Republicans paralyzed on AI. “Dario Amodei, the chief executive of Anthropic, called for a global slowdown of artificial intelligence development in a 3,800-word essay on Saturday, just days after one of the company’s employees quit over concerns about the safety of the technology,” the New York Times reported. Elon Musk and Sam Altman are also sounding the alarm, the Wall Street Journal reported. “Altman even suggested that his company, OpenAI, may need to delay its much-anticipated IPO to focus on safety.” We have gotten to this point because the Republican Party is now captive to Silicon Valley Tech Bro mega donors. Donald Trump rebuffs any suggestion of regulating AI.
Pete Buttigieg, among the savviest Democrats, was smart to call out House Speaker Mike Johnson for showing little interest in an issue deeply worrying most voters. “I was shocked to hear Speaker Johnson just now saying ‘we shouldn’t be rushing, shouldn’t be moving too quickly on this.’ You know what is moving quickly? AI,” he said on Meet the Press. “For Congress to sit on its hands is deeply dangerous it to the American people ... what have they been doing this entire time?” He slammed the White House’s paralysis: “The dangers of artificial intelligence have become an enormous issue — yet the White House has been so passive that even the AI companies themselves are asking what it will take to get government to step up and establish safeguards.”
Other Democrats should be echoing that message. And California Democrats with an eye on 2028 who have cozied up to Big Tech (resisting data center moratoria, for example) will have to change their tune. And fast.
About time. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) called out the vile racism of Bo French, the Republican nominee for railroad commissioner. A few other Republicans joined in criticizing French (Senate nominee Ken Paxton did not); none called for him to drop out. And when do Republicans denounce Trump’s disgusting racial images on social media? (Or JD Vance’s malicious race-baiting of Haitian immigrants?)
Meanwhile, Democratic Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed showed how to shut down nonsense questioning on CBS’s Face the Nation: “[W]ith all due respect, this is the third time you’ve asked about a Twitch streamer in California ... their whole game is to make us fight culture wars so that we don’t pay attention to the fact the president has made $2.2 billion.” Democrats, take notes!
Republicans’ Latino problem. A Cook Political Report and TelevisaUnivision poll in Texas finds Trump’s approval down to 33 percent with Latinos. Other key findings: 18 percent of Texas Hispanics who voted for Trump in 2024 disapprove of the job he is doing. A shocking 19 percent of Latino Trump back Democrat James Talarico; 22 percent of them do not support a Republican House candidate. ICE is overwhelmingly viewed unfavorably (61 percent) among Latinos (54 percent very unfavorably), though abolishing ICE is a closer call (49-44 percent).
In addition, among “an oversample of Hispanic voters in the Rio Grande Valley/South Texas, the centerpiece of Trump’s 2024 coalition and the home to three marquee House races (in TX-15, TX-28 and TX-34),” Dems are +14 in generic polling.
Boos. Republicans can’t go out in uncontrolled public settings these days. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) got pelted with boos during an appearance on ESPN’s Saturday college football show. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) got showered in catcalls and boos at the state fair when he tried to defend Trump’s tariffs. No wonder these guys hide on Fox News or inside crazed MAGA rallies.
Israel politics. AIPAC’s “Netanyahu or the highway” stance has bombed with the public at large and alienated most Democrats. Quinnipiac’s latest poll finds 38 percent of voters have more sympathy for the Palestinians, 35 percent for the Israelis — an all-time high for the Palestinians, an all-time low for the Israelis since 2001. In addition, 48 percent say the United States is too supportive of Israel, 8 percent say not supportive enough, and 34 percent say about right.
Republicans are paralyzed on just about everything from AI to restraining the orange felon. They’re not trustworthy on anything.