I guess others clearly had. But I had not seen this April 26th Journal op-ed about the jockeying on the Mississippi abortion case until now. It’s very, very clarifying.

After Politico’s exclusive on Monday night publishing the draft Alito majority opinion, CNN followed rapidly that same evening with very specific details about Roberts’ position on the case, resisting joining the majority opinion and perhaps trying to lure one of the five Justices to a narrower ruling. When that second story came out so quickly I said that it made me think that the breakdown of secrecy on this case went beyond the leak of the draft opinion. Reading the Journal op-ed from last week makes that basically a certainty.

In an effort to sound like the “compassionate” party, the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm is reportedly circulating a messaging memo among members that gives the GOP talking points on how exactly they should publicly celebrate the Supreme Court’s plans to overturn Roe v. Wade.

From TPM Reader JS …

I think you’re right on about the dynamics. To me the critical piece is where you say “codify Roe as of 2021”—so that means letting most of the post Casey laws stand. And then we’re into a problem. Some Democrats are certainly going to want something very maximal and others are going to give us the 50-point plan.

It would be nice to stick to something simple and effective. I think we’ll have an intra-party fight over this, of course. Because people want to believe it’s normal politics time and these fights are just what we need when facing an authoritarian takeover.

I was looking over some Senate races last night and I was reminded that it’s going to be a real challenge for Democrats to expand their Senate majority this fall. They’ll be happy just to hold it. We’re not learning anything new to recognize that Democrats face a very daunting midterm cycle. But I want to address a discussion that evolved over the course of yesterday as Democrats and Democratic officeholders reacted to the news.

Few people were more outspoken than Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) which is totally in character for her. She showed up at the protest outside the Supreme Court and she showed up on TV. She was in a fighting mood. I saw a lot of people saying, that’s what we need! And I agree. But I think there’s something else Democrats need even more: clarity.