How quickly things change. Heading into the weekend, high off a successful convention, Republicans held a $44 million lead. Then, President Joe Biden stepped aside, freeing the tens of millions of dollars top donors had held as ransom and simultaneously jolting depressed Democrats and small-dollar donors out of their malaise. By Monday evening, the Republican lead had vanished and the Republican Party found itself $37 million behind. And with the addition of “soft money,” or money given to PACs and parties instead of to individual candidates, the number Democrats raised in two days looks more like $350 million. Even when you count the money megadonors held up, these are unreal numbers — and as strong a sign as you’ll see this summer that the Democrats are re-energized by the change in lineup. That’s not to suggest that Vice President Kamala Harris has any real personal appeal herself, no matter how many cringey CNN segments are devoted to making her look cool (or how hard TikTok plays with its algorithms). But it can be said that Democrats aren’t ready to give up fighting former President Donald Trump — they were just sick of doing it with Biden in charge. In reality, D.C. Democrats are quietly excited about the news cycles coming down the line — and how they might shield the voters from how incredibly grating a person Kamala Harris is. Republicans eager to rest on how poorly Harris did in a crowded field of Democratic primary voters might reconsider those priors: It’s a different race now. The Summer Olympics kicked off in Paris Friday and will help distract Americans’ attention from the political circus through the first two weeks of August. By then, it’s just one week of recess until the Democratic National Convention and, with it, a whole new week of pageantry. That only gets them through most of August, however. Lots of time left for everyone to remember just how annoying the least popular Democrat of 2020 truly is. Republicans eager to rest on how poorly Harris did in a crowded field of Democratic primary voters might reconsider those priors: It’s a different race now. There are, of course, land mines for the Democrats all around. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comes to Washington Wednesday at the invitation of both parties for a joint address to Congress. Harris is heading to a campaign event instead of presiding over the address, and the next in line, Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray (D-Wash.) is boycotting the event. Meanwhile, Biden, who has appeared in public once since withdrawing (and didn’t take any questions) canceled his meeting with Netanyahu, though the PM and Harris are supposed to meet later in the week. She’ll be treading carefully there, too, trying to reaffirm her support for the embattled ally while also scolding its leader enough to appease her radically anti-Israel base. That Netanyahu’s speech is happening at all is a coup by Israel and her friends in Washington and a victory for Republicans happy to poke the Democratic foreign policy civil war. That civil war is almost certainly coming to Chicago, too, where Democrats are set to gather for the first time since 1968. The ghosts of that violent and tortured convention past are so present as to be spooky: a deeply unpopular president declining to run for re-election, a new nominee the voters never actually voted for, and Democratic activists battling police in the streets over Democrats’ own foreign policy. And finally, there is the president himself, who has completely disappeared from view since before he told his campaign staff and the world that he wasn't going to run again with a post on X. He’s set to address the nation Wednesday night from the Oval Office. What does he have to say, and how will he look and sound? It’s not all wine and roses for the party in power. Nor are Republicans taking the sudden shift toward a unified Democratic Party sitting down. The rumor around town is that billionaire Elon Musk intends to send his recently pledged $45 million a month to fund the Republican ground game. Political consultants generally advise donors to funnel cash toward TV ads. Even though super PACs get a terrible TV buy rate, those same consultants earn lucrative commissions from the buys. It’s an ugly ecosystem. Meanwhile, Democrats routinely dominate the ground game, relying on federal employees, unions, and an army of suspicious, ACORN-like nonprofits to do the work for them. If confirmed, Elon’s donation strategy is unusual — and a highly welcome turn for the Grand Old Party. Just last week, Republicans couldn’t be more confident in their prospects for November. This week, Democrats are riding high after successfully replacing an addled president without sparking a vicious primary or convention battle. Neither side should rest easy. There’s plenty more to come. Ben Boychuk: Don’t get cocky about Kamala Daniel Horowitz: How ballot tricks could flip red states blue Sign up for Bedford’s newsletter Sign up to get Blaze Media senior politics editor Christopher Bedford's newsletter. The fire rises: Punchbowl: Schumer to move on kids' online safety package Turns out the Senate isn’t totally checked out. In an unexpected move, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is bringing a series of major bills designed to curtail Big Tech’s power and predatory practices. The legislation is a rare thing: supported by conservative populists and liberal Democrats while opposed by a bipartisan coalition of corporatists and libertarians backed by big money. Andrew Desiderio reports: The package of bills, which includes the Kids Online Safety Act and the Children’s and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act, represents the most significant federal crackdown on Big Tech companies and social media platforms in the digital age. The bills impose new privacy rules and require the platforms to give parents and guardians increased control over their children’s account settings. There’s broad bipartisan support for both pieces of legislation. Schumer has tried to secure a time agreement in order to pass the package quickly, but hasn’t been able to get unanimous consent. Absent an agreement, final passage wouldn’t be until next week.

Bob Menendez, the Democrat senior senator from New Jersey who was convicted of more than a dozen federal charges related to bribery and corruption last week, has finally tendered his resignation — effective a month from now.On Tuesday, Sen. Menendez submitted a letter to Democrat New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, announcing his resignation and declaring that it will go into effect "on the close of business on August 20, 2024," more than a month after he was convicted of conspiracy, bribery, extortion, obstruction of justice, and acting as a foreign agent of Egypt while the senator was a chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, among other charges.He hinted in his letter that he is resigning in part because his position as a senator could compromise his chances of a 'successful appeal.' 'Factual matters before the ethics committee are not privileged.'In the letter, Menendez offered an explanation for the delay: "This will give time for my staff to transition to other possibilities, transfer constituent files that are pending, allow for an orderly process to choose an interim replacement, and for me to close out my Senate affairs."The New York Post took a more cynical view, noting that resigning on Augusts 20 allows the senator, who apparently accepted bribes of cash, a Mercedes-Benz convertible, and even gold bars, to collect two more paychecks from the American taxpayer on his way out the door.He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 29.Menendez, 70, cut his teeth in the tough world of Union City, New Jersey, politics by testifying against his mentor, Union City Mayor William Musto, for alleged corruption in the early 1980s but eventually involved himself in the same corrupt political machine, apparently.From the time Menendez was appointed to the Senate seat in 2006 by Democrat Gov. Jon Corzine, who vacated the seat after winning the state gubernatorial race, Menendez has been dogged by local and federal prosecutors, fending off accusations of funneling public funds to individuals and nonprofits in exchange for favors.Menendez likewise maintains his innocence in the recent case against him, despite the conviction, which he intends to appeal. In fact, he hinted in his letter that he is resigning in part because his position as a senator could compromise his chances of a "successful appeal." "Factual matters before the ethics committee are not privileged," he remarked. "This is evidenced by the Committee's Staff Director and Chief Counsel being called to testify at my trial."Menendez is up for re-election this November, and though he vowed not to run again as a Democrat, he is a declared independent candidate. Democrat nominee Rep. Andy Kim is expected to win the race handily, though, and Menendez has until August 16 to withdraw.Once Menendez leaves the Senate, Gov. Murphy will be allowed to appoint an interim replacement until the winner of the election takes office in January. Murphy is not expected to name Kim, in order to avoid the appearance of attempting to sway the election.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

President Joe Biden has been AWOL for days, dropping out of the race via a statement posted to social media rather than physically addressing the American people. Proof of life would seem to be required in a situation where the president’s health has been a notorious point of contention over the past four years — but that’s one thing the American people aren’t getting. Even stranger is that the signature on the statement doesn’t appear to match Biden’s most recent signatures, which Sara Gonzales of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered” believes might mean something more sinister. “These are very recent signatures but now all of a sudden, it’s a completely different signature. Very curious. They all match up except the dropout,” Gonzales says conspiratorially. And that’s not all. “Kamala Harris dutifully played her role in this entire bait and switch,” Gonzales comments. “They were in a free fall. The campaign donations were plummeting. This was post Trump assassination attempt, the momentum had clearly shifted. We heard that Harris spoke with 300 high level Democrat donors on a phone call just two days before Joe Biden bowed out of the campaign.” Harris then went on to raise $50 million in campaign donations after Biden dropped out. Then, there’s the fact that Biden’s schedule appears to be non-existent. “All we’ve seen is he broke up with his campaign by text and promised some sort of upcoming speech,” Gonzales says. “In his statement he said ‘I will speak to the nation later in this week about my decision.’” “Isn’t it strange that Joe Biden would make the decision to drop out of the presidential race on a Sunday by a statement posted on Twitter with a signature that doesn’t match up claiming that he was going to address the nation later this week, but there’s no plan to do so yet,” she continues. “If they overthrow their elected nominee, do you trust them to have a truly open convention?” Gonzales asks. “I guess we shouldn’t be surprised if they’ve proven already that they would fortify an election.” Want more from Sara Gonzales?To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred take to news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Wednesday Morning Minute

The Media's Rewriting of Kamala Harris's History on the Border Has Begun

House Democrats Attempting to Silence FEC Chairman for Citing Campaign Finance Regulations

WATCH LIVE: FBI Director Christopher Wray Testifies Before House Judiciary Committee

WATCH: 'Merciless' New Dave McCormick Ad Laying Kamala Harris' Record Bare Has People Talking

Before Apple announced iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence, there was an ongoing rumor that Apple Music would use AI for creating smart playlists. While it might become true, or at least Apple could improve its algorithm for smart suggestions for playlists, 9to5Mac’s Filipe Espósito discovered what Apple Intelligence will be used for on Apple Music. According to the latest iOS 18 beta 4 code, the journalist discovered that Apple has been working on a feature that will let users create playlist artwork for the music streaming service with Apple Intelligence. Thanks to a new “Create Image” button when editing a plplaylist, Image Playground will create an AI image based on your input – such as your playlist’s name. Apple says Image Playground produces “fun, original images in seconds.” Users can “create an entirely new image based on a description, suggested concepts, and even a person from your Photos library.” It will be possible to create different image styles, such as animation, illustration, and sketch. Image source: José Adorno for BGR While it’s unclear when Apple Intelligence will be available for iOS 18 beta testers – Cupertino previously said it would release AI this summer, but it has removed references ever since the public beta went out –, it’s intoresting to see Apple improving an iOS 17.1 feature. Last year, Cupertino introduced a library of artwork that you could choose from to customize a playlist in Apple Music. The options were limited and the colors changed based on the first song cover of the list. Although Apple Intelligence on Apple Music is still a few code strings in the latest beta, we can’t wait to see this feature becoming available. Bloomberg says some AI features won’t arrive until 2025, but we hope this isn’t one of them. Below, you can learn more about Apple Music features coming with iOS 18. Don't Miss: 5 new Apple Music features coming in iOS 18 The post Here’s how Apple Music is going to use Apple Intelligence in iOS 18 appeared first on BGR. Today's Top Deals Best Apple Watch deals for July 2024 Best Ring Video Doorbell deals for July 2024 Stunning Yaber T2 Outdoor Projector has a massive 20% discount 7 ECOVACS Prime Day deals to save money on the ultimate robot vacuums & mops

Elon Musk denied reports that he is donating $45 million a month to a pro-Donald Trump super PAC, saying he is giving at a "much lower level" to "promote the principles that made America great in the first place."