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Harris wins debate
And it's not that Trump didn't have points to make, but he largely didn't make them. The only significant time that I saw a misstep that Trump was able to hit against Kamala was when she was complaining about his tariffs against China and more broadly. And, of course, these were policies that Trump put in place, which Biden stuck with and claims he's succeeded in China, and they were Trump policies and said, well, if you want to change them, why didn't you? And through the debate, his message was, well, if there are all these great things you wanted to do, you've been vice president, why haven't you done them over the last 3.5 years? But on balance, what Trump did was lose message, lose discipline, and attack Kamala Harris in ways that seemed incoherent and all over the map from the opening question when he was asked about the economy and couldn't stay on target on the economy instead immediately started talking about immigration when he threw in this nonsensical and false claim that immigrants, Haitian immigrants in Ohio are eating household pets. When he was asked about foreign policy and said I'm loved around the world and used Hungary's Viktor Orban as his respected character witness on and on, he seemed defensive and angry and not on message and not disciplined and was rattled by the fact that Kamala Harris was landing punches against him.
I don't think she was fantastic, but she was good. And good is a significant accomplishment given the fact that coming into this, she was not taking interviews, one exception over the last six weeks with the media. Certainly, nothing that was confrontational or hostile, that she's frequently spoken in abstractions and generalities, and not shown policy chops on a range of issues with depth and detail, that she frequently laughs a lot, you know, sort of out of timing and in ways that seems not to make sense, and out of defensiveness. None of that happened this evening. Today, Harris was responding coherently, not always with every fact at her fingertips, but certainly seemed to be a normal politician with a message to put across. Was particularly strong on issues like abortion, where she has that capacity, and on pieces of economic policy. Also, in being able to land blows against Trump and his unfitness, inconsistency, lack of support for democracy, other related issues.
Now, ABC is going to come into the crosshairs here because certainly the questions that they asked, and the follow-ups, were more hostile towards Trump than they were towards Harris. Would you say that they were biased against Trump? Well, I would say that they were more focused on fact-finding, and Trump, more frequently than Harris and more frequently than any politician at that level, is making up his own facts. And they were doing a fair amount of fact-checking in real time. I would say there was a little bit of bias in the sense that there were a couple of places they could have been fact-checking Kamala Harris, and they didn't. And I think they could have done a better job of that. I also think that they gave Trump much more time to follow up when he wanted to, and they typically cut off Harris at the end of her time. You could say that that's bias in favor of Trump, except it didn't help Trump. It actually hurt Trump because the longer he was speaking, the more rattled and unhinged he appeared to be.
So, I'd certainly say if you were looking at this debate, in terms of who you thought actually came across as a winner, and you had uncertainty as a potential voter, in the way that Biden/Trump would have been 95%, Trump, Harris/Trump would be 80% Harris. Now, if you're a partisan on the Harris or Trump side, it didn't matter what was going to happen, and you're going to say that your side won, no matter what. If you're trying to defend Trump tomorrow on air, you're going to say, “This was three-on-one. This was an ABC dogpile. They're the fake news. They should be shut down.” And I suspect Trump will be saying that, both directly and with his proxies tomorrow.
But the fact is, he did not perform, and he is a 78-year-old man. He has not been particularly on point or on message in lots of his rallies recently, if you've watched them, or at the Economics Club in New York last week, if you watch that speech, he has vulnerabilities. And Kamala Harris, who had not been tested at this level before, this is, you know, a presidential debate, she's the nominee., it's the biggest spot of her life, and she gave the best performance of her vice presidency, in my view. Was she, you know, Obama in terms of masterful and soaring rhetoric? No. was she Reagan? Same, no. But was she capable of sounding presidential, sounding like a leader, and thumping Trump pretty hard? Absolutely, yes. I think this is an incredibly tight race. It's essentially a coin flip. I think this will probably give Harris a little bit more momentum that had tapped out after the convention. But it's probably not going to move her 2 or 3 points. It might move her half a point or a point.
It's very, very tight. And I still think this election is very much open over the next couple months. But Harris did herself significant favors, Trump did himself none, over the last couple of hours, and that's the news going into tomorrow. That's my view. Best I can do. You can disagree with it, but you know, I at least try to tell you what I think is going on honestly, and I'll talk to you all real soon.
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Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris campaigns on Aug. 29, 2024, in Savannah, Ga.
Harris’ first interview recap: She’s pragmatic, not progressive
In Kamala Harris’ first interview since becoming her party's nominee, she sat down with CNN’s Dana Bush and staked her flag solidly in the center of the Democratic Party.
On policy. Harris has been accused of abandoning some of the more liberal positions she held when she ran for president in 2019, particularly on the environment and single-payer health care. Harris’ rebuttal was to refocus on the Biden-Harris administration's record. She bragged about decreasing drug prices and that as vice president she “cast the tie-breaking vote that increased leases for fracking,” while also increasing clean energy production with the Inflation Reduction Act. However, she distanced herself from the former president when it came to the economy and immigration.
While her answer might not silence accusations that she is a “flip-flopper,” Harris is betting on pragmatism over progressive idealism. Being open to fracking, ready to crack down on the southern border, and dismissive of Medicare for All are all positions focused on getting elected.
On strategy. In a continuation of what we saw at the Democratic National Convention, Harris presented herself as a “joyful warrior,” betting that Americans are “ready for a new way forward … fueled by hope and by optimism.” Harris also shied away from emphasizing her potential to be the first woman and first woman of color to serve as president, saying instead that she is “the best person to do this job at this moment for all Americans, regardless of race and gender.”
Performance review. The interview came amid criticism that she had been avoiding a hard-hitting media interview. This attempt to answer that criticism may have fallen flat. Harris appeared comfortable and articulate, but the interview consisted mostly of soft-ball questions. The real test of Harris’ mettle is yet to come on Sept. 10 when she faces off against Donald Trump on the debate stage.
US Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz takes the stage on Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, on Aug. 21, 2024.
Tim Walz introduces himself to America
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had a heavy task before him when he stepped onto the Democratic National Convention stage Wednesday night to formally accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for vice president. He’s a relatively unknown politician who was tapped to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate — in an election unlike any this country has ever seen — earlier this month. Walz needed to deliver and sell himself as a viable, attractive VP candidate. And he was following some tough acts: former President Bill Clinton, Stevie Wonder, and a little-known talk show host named Oprah Winfrey.
By the time Walz was done speaking, however, the crowd in Chicago’s United Center was roaring with approval.
After walking out to the beat of John Mellencamp’s “Small Town,” in an allusion to Walz’s Nebraska roots, the Minnesota governor took it upon himself to lay out his life story — he was introducing himself to the country. Walz talked about serving in the military, falling in love with teaching, coaching high school football, and ultimately transitioning into politics.
“It was my students who first inspired me to run for Congress. They saw in me what I hoped to instill in them — a commitment to the common good,” Walz said.
Walz is a progressive, which could be a double-edged sword for Harris. He could help her draw in more left-leaning voters who’ve soured on the Democratic Party in recent years, but he might also turn off centrist voters who are on the fence.
But Walz leaned into his progressive record in his speech, at times contrasting his policies as governor with the culture wars being waged by many Republican governors and politicians. “While other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours,” Walz said at one point, referring to his free school lunch program.
Walz said he would be an advocate for personal freedoms, summing up his view with the phrase: "Mind your own damn business." He also said Harris would "stand up and fight for your freedom to live the life that you want to lead."
Walz laid out what Harris would do for the country as president, including cutting taxes for the middle class, taking on big pharma to lower prescription drug prices, and fighting to make homes more affordable.
He wrapped up with a rallying cry for Democrats. “We’ve only got 76 days to go. That’s nothing. There’ll be time to sleep when we’re dead,” Walz said, offering a countdown until Election Day, with the crowd erupting in response.
While Walz’s speech was well-received at the convention, it remains to be seen whether it resonated with a national audience. Democrats are clearly fired up now that Harris is their nominee, but polling shows that she still faces a tight race with former President Donald Trump — and riling up party loyalists is a lot easier than winning over undecideds.
Walz was “very good, but the message seems very targeted toward Democrats,” says Jon Lieber, Eurasia Group’s managing director for the US, adding that the more important speech of the night was likely from Oprah Winfrey, who “was speaking to a broader audience.”
“Democrats like to paint Walz as a normal guy who can appeal to ‘everyday Americans,’ but the fact is that the margins in his two elections were pretty consistent with a D-leaning state that’s divided around 55/45 party lines,” Lieber adds. “He seems like a dedicated public servant, caring teacher and coach, and devoted family man, but I’m just not sure any of that translates into votes.”