Much is being made over the ideological struggle happening within the Democratic Party, with some likening it to a "Democratic Tea Party," or even a civil war among Democrats. Both terms are a bit overblown, but there is indeed a struggle for the soul of the party happening. It didn't spring into existence overnight, or even with the election of New York City's Mayor Zohran Mamdani, for that matter. Instead it is a movement that has gradually built up steam to reach the point in Democratic politics where it is now.

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So doubtlessly you've heard the story -- which has gotten heavy coverage in the political press all week long, of course -- of the very progressive Democrat who not only won the primary for an open Senate seat but also impressively outperformed polling expectations, right? It was a huge story -- because it will mean there will now be three progressives on November Senate ballots in three swing states. Progressives scored a big win, which has given rise to much discussion among the pundits over whether this is a good thing or a bad thing for the Democratic Party, because it is such a risky strategy right now (with control of the Senate hanging in the balance).

What's that? You didn't hear about all of this?

Well, that's because the mainstream media decided a different primary race was worth all their ink and airwave time instead. They obsessed over a progressive who very narrowly lost a primary in a governor's race (which is just not as important, to national politics, as the Senate races), because they could barely contain their relief and glee over seeing a progressive lose (even though the polls said she would win).

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The 2026 primary season is almost over. This week's crop of primaries generated some big news, mostly due to a young and very progressive Democratic candidate winning the nomination for an open Senate seat in Michigan. This was seen as an epic defeat for both the establishment of the Democratic Party and for AIPAC, who spent tens of millions of dollars unsuccessfully trying to defeat Dr. Abdul El-Sayed -- who narrowly won the nomination, despite being outspent almost 9-to-1.

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Every so often in American politics, a potent issue arises that many voters feel very strongly about, but which neither major political party is willing to tackle (or even address). Call them "political orphan issues," since they have essentially been abandoned by both parties, for whatever reason.

Gay marriage was such an issue, a while back, since while Democrats were a lot more sympathetic to gay people in committed relationships than Republicans, very few Democrats were actually willing to stand up and champion full marriage equality for all until after the Supreme Court stepped in and decided the issue. Then it became politically safer to support gay marriage, but this was nothing more than volunteering for a fight that had already been won -- too little, too late, in other words. There are other political orphan issues from the past few decades that spring to mind, but the one that is currently growing like wildfire in the American electorate is opposing the so-far-unchecked explosion of data center construction.

This is currently a truly nonpartisan issue -- that's a very important thing to say, right up front. People opposed to data centers being built in their towns can be full-on MAGA Trump supporters or Democratic Socialists -- ideological labels don't matter on this issue, because the complaints people have about data centers are a lot more personal and immediate than national politics. It could be seen as a variation of the "NIMBY" reaction ("not in my back yard"), but as I said, the labels don't really matter much. What does matter is the white-hot rage people feel, from both the left and the right.

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It's always amusing (to me, at any rate) when one of the fantasies inside Donald Trump's feverish brain collides head-on into a brick wall of reality. This often happens inside of a federal courthouse, which is where the most recent example comes from. At the close of last week, Jeanine Pirro had to eat a healthy heaping of crow by filing a court motion to dismiss her laughably-thin case against a former Olympian, who had been accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and charged with a felony which could have landed him in jail for 10 years. Pirro did an abrupt about-face in the court filing, admitting that the evidence clearly showed that the damage to the Reflecting Pool was not actually caused by the Olympian in any way, but instead was the fault of shoddy work done by the contractor Trump had personally hired to do the job.

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The midterm congressional elections will happen in early November, which is now less than four months away. Trump has already been making drastic moves (such as firing all the members of a federal elections security board) seemingly designed to sow chaos (or worse) when the ballots are cast. Which is why tonight's speech is so worrisome. And which is why I felt the need to run the following column again. Trump's Big Lie is poisonous to American democracy, which is why I am not exactly looking forward to tonight's speech.

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Up until now, some Democratic worries about the upcoming midterm elections have been dismissed by the "It could never happen here" crowd as unfounded nightmares. They pooh-pooh such worries as being laughably outlandish and accuse people who express these worries for overreacting about things that couldn't possibly happen right here in the good ol' U.S. of A. But this week should make such scenarios a whole lot less laughable and a whole lot more worrisome.

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Last week, we warned everyone that July was going to be a sketchy month for us, in terms of our ability to write these Friday columns. So we begin today with a program update. Today's offering is not a complete Friday Talking Points column. It is bare-bones, at best. We're not even really going to attempt reviewing the past week, and we're also not going to write out talking points at the end (although we did complete the two awards sections). Just to warn everyone up front.

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If anyone needed any further proof that everything that Donald Trump touches turns to schlock (or worse), this week's opening of the Great American State Fair certainly provided some. The initial idea wasn't too bad a concept -- have all 50 states send an exhibit to the National Mall, and it would capture the spirit of state fairs held every year across America. Sounds kind of fun, actually.

But, of course, with Trump in charge of it, things didn't turn out as well as they could have. And that's putting it mildly. The whole thing was supposed to kick off with a big concert, but when the musical artists realized it was a pro-Trump event (rather than a nonpartisan celebration of patriotism), almost all of them immediately pulled out. So Trump, in a hissy fit, said that he'd give a speech instead, with the handful of the few musical artists still willing to perform for him also featured.

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It's Tuesday again, which means another round of primaries is happening. Maine's Senate primary will probably be the most-watched of the night, as everyone is waiting to see how Graham Platner does after facing new controversies last week, but there will also be primaries in Nevada, North Dakota, and South Carolina to watch as well.

However, the primary that has been generating the most news for the past week has been California's. After the polling places closed last Tuesday night in the Golden State, the counting began. It's still ongoing. After a full week of counting (as of this writing), only 84 percent of the ballots have been counted. This has left several races still up in the air, and has also resulted in at least one high-profile switch in the standings that were reported on the night of the election.

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