On the menu: Reconciliation bill still sinking with voters; New York mayoral muddle; DNC’s chairman agonistes; Crowded field could save Cassidy; Don’t sweat it
Today is West Virginia Day, the holiday celebrating the 35th state’s admission to the union on June 20, 1863.
We West Virginians are more eager to celebrate the formation of our own state than are the sons and daughters of most of the other 49. Some of this is genuine pride. I don’t know a place more beautiful or a people more kind. Some of it is stubbornness. When your state is treated as a punchline by the rest of the country, you tend to stand up a little straighter so everyone can see that chip on your shoulder.
But another piece of it is in the dubious nature of the state’s creation. As our great patron, Abraham Lincoln, allowed, “It is said the admission of West Virginia is secession, and tolerated only because it is our secession. Well, if we can call it by that name, there is still difference enough between secession against the Constitution, and secession in favor of the Constitution.”
There’s the rub. West Virginia was in “favor of” the Constitution, but the Constitution couldn’t be said to be exactly in favor of West Virginia.
Ripping the 55 western counties of Virginia away from the mother state was, as the scholars would say, “legal but not constitutional.” The Constitution forbids any state to be divided by the federal government against the wishes of its residents, and the residents of the eastern 99 counties surely would not have favored separation. But because Virginia was in rebellion and part of the Confederacy, the breakaway counties could petition Congress to be recognized as the legitimate government of Virginia and then undertake the process of statehood for the new entity. Under that convenient legal fiction, West Virginia had the legal standing to apply as both the separator and separatee.
But the West Virginians were certainly seceding in favor of the spirit of the Constitution and the aims of the Declaration of Independence: Indivisible union and the liberty of its people, even those held as slaves at that moment. The celebration of West Virginia Day is, therefore, a fundamentally defiant act.
Which makes this year’s West Virginia Day celebration a little more complicated.
For the first time since the establishment of the Juneteenth federal holiday on June 19, 2021, that holiday and West Virginia Day fall on a Thursday and a Friday, giving state and local workers in West Virginia a four-day weekend.
That was until Gov. Patrick Morrissey last week canceled the state’s observance of Juneteenth. He cited “continued fiscal challenges,” but also nixed “any formal activities” in observance of the holiday, suggesting that there was more at work than just belt tightening.
Juneteenth is the celebration of another of Lincoln’s lawyerly innovations during the Civil War. The Emancipation Proclamation, also issued in 1863, freed the slaves in the places where Lincoln had the legal power but not the practical authority to do so.
Lincoln couldn’t proclaim slavery abolished in the states that hadn’t left the Union. That would require congressional action. But he could, as commander in chief, make a wartime declaration about the slaves in enemy territory. That technicality was enough to let Lincoln define the conflict with Confederacy once and for all as a war to abolish slavery.
From the proclamation in January to West Virginia statehood in June to his address at the Soldiers’ National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pa., in November, the year 1863 was the when Lincoln defined the purpose of the war: “That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
It took 30 months for the Emancipation Proclamation to reach the farthest point in the Confederacy, when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger read out General Order No. 3 at Galveston Bay, Texas, on June 19, 1865. But at its heart, Juneteenth is a celebration of Lincoln’s choice to make the war not just about preserving the Union, but of that “new birth of freedom.”
West Virginia this year joins other states in skipping Juneteenth as a state holiday: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming have all resisted the trend. One imagines that the list will grow as other red states, like West Virginia, reject Juneteenth as some kind of DEI holiday.
Which is a shame. The Republican Party has a great inheritance from its first and most formative president. But like West Virginia, the GOP nationally has come to revere the rebellious populism of Andrew Jackson or even the heroes of the Confederacy more often than the sober, sacrificial republicanism of Lincoln.
This is maybe understandable in the former states of the Confederacy where Republicans took control not as the Party of Lincoln, but as the alternative to the Democrats who had abandoned legal segregation after 90 years of succoring segregation and Jim Crow.
But in West Virginia, which wouldn’t even exist without Lincoln’s legal and political dexterity, it seems more than a little churlish.
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NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Trump Job Performance
Average Approval: 42.6%
Average Disapproval: 55.8%
Net Score: –13.2 points.
Change from one week ago: -1.6 points
Change from one month ago: -3.8 points
[Average includes: Ipsos/Reuters: 42% approve, 54% disapprove; Fox News: 46% approve, 54% disapprove; Echelon Insights: 45% approve, 53% disapprove; Pew: 41% approve, 58% disapprove; AP/NORC: 39% approve, 60% disapprove]
Tax and budget bill loses luster
Overall, based on what you know, do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the tax and budget bill being discussed by Congress, also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”?
All adults
Favorable: 35%
Unfavorable: 64%
Republicans
Favorable: 61%
Unfavorable: 36%
Democrats
Favorable: 13%
Unfavorable: 85%
Independents
Favorable: 27%
Unfavorable: 71%
[Kaiser Family Foundation survey of 1,321 U.S. adults, June 4-8, 2025]
ON THE SIDE: WELL, FIDDLEDEEDEE
The West Virginia Encyclopedia: “Clark Kessinger was among the most prolific and influential fiddlers of the 20th century, and one of West Virginia’s most important traditional musicians. He [made] made his initial mark as a recording artist between 1928 and 1930, when he recorded more than 60 instrumentals with his nephew, guitarist Luches Kessinger. … The most popular of these 78 rpm releases was ‘Wednesday Night Waltz,’ though lively dance tunes such as ‘Hell Among the Yearlings’ and ‘Turkey in the Straw’ also sold well. The Kessinger Brothers started performing on radio station WOBU (later WCHS) when the Charleston station began broadcasting in 1927. Clark Kessinger remained in the Kanawha Valley and performed locally for the next 30 years, leading up to his rediscovery during the folk music revival of the 1960s. During the next decade, he recorded extensively, played music across the country, and won numerous fiddling contests. In 1966, he was a guest artist on the Grand Ole Opry radio program, on NBC-TV’s Today Show, and at the prestigious Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island.”
PRIME CUTS
Antisemitism charges shake NYC mayor race ahead of Tuesday vote: The Hill: “New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is facing criticism over remarks he made in which he avoided denouncing the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’ and compared it to the Warsaw ghetto uprising during the Holocaust. … Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is the front-runner in the race, slammed Mamdani for saying the phrase about the intifada is ‘subject to interpretation.’ He called on all mayoral candidates to denounce the comment. ‘That is not only wrong – it is dangerous,” he said in a post on X. “At a time when we are seeing antisemitism on the rise and in fact witnessing once again violence against Jews…”
Gaming out a muddle in New York’s mayoral race: New Yorker: “No matter who wins on June 24th, New York City could be in line for a competitive general election for the first time in more than two decades. If [Andrew] Cuomo wins, [Zohran] Mamdani may still appear on the ballot in November, on the progressive Working Families Party line. Eric Adams, the beleaguered incumbent, has announced his intention to appear on the ballot as an Independent. If Cuomo ends up losing the primary, he has pledged to do the same. The Republican nominee, the longtime political gadfly Curtis Sliwa, who, in the late seventies, founded the red-beret-clad vigilante group the Guardian Angels, ran four years ago and garnered twenty-seven per cent of the vote in a head-to-head matchup with Adams. This year, some think Sliwa’s twenty-seven per cent, or something like it, could be enough to win a four-way race.”
Dems pressure term-limited governor to challenge Collins: The Hill: “Eyes in Maine are on Gov. Janet Mills (D) as Democrats await a final decision from her on whether she will challenge Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), their top target in the 2026 midterms. Mills, subject to months of speculation about a possible Senate run as she’s unable to seek a third term in office, is viewed as perhaps Democrats’ best chance of finally ousting Collins after several failed attempts in the past. She cast some doubt in April about whether she would run, though she didn’t definitively rule it out.
Dems tap challengers for Virginia contests: WTOP: “Ghazala Hashmi, the first Muslim to serve in Virginia’s Senate, has won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in Tuesday’s primary election, firming up the Democrats’ lineup in statewide races for November’s general election. Hashmi won the crowded primary race by a slim margin, beating Democrat Levar Stoney by less than a percentage point…. She will run alongside U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger and former state Del. Jay Jones, who won the Democratic nomination for attorney general on Tuesday night… Some political experts look at Virginia’s off-year elections as an early indicator for potential outcomes from the midterms in 2026… Both Spanberger and Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears ran unopposed in the gubernatorial race. Conservatives didn’t hold a statewide primary this year. Earle-Sears was the only candidate to qualify for the governor’s race. Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares easily secured his reelection bid. And despite some earlier controversy in his candidacy, talk-radio host John Reid became the de facto lieutenant governor nominee for Republicans.”
SHORT ORDER
Miseries multiply for embattled new DNC chairman — New York Times
Another Senate primary challenger for Cassidy in Louisiana — The Hill
Florida Democrat Josh Weil announces Senate bid —Miami Herald
Former Ambassador to Ukraine announces Democratic congressional candidacy in Michigan—Politico
TABLE TALK
Moose on the loose
“He probably needs to go in butt first.” — A staffer in the office of New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen discussing how to get Marty, a life-sized plush moose, onto an elevator in the Hart Senate Office Building. Marty, along with his black bear friend, Kodak, came in from New Hampshire for a celebration this week.
MAILBAG
“I just wanted to ask your opinion about estrangement between friends and families, specifically due to political differences. I have personally seen this type of estrangement in my life and it fascinates me. It seems like it’s getting more coverage than ever in the media, and being a bit of an expert in that field yourself, I was curious if you believed that that extra attention is warranted. Do you think it’s becoming more common now? Do you think it’s ever justified? Other than general polarization, what about politics is breaking people apart to the extent of going no contact? Do you think there are any decent solutions? Or do you think the entire topic is blown out of proportion? I know this is a lot of questions, but like I said, the topic fascinated me.” — Justin Bliley
Washington Court House, Ohio
Mr. Bliley,
There’s probably no way to quantify whether political estrangement is getting worse. It’s an inherently subjective question since it relates to the feelings people have about each other.
But I can’t imagine that political estrangement is worse now than it was 50 years ago, when a generational clash over Vietnam, the draft, Watergate, civil rights, women’s liberation, abortion and everything else had just taken place against the backdrop of economic contraction and crushing inflation.
The baby boomers, then mostly in their 20s, had just completed one of the most successful youth movements in American history. It was the end of an old consensus about how people in our country lived, loved, worshiped, worked and served. Now those same baby boomers, mostly in their 70s, are fighting like hell against the next revolution, and for the moment seem to be winning.
I hope that in another 50 years, people look back on the 2010s and 2020s as a similarly transitional period in which a new, useful and durable consensus got hammered out. That way that happens is that some fights are won and lost while others simply fade away, obviated by technology or just run out of steam. A consensus is born out of a great deal of exhaustion. When people get tired enough of fighting, they can become amenable to compromise.
Another similarity to 50 years ago is that America was getting ready to celebrate a big birthday, the bicentennial of 1976 then and the semiquincentennial of 2026. What I saw in the Army parade last week that kicked off the festivities gave me some reason to hope that the hokey, homey patriotism of which we are very much in need these days might make a comeback. And none too soon.
All best,
c
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FOR DESSERT
Follow the simple, printed instructions
CTV News: “A motorcyclist last seen wearing a ‘come get me’ sweater has been arrested by Guelph [Ontario] Police. On May 29, an officer spotted a bike with no licence plate driving erratically on Stone Road West and Edinburgh Road South. Police pulled up beside the motorcycle at a red light and told the rider to pull over. Instead, he took off.
Police said he was going approximately [75 mph] on Stone Road and, in the interest of public safety, they stopped their pursuit. They then turned to social media to find the motorcyclist. Police noted he was wearing a sweater with ‘come get me’ written across the back. That post, they said, was viewed 575,000 times and several tips were reported, which led to the identification of the rider. On Friday, a 20-year-old Guelph man was arrested and charged with dangerous driving, flight from police, stunt driving and offences under the Highway Traffic Act.”
Chris Stirewalt is political editor for The Hill and NewsNation, the host of The Hill Sunday on NewsNation and The CW, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of books on politics and the media. Meera Sehgal contributed to this report.