带走里克·克莱因
依赖前总统的不仅仅是共和党人唐纳德·特朗普传递信息和激励。
当然，尽管特朗普今年秋天不在选票上，但在2021年竞争最激烈的全州竞选中，民主党人表现得好像他基本上在投票。
在弗吉尼亚州，州长竞选的提前投票将于下周开始，前任和未来的州长特里·麦考利夫将他的共和党对手描绘成特朗普的翻版。最近的竞选筹款呼吁样本警告“特朗普卷土重来”，并断言共和党候选人格伦·扬金将“像唐纳德·特朗普对我们国家所做的那样对待弗吉尼亚。”
在加州，罢免选举的投票将于周二结束，州长加文·纽瑟姆一直在挑选民调最好的共和党人，保守派脱口秀主持人拉里·埃尔德(Larry Elder)来接替他。
纽森上周末对美国广播公司(ABC)的佐伦·沙阿(Zohreen Shah)表示:“他们发现了一个人，值得注意的是，这个人实际上在唐纳德·特朗普的右边——实际上想在许多方面比唐纳德·特朗普走得更远。
在最高法院决定搁置德克萨斯州反堕胎法之后，民主党的信息已经具体化，至少目前如此。特朗普任命的三名大法官都以5比4的多数投票支持该法律生效。
麦考利夫和纽森都在拥有大量特朗普选民的州竞选，尽管这绝不是压倒性的。去年，乔·拜登总统以10个百分点的优势赢得了弗吉尼亚州，并以29个百分点的优势赢得了加利福尼亚州。
如果麦考利夫或纽森以接近这么大的优势获胜，那将是令人震惊的，而且有轶事和历史的理由认为民主党人担心竞选是正确的。
然而，无论他们是否试图这样做，这些比赛都将考验特朗普基础的耐力和精力。过去几年，这对民主党来说是危险的领域。
与...的关系阿维·哈珀
在劳动节，司法部宣布将加强对寻求和提供生殖健康服务的人的保护。就在这个时候，该机构制定了一项挑战德克萨斯州限制性堕胎法的战略。
司法部长梅里克·加兰指出，《反堕胎法》禁止阻碍患者和生殖健康服务提供者，包括堕胎护理。
加兰写道:“自1994年《FACE法案》签署成为法律以来，该部门一直在为违反该法案的行为获得刑事和民事补救，现在还将继续这样做。
白宫还承诺寻找对抗SB8影响的方法，尽管拜登的幕僚长罗恩·克莱恩(Ron Klain)周日在美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)被问及时没有透露很多细节。
克莱恩说:“我们会想办法，如果它们有可能的话，我认为它们是可能的，我们会想办法让德克萨斯州的妇女有所作为，努力保护她们的宪法权利，是的。
在堕胎权利团体、堕胎提供者和民主党团体的公开抗议中，也有人担心其他州可能试图复制德克萨斯州的法律。
小费亚里沙·维尔塞马
随着中期初选季节在劳动节之后开始成形，2024年共和党总统初选的潜在轮廓似乎也已就位，共和党州长对大流行的处理成为可能前景的重中之重。
马里兰州连任两届的州长拉里·霍根(Larry Hogan)是领导蓝色州的少数共和党高管之一，他在上周末接受美国全国广播公司“会见媒体”采访时，批评了来自白宫的与COVID相关的信息。霍根说:“当我认为特朗普总统在信息传递方面做得不好时，当我认为他们做得不对，没有提供我们在各州需要的援助时，我对他们相当不满，我一直在拜登政府(做)同样的事情。
这位任期有限的州长补充说:“我们从政府、疾控中心、食品和药物管理局和白宫那里得到了一些混杂的信息，我们需要对这些增强剂给予明确的指导，因为这损害了它的可信度。作为一名癌症幸存者，霍根在8月下旬接种了第三剂疫苗。
霍根对两党领导人的批评，与德克萨斯州州长格雷格·阿博特(Greg Abbott)和佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯(Ron DeSantis)等其他2024年潜在候选人与特朗普结盟的行动形成了鲜明对比。由于超过80%的合格马里兰州居民至少接种了一剂疫苗，这一举措也可能使霍根远离可能陷入政治负面大流行叙事的境地。
Democrats bet big against Trump in fall races: The Note
The TAKE withRick Klein
It's not just Republicans depending on former PresidentDonald Trumpfor messaging and motivation.
While Trump, of course, isn't on the ballot this fall, the Democrats in the most closely contested statewide races of 2021 are acting as if he basically is.
In Virginia, where early voting in the governor's race starts next week, former and would-be-future Gov. Terry McAuliffe is portraying his Republican opponent as something of a Trump clone. A sampling of recent campaign fundraising appeals warns of "Trump's comeback," and asserts that Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin would "do to Virginia what Donald Trump did to our country."
In California, where voting in the recall election concludes one week from Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom has been singling out the best-polling Republican vying to replace him, conservative talk-show host Larry Elder.
"They found someone, remarkably, that's actually to the right of Donald Trump -- actually wants to go further in many respects than Donald Trump," Newsom told ABC's Zohreen Shah over the weekend.
Democrats' messaging has crystallized in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to let stand, at least for now, the Texas anti-abortion law. All three Trump-appointed justices voted as part of the 5-4 majority to allow the law to go into effect.
Both McAuliffe and Newsom are running in states with sizable though by no means overwhelming numbers of Trump voters. President Joe Biden won Virginia by 10 points last year, and carried California by 29.
It would be shocking if either McAuliffe or Newsom win by margins even close to that large, and there are reasons both anecdotal and historical to think Democrats are right to be worried about the races.
Yet whether or not they're trying to do it, the races will test the endurance and energy of the Trump base. That's been dangerous territory for Democrats over the past few years.
The RUNDOWN withAveri Harper
On Labor Day, the Department of Justice announced it will enforce protections for people seeking and providing reproductive health care services. It comes as the agency crafts a strategy to challenge Texas' restrictive abortion law.
Attorney General Merrick Garland pointed to the FACE Act, which prohibits the obstruction of patients and providers of reproductive health services, including abortion care.
"The department has consistently obtained criminal and civil remedies for violations of the FACE Act since it was signed into law in 1994, and it will continue to do so now," wrote Garland.
The White House has also pledged to look for ways to combat the effects of SB8, though Biden's Chief of Staff Ron Klain didn't have many details when asked Sunday on CNN.
"We are going to find ways, if they're at all possible, and I think they are possible, we are going to find ways to make a difference for the women of Texas to try to protect their constitutional rights, yes," Klain said.
Amid public outcry from abortion rights groups, abortion providers and Democratic groups, there are also concerns that other states could attempt to replicate the Texas law.
The TIP withAlisa Wiersema
As the midterm primary season begins to take shape post Labor Day, the potential contours of the 2024 Republican presidential primary are also appearing to fall into place, with GOP governors' handling of the pandemic coming to the forefront of the possible outlook.
In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" over the weekend, Maryland's two-term Gov. Larry Hogan -- one of a handful of Republican executives leading blue states -- criticized the COVID-related messaging coming from the White House. "I was fairly critical of President Trump when I thought that they were bad on messaging, when I thought they were doing things wrong and not providing the assistance that we needed in the states, and I've been (doing) the same thing with the Biden administration," Hogan said.
"We're getting some mixed messaging out of the administration, out of the CDC, the FDA and the White House, and we need clear guidance on these booster shots because it undermines the credibility of it," the term-limited governor added. As a cancer survivor, Hogan received his third vaccine dose in late August.
Hogan's criticism of leaders from both parties stands in sharp contrast to the Trump-aligned actions of other potential 2024 hopefuls like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis. With more than 80% of eligible Maryland residents having received at least one vaccine dose, the move could also allow Hogan to distance himself from being pulled into a possible politically negative pandemic narrative.
