On October 20, 2024, I wrote an article about presidential runner-ups with the most recent birth dates. My article was inspired by the fact that prior to the 2024 presidential election, Al Gore, who lost in 2000, was the youngest person to finish runner-up in a presidential election.  I went through all the runners-up to see if Mr. Gore had the longest streak, and learned that he was the record holder.  Mr. Gore had appeared slated to extend his mark prior to July 2024 since both of the presumptive major party nominees were older than him.  However, the presumptive Democratic nominee, now-outgoing President Joe Biden, withdrew the race and was replaced by the Vice President, Kamala Harris, who is just more than 18 and one-half years younger than Mr. Gore. I noted the possibility that Mr. Gore’s streak would end and indeed it has. As Donald Trump prepares to join Grover Cleveland as the only men to serve two non-consecutive terms as president, Ms. Harris replaces Mr. Gore as the presidential runner-up with the most recent birth date. This is admittedly a very niche record, but Mr. Gore’s holding the mark for six elections is a fun oddity, especially in light of the fact that he was not an exceptionally young major party nominee in 2000. I will add a few small updates to my research article in the coming days.

I Read the Would-be Trump Assassin’s Book So You Don’t Have To by River Page (The Free Press)
‘Ukraine’s Unwinnable War’ is a window into the strange mind of Ryan Routh.

I came across an article in my feed reader from The Free Press titled I Read the Would-be Trump Assassin’s Book So You Don’t Have To. I could not read much of the article because it is paywalled (it was part of one of my Real Clear feeds). That is all well in good since I do not have to read the book it is about. But one quote from the article excerpt caught my attention:

Although Routh’s precise motive remains unclear, his self-published book—Ukraine’s Unwinnable War: The Fatal Flaw of Democracy, World Abandonment and the Global Citizen—Taiwan, Afghanistan, North Korea and the End of Humanity (2023)—offers some insights into his worldview.

What was the precise motive of a man staking out a golf course to shoot former President Trump? I search and search for an answer, again today I search.

(PS: While I am sure his book must be riveting I submit that I would be more interested in what he was doing on his myriad foreign excursions.)