US election 2020: A ‘panic button’ moment for Senate Republicans

5. 48-ish days to the VP pick:

Former Vice President Joe Biden has said he would like to have picked his running mate by August 1 — which isn’t that long now!

(Here’s my latest look at the 10 women most likely to wind up as Biden’s pick.)

Biden himself has retreated somewhat from his earlier armchair quarterbacking of who was under consideration and who, well, wasn’t.

While he still occasionally offers praise for the most-mentioned candidates — and his campaign has held virtual fundraisers with politicians like New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham — the former vice president tends to resist much political handicapping these days.

Which means things are getting more serious.

4. How do Democrats dance around ‘Defund the Police?’:

What Democrats in Congress want to spend this week talking about is the package of legislation they introduced last week aimed at reforming the police — from banning chokeholds to building a national database of police misconduct.

What they may well have to grapple with — for a second straight week — are ongoing calls from some Black Lives Matter activists to defund the police entirely and reallocate those funds to support marginalized communities.

Which is a hugely fraught position, politically speaking. An ABC News-Ipsos poll released Friday showed that two-thirds of Americans oppose defunding the police. But almost 6 in 10 (57%) of black Americans support such a measure — and reallocating that money to more community-based programs.

Seeking to move beyond the “defund the police” debate, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, the highest ranking African American official in Congress, said this on CNN on Sunday:

“Nobody is going to de-fund the police. We can restructure the police forces. Restructure, re-imagine policing. That is what we are going to do. The fact of the matter is that police have a role to play.”

Which is, politically speaking, the right place to be. Lots of people support reforming law enforcement. Far fewer back defunding it entirely.

The question before congressional Democrats is whether Clyburn’s stated position on Sunday is enough for the more activist wing of their party.

3. Trump and the ramp:

On Saturday, President Donald Trump delivered the commencement address at West Point. And as he was leaving the stage, cameras caught him walking gingerly down a ramp to the ground.

Twitter went bananas, suggesting Trump looked old and frail. Which is, of course, what Twitter does.

But then Trump decided to drastically amplify the profile of the moment — and ensure it became a MUCH bigger story.

“The ramp that I descended after my West Point Commencement speech was very long & steep, had no handrail and, most importantly, was very slippery,” Trump tweeted on Saturday night. “The last thing I was going to do is ‘fall’ for the Fake News to have fun with. Final ten feet I ran down to level ground. Momentum!”

It’s hard to…