How has the reshuffled deck reshuffled the race? Who wins the election if it comes down to the economy?

Did you miss me? The last three weeks were pre-empted by the Olympics. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did! The week before that we were pre-empted by the British Open.

Did anything happen over the last month? Well, the day I was leaving for Paris, president Joe Biden announced he would not be running for reelection. My goodness, the churning rapids of the political world have been running wild ever since.

This morning we are going to work to get caught up and there’s very little time to do that with the Democratic National Convention getting underway this week in Chicago. What has the campaign shakeup done to the landscape in Michigan? Big congressional races, a Senate race, and the balance of power in Lansing are all hanging in the balance.

Also, both parties, especially over the last week, turning the spotlight on the economy. Inflation is coming under control, but that’s not to be confused with prices coming down. Banks are raising the specter of a recession. So, is there an advantage for one side or the other? We’ll start with economist Justin Wolfers on this busy morning.

A 20-year-old Pennsylvanian without much of an online presence. The former president survived the shooting, but one rally attendee did not and two others were critically wounded.

Tomorrow night, Republicans gather in Milwaukee to begin their nominating convention. We’re going to discuss it with our round table.

You can watch the July 14, 2024, episode of Flashpoint in the video player above.

If he acts in a personal capacity, something that is not considered an official duty, then he does not have immunity. Well, how do we begin to decide what is official and what is personal? And even for things that are official, does it make sense that the president is not held to the law? We’re going to talk about that.

I have been hoping to host a joint appearance in the democratic race to succeed Debbie Stabenow in the U.S. Senate between Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin and the actor Hill Harper.

The Slotkin campaign has turned aside our invitation, but Hill Harper is on Flashpoint to talk about his candidacy. Is it a reach for someone with no elected office experience to start at the deep end of the pool?

What kind of experience can he bring to bear on the weighty issues facing the U.S.? And where does he stand on the question vexing Democrats everywhere this past week. Should president Biden be the Democratic nominee for president?

You can watch the July 7, 2024, episode of Flashpoint in the video player above.

The ratings were pretty high for a showdown in the matchup that most voters insist they don’t want. It was a wide-ranging 90-minutes, lots of topics, domestic and foreign.

The take from many reminded me of the 1960 debate between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon. I’m not sure how much substance anyone took from that night, but all anyone could talk about was Nixon’s shifty, sweaty performance, sans makeup.

Thursday night, even Democrats were filling social media with their dismay at president Biden’s raspy, weak voice. On the other hand, as CNN Jon King said, Donald Trump broke the fact-check machine.

So, no surprise that the take from many, especially as the two argued over their golf handicaps, that they still just don’t like their choices. And, yet, here we are. Two weeks away from the Republican convention in Milwaukee.

You can watch the June 30, 2024, episode of Flashpoint in the video player above.

It’s a debate that breaks the rules and a couple pundits say it could be as important as the Nixon-JFK debate. We’ll get into it with our round table.

It has been a difficult week in Rochester Hills in the aftermath of the mass shooting at its Brookland Plaza splash pad. There are also questions about who could be held responsible. Oakland County sheriff Michael Bouchard and Rochester Hills mayor Bryan Barnett discuss.

Another topic, the safety and integrity of our vote this season. After chaos in the 2020 election at the then-TCF Center, Detroit City clerk Janice Winfrey talks changes to ensure a better process.

You can watch the June 23, 2024, episode of Flashpoint in the video player above.

There is no question the Detroit Riverfront has become a gleaming jewel. According to a USA Today poll, it is now the nation’s very best riverwalk. If you’re among the many who take advantage of its beauty, you already know it’s a stunner.

If you haven’t given it a try yet, you are missing out. But all of that is why we are focused this morning on another stunner. The allegations that William Smith, the chief financial officer, of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy embezzled up to the impossible to grasp amount of $40 million.

This isn’t exactly skimming a few bucks out of the petty cash account. The mess has already cost the conservancy its beloved CEO Mark Wallace. And while several foundations have worked so hard to pledge their continuing support, the questions are fair and critical -- how did this happen given the massive profile and budget of the conservancy and its who’s who board of directors?

How was it missed by the auditors? And what is the net effect on the nonprofit world in Detroit? So many questions and we are going to dig into it on this edition of Flashpoint.

We’re also going to dig into another development that broke on Mackinac Island and that is the Wayne Oakland Macomb Partnership on automation alley’s project diamond. Nowadays, 3D printers seem capable of printing out just about anything from a widget to a house. What does a massive network of connected 3D printers hold in store? The future perhaps.

You can watch the June 16, 2024, episode of Flashpoint in the video player above.

We’re going to start though with the protests over the Israel-Hamas war at the University of Michigan. Protesting is kind of a rite of collegiate passage for many. But have they gone too far when they march to the home of the Chair of the Board of Regents and tape a list of demands to her door and place fake body bags in her yard? Sarah Hubbard, who leads the Board of Regents, will be on Flashpoint to speak about it.

We’re also following Donald Trump’s lead, President Biden’s move to levy tariffs on China. What does that mean for the auto industry battles?

You can watch the May 19, 2024, episode of Flashpoint in the video player above.

We’ve passed the deadline for candidates and races are set. Why the Senate race for Debbie Stabenow’s seat is one of the most watched and the three key Congressional races in the state. Our roundtable is ready for that discussion.

Plus, four years after the pandemic started, there’s one county in Michigan that’s leading the recovery. That’s according to some new data out of the University of Michigan. What is Oakland County doing that has it surging ahead?

Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter is on Flashpoint to talk jobs.

You can watch the May 12, 2024, episode of Flashpoint in the video player above.

That is, of course, true of every presidential election. But here we are with razor thin margins for both sides and almost surreal matchup of a current president running against a former one.

That former one, Donald Trump, had a day off from his hush money trial. He was back in Michigan this past week and later this month, President Biden will be in Detroit for the NAACP Freedom Dinner.

Politically speaking, it’s already fraught enough. But now throw in the protests taking over college campuses all over the country. Testimony to the deep divide over the Israel-Hamas war.

Throw in the relatively robust third party candidacy of Robert Kennedy Junior and just because all of this isn’t crazy enough, we expect a move to dump the speaker of the house from inside his own party.

Then there’s the matter of Kristi Noem shooting her dog. We’ll talk about it all -- and we’ll take stock of what the NFL Draft did and didn’t do for Detroit.

You can watch the May 5, 2024, episode of Flashpoint in the video player above.

We’ve also been trying to juggle all of the various court proceedings going on in the past week. Crazy split screen viewing on Thursday as Donald Trump’s hush money trial was proceeding in New York just as the Supreme Court in Washington was hearing arguments surrounding his claims of presidential immunity.

That was the day after Trump and a number of others were described as “unindicted co-conspirators” in the Michigan case of the phony electors.

All of these matters provoke a ton of questions and we’ll consider those with former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, the author of a new book on the perils of disinformation in America.

And then, a little later on, a former Detroit Lion invites a bunch of kids to a very exclusive dinner. Why? Because Andre Fluellen wants them to dream.

You can watch the April 28, 2024, episode of Flashpoint in the video player above.