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July 17, 2026

Friday,July 17, 2026. Annette's Roundup for Democracy.

Trump spoke.

So.

What media helped Trump deliver his propaganda?

There is precedent for this — networks previously declined to air certain speeches given by President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden in real time.

USA Today reported - As for CNN, the network intends to cover the speech as a "news event" on its live broadcast, with a live feed of Trump's speech available on its website and CNN's All Access streaming platform.

Something you might not know you needed.

You can quote the government report on foreign interference in the 2020 election when you want to mock Trump. 👇

HERE.

Defense from Senator Ossoff of Georgia, one of 2 senators Trump has declared are illegally in office.

The second Senator from Georgia that Trump has in his line of fire is Raphael Warnock.

The Last Word

Couldn't have said it better myself.


The Blanche Hearing continued.

Tom Tillis, Senator of North Carolina, said he would not vote for Blanche unless he met with Epstein victims.

Looks like Trump may have found his key vote.

Sad. Sad. Sad.

The easiest way to reach any U.S. Senator is through the U.S. Capitol Switchboard

(202) 224-3121 — ask to be connected to any Senator’s office.


How is it going as we approach the Midterms?

One more thing.

The World Cup Final is the draw, but voter registration is the goal.

If Democrats can register 3,000 voters at watch parties, it’s reasonable to think that number could be closer to 30,000.

Democrats look to World Cup watch parties to register thousands of voters

The party's weekend campaign is a part of a broader initiative focused on young voters ahead of the 2026 midterms.

VARIOUS CITIES - JULY 14: Soccer fans watch a semi-final World Cup match between France and Spain at Felix, a longtime French establishment in Manhattan, on July 14, 2026, in New York City. Spain beat France 2-0, sending them to the finals. Across New York City and other parts of the country, soccer fans converged on cafes and bars for watch parties during the match. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The Democratic National Committee is betting the world’s biggest sporting event can help build its voter base.

The DNC is launching a nationwide voter registration effort for Sunday’s World Cup final, dispatching organizers, volunteers and campaign staff to FIFA Fan Zones, sports bars and community watch parties with the goal of registering more than 3,000 new Democratic voters.

The effort underscores how both political parties are increasingly viewing major sporting events as opportunities to reach voters — particularly young Americans who may be less likely to attend traditional political events but are gathering in large numbers around the monthlong tournament. In the case of the World Cup final, more than 80,000 people are expected to attend in person.

“From outside FIFA Fan Zones and at World Cup watch parties to bars, restaurants and parks, we’ll spend the weekend registering thousands of new Democrats and having conversations about how we win races up and down the ballot,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement.

The weekend push spans nearly two dozen states, with Democratic organizers attending events in battlegrounds including Arizona, Pennsylvania and Florida. In Arizona, Democrats plan registration efforts in Phoenix, Chandler, Tempe, Tucson and Yuma.

The campaign builds on the DNC’s broader “When We Count” initiative focused on young voters ahead of the 2026 midterms. Unlike traditional registration drives centered on college campuses, the program deliberately targets young Americans who are already in the workforce.

About one-third of the program’s fellows are native Spanish speakers.

The party is pairing the registration effort with a four-part national training series that it says will equip more than 1,500 organizers, campaign staff and volunteers with best practices for partisan voter registration.

Professional sports leagues have increasingly embraced civic engagement around elections, and the NBA and WNBA are some of the most visible example, using arenas as polling locations and partnering on nonpartisan voter registration drives. And conservatives have previously registered voters at NASCAR events in the past.

“The power in sport is that people gather. It creates a sense of belonging,” said Lee Igel, a professor of global sport at New York University. “If you want to get 3,000 people registered to vote at a watch party for a sports mega-event, you’d be hard-pressed not to get closer to 30,000 people [registered].”

Igel said the DNC’s initiative takes that relationship between sports and civic participation a step further.

“There’s some precedent when it comes to voting and sports,” he said. “But this picks up on a more recent trend of politicians, elected officials and the organizations they’re connected to tapping into the power of sport.”

He pointed to leaders across the political spectrum, including President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, as examples of politicians increasingly recognizing sports’ cultural reach.
“Sport is fun and games,” Igel said, “but the attention it attracts in communities — from eyeballs to people in person — is enormous.” (Politico)


Women's Sports Advanced.

And suffered a setback.

You might think someone in airport management would have valued the New York WNBA team enough to get them in the air.


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