You’ve probably already heard by now that Democrats have an authenticity problem. Democratic operatives, elected officials and aspiring candidates are tormented by the brand of the party, which is seen as a group made by elites for elites. And yet it doesn’t seem like they quite know how to remedy the problem. But what if they just ran more “normal” people?

Normal people might be the hope for Democrats in Iowa, which might be why a slew of them are running for the United States Senate seat being vacated by Republican Joni Ernst. One candidate in particular embodied the authenticity Democrats were chasing for, writes Michael Kruse: J.D. Scholten, a “baseball-playing, monopoly-busting, beer-drinking, Bible-reading, working-class prairie populist” who is state representative of an area where Democrats struggle.

That was until Josh Turek entered the race.

Turek is a wheelchair basketball Paralympian and a two-time gold medalist who became friends with Scholten as a fellow state representative in a Trump-supporting district. When Turek entered the race, Scholten decided to bow out.

It’s a decision Scholten emphasizes he made on his own, but some people associated with other campaigns see it as the result of the hidden hand of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and assorted D.C. machinery — an antithetical approach to “authentic” politics, if true, they say.

Turek is still the guy for Democrats, Scholten affirms. With him, the party’s quest for authenticity continues: “When I launched this race, I was convinced that a western Iowa athlete who’s a prairie populist could win,” Scholten said. “The thing is they still can. It’s just not me."

Read the story.

“MTG is a FRAUD, and a phony, two faced bitch who used Trump to advance her career.”

Can you guess who said this to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene? Scroll to the bottom for the answer.**

Blackmailing the Supreme Court ... Trump’s beloved tariff policy is headed to the Supreme Court after a series of lower court rulings against him. His legal strategy so far has been to predict ruin if the courts don’t sign off on the tariffs, saying that it “would be a total disaster for the Country” and “would literally destroy the United States of America.” “This should all be seen for what it is — a tacit admission that the administration is on very weak footing as a legal matter,” writes Ankush Khardori.

RFK Jr. seems to be everywhere these days — this time inside a heated hearing room. The Health and Human Services secretary was grilled by senators over the turmoil at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as his controversial policies regarding vaccines. If you can’t bear the thought of tuning into a three-hour hearing but need to impress the beef-tallow-obsessed political junkies in your life, we have you covered. (From Assistant Editor Catherine Kim)

— The Republicans in your life may be complaining about Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden and Elizabeth Warren. Now’s your time to present yourself as the level-headed, politically attuned observer by pointing out the GOP lawmakers who surprisingly hammered Kennedy with the hard questions, too: Sen. Bill Cassidy, a doctor who has long been a critic of Kennedy; Sen. Thom Tillis, whose upcoming retirement has gifted him the freedom to tussle with Trump officials without fear of backlash; and Sen. John Barrasso, who is usually a foot soldier for Trump, but also happens to be a trained orthopedic surgeon.

— Speaking of Cassidy, any conversation about such a high-drama Senate hearing will inevitably devolve into a winners versus losers debate. Be sure to mention Cassidy as a winner, and point to his most viral moment in the hearing: When the senator asked the secretary whether Trump should receive a Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed, he likely — and rightly — predicted that Kennedy would give a wholehearted answer in the affirmative. Cassidy then cornered Kennedy, questioning his answer, since Kennedy had said earlier that “the Covid vaccine killed more people than Covid.” Cassidy created the perfect gotcha moment, making him one of the most memorable figures from the hearing.

— Make sure to share this polling with your friends for much-needed context: Trump’s longtime pollster, Fabrizio Ward, found that the overwhelming majority of voters support vaccines — with the exception of Covid shots.

— Then why does Trump continue to keep Kennedy by his side, your group may ask. Here’s where you slide in with a smart answer after taking a sip of your drink, for dramatic effect: because he needs the MAHA cohort. Kennedy’s agenda attracts a small but unique set of voters who don’t fall under the MAGA umbrella and may also lean independent. Some Trump aides believe they’ll be crucial to winning the midterms.

The Playbook to Defeating Progressives ... Zohran Mamdani may have captured national attention by winning the Democratic mayoral primary, but he would be wise to learn from India Walton, a young, unknown progressive who won the 2021 Democratic primary for Buffalo mayor. She was projected to win the general election, but was brought down by the Democratic establishment, ultimately losing to a write-in campaign for the incumbent. Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams are already taking a page from their playbook: drumming up fear of and opposition to socialist policies, and raising money with real estate interests and conservatives, writes Sarah DiGregorio.

The Last True Bipartisan Issue ... There's one thing both Democrats and Republicans can agree on: Cellphones should be banned from school. Jonathan Haidt and his book The Anxious Generation have prompted far-reaching reforms across the country after laying out the risk of children’s access to smartphones — and the issue has united both the left and right. "I first realized a remarkable story was sitting in plain view when I witnessed two governors who are almost comically far apart on the political spectrum both embrace Haidt," Jonathan Martin writes about Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. The two may be completely different people, but they have one very important trait in common: They're both parents.

From the drafting table of editorial cartoonist Matt Wuerker.

**Who Dissed? answer: It was Laura Loomer, who railed against Greene on X for her decision to join a bipartisan effort to force a vote on the release of unredacted Epstein-related documents.

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