said Kennedy has benefited from his famous last name, hissavvy social mediause, and his lack of a political record. Bennett doesnt think the candidate will be able to withstand the scrutiny thats coming now that the threat he represents has become clearer.

Kennedy is in for a rough ride. We need to make sure lower-information voters dont somehow think, Oh, its his dad. Or that hes a safe pair of hands, Bennett said. Hes a lunatic. He lies. Hes a bad person.

Will Bunch/The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Is Team Trump meddling in the Middle East?

This weekend, the endless gusher of petrodollars from Riyadh left their oily mark on the dim jewel of Trumps fast-fading empire, the Trump National Doral course outside of Miami. There, the Saudi-funded LIV Golf tour brought yet another televised and star-studded tournament to a resort owned by the 45th presidents business arm.

We dont how much the LIV tour largely a creation of the massive sovereign wealth fund controlled by the Saudi dictator Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) paid the Trump Organization for the three-day event. The LIV people insist the money is nominal, but no one would argue that the widely seen tournaments are propping up Trumps coffers at a time when his hotel brand is in the loo, and the established PGA golf tour is avoiding the ex-POTUS and his 88 felony charges.

David Gilbert/WIRED:

Inside the Election Denial Groups Planning to Disrupt November

Groups like True the Vote and Michael Flynns America Project want to mobilize thousands of Trump supporters by pushing baseless claims about election fraudand are rolling out new technology to fast-track their efforts.

As the most consequentialpresidential electionin a generation looms in the United States, get-out-the-vote efforts across the country are more important than ever. But multiple far-right activist groups with ties toformer president Donald Trumpand the Republican National Committee are mobilizing their supporters in earnest, drawing on one baseline belief:Elections in the US are rigged, and citizens need to do something about it.

All the evidence states otherwise.But in recent weeks, these groups have held training sessions about how to organize on a hyperlocal level to monitor polling places and drop boxes, challenge voter registrations en masse, and intimidate and harass voters and election officials. And some are preparing to roll out new technology to fast-track all of these efforts: One of the groups claims theyre launching a new platform for checking voter rolls that contains billions of data elements on every single US citizen.

Jennifer Rubin/The Washington Post:

Dont overlook these five aspects of Trumps N.Y. trial

Trumps first impeachment seems like ancient history. ButHouse impeachment investigatorsinterviewed Hope Hicks and Michael Cohen, anddelved into the factsconcerningpayment to womento silence them before the 2016 election. The hush money scheme was grist for impeachment becauseprocuring officeby corrupt means can be a sufficient basis for impeachment.

Philip Bump/The Washington Post:

How much time and money will the GOP waste chasing imaginary election fraud?

Fox host Maria Bartiromo has proved to be one of the most credulous members of the right-wing media universe. This was understood by her own employers in 2020 whenone executive warned anotherthat she had GOP conspiracy theorists in her ear and they use her for their message sometimes. In the wake of the 2020 election, she flirted withthe most ridiculous fraud theoriesthen circulating; more recently, she wasa constant promoterof the discredited idea thatJoe Bidenhad been bribed by a Ukrainian businessman.

Yet she also remains one of the most prominent voices on Fox News and Fox Business. One need not engage in conspiracy-theorizing to guess some reasons for that.

The exclamation point on an amazing college hoops season:

Candace Buckner/The Washington Post:

Connecticut unlocked the overwhelming beauty of a team game

More than other team sports, basketball thrives on individual talent. Singular stars fuel intrigue. They make us sit up and pay attention. And the superstars make us believe that one vs. five maintains pretty good odds. Then a night such as Monday comes along and wrecks the belief that you need a superstar to win.

Somewhere in the Purdue locker room sat [Perdues center Zach] Edey,his season having ended in disappointment, with a lonely shower awaiting. Meanwhile, the Connecticut Huskies were busy changing clothes on the court. Their new shirts read: 2024 Mens Basketball National CHAMPS that word more prominent than the others.

Cliff Schecter on Gen. Mark Milleys opinion of Donald Trump:

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Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: Arizona embraces the culture wars on the losing side - Daily Kos

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