Biden and Trump not done campaigning in midterms' wake: The Note
Both the current and former president are barreling toward 2024 candidacies.
The TAKE with Rick Klein
Once there was a "thumping." Later, there was a "shellacking." Now, there's "nothing."
President Joe Biden's answer on Wednesday to what he planned to do differently after midterms where his party will likely lose control of the House and may yet lose the Senate won't go down in historical annals like descriptions used by former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
It's nonetheless telling about the president's state of mind. And it's not that different from former President Donald Trump's reaction -- even though this year's midterms were a more clear repudiation of Trump than the current president: "Why would anything change?"
It doesn't sound like they will. Both Trump and Biden are barreling toward 2024 candidacies that many in their party privately, and less often publicly, dread -- now having drawn messaging of their liking out of a messy set of midterm results.
Trump's timeline of a Tuesday announcement of his plans has to withstand public lobbying by aides and advisers for a reconsideration. He's also got the uncomfortable fact that another Florida Republican grabbed the best GOP headlines of the week, and that Gov. Ron DeSantis and the donors who like him won't be deterred by nicknames or veiled threats.
Biden is signaling that his famous political procrastinations could continue into a potential reelect: "I don't feel any hurry one way or the other," he said at his Wednesday news conference.
In the meantime, Biden is squaring up with veto threats against Republican campaign proposals that will never get to his desk. His call for an end to "political warfare" included a plea to GOP leaders to start working with him; but he said of himself that he was "not gonna change anything in any fundamental way."
The races for the House, Senate and governorships were influenced by a staggering array of factors and forces. But that doesn't mean the races will themselves change leadership behaviors.
The RUNDOWN with Averi Harper
Voters spoke decisively in every state where abortion was on the ballot, erring on the side of access and rejecting anti-abortion efforts.
A referendum in Montana, which differed most from the other four states that voted singularly on abortion, would have required medical treatment for infants born alive after an attempted abortion. It included a provision that would penalize medical providers for violation, carrying a $50K fine and/or up to 20 years behind bars. It was defeated by voters in a ruby red state.
Kentucky voters also voted down a proposition that aimed to prohibit adding the right to an abortion or the right to public abortion funding to the state constitution.
California, Michigan and Vermont voters all supported propositions that would guarantee abortion rights in each state's constitution.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who framed herself as the "last line of defense" for abortion rights during her successful reelection effort, credited her state's abortion proposition with enthusiasm at the polls that arguably helped her win.
"We know that people were very fired up at the prospect of losing a right that has been enshrined for 49 years and that drew a lot of people into this moment and we're grateful for it," she said Wednesday.
Michiganders also flipped the statehouse to Democrats, giving them full government control.
The TIP with Alisa Wiersema
Democrats' most high-profile 2022 loss in the House came from the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney. Maloney conceded to Republican Mike Lawler on Wednesday after his general election campaign ended in an ironic twist.
Maloney's position as the leader of the fundraising arm for House Democrats involved his directing millions of dollars into his own campaign all while insisting that he was not facing any fatal political threat. Those investments potentially took away resources from his colleagues' races, which could be a factor in the final outcome of this year's midterms.
"I don't like to lose, but my opponent won this race, and he won it fair and square. And that means something. So, I'm going to step aside," Maloney said on Wednesday.
Maloney's loss traces back to New York's drawn-out redistricting process which led him to run in a district farther south that is currently occupied by fellow Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones. The decision was seen as an effort by Maloney to run in an area that was more safely blue.
Although the Hudson Valley-area seat showed strong support for Biden in 2020, its past political leanings did not stop Republican groups like the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Congressional Leadership Fund from spending nearly $10 million against Maloney.
Power Trip
"Power Trip: Those Who Seek Power and Those Who Chase Them" follows 7 young reporters as they chase down candidates in the lead up to the midterms with George Stephanopoulos guiding them along the way.
THE PLAYLIST
ABC News' "Start Here" podcast. "Start Here" begins Thursday morning with FiveThirtyEight's Galen Druke breaking down the midterm election results and explaining what to expect in coming weeks. Then ABC's Katherine Faulders discusses the impact of the midterm results on President Trump's potential 2024 presidential campaign and the wider MAGA movement. http://apple.co/2HPocUL
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY
- President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will speak at the Howard Theatre in Washington at 3 p.m. ET.
- At 9:45 p.m. ET, Biden departs the White House en route to Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Download the ABC News app and select "The Note" as an item of interest to receive the day's sharpest political analysis.
The Note is a daily ABC News feature that highlights the day's top stories in politics. Please check back Friday for the latest.
