NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight’s 7 p.m. ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.
State of play:
- 85 days to the election
- 7 days to the DNC
- 29 days to the debate set for Sept. 10
- 22 days since Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the candidacy, and she still hasn’t had a meaningful interaction with the press (yesterday’s gaggle over jet noise didn’t count).
- Decision Desk HQ average: Harris +0.4, as of around 12 p.m. ET today. Click here to see the latest numbers
Vibe Swing
For reasons beyond understanding, the American people don’t associate the policies of the Biden-Harris administration with Harris.
- New polling shows Harris’ trust numbers rising substantially (even topping Donald Trump) on the economy.
- Harris is running an ad about border security called “Tougher” — that’s like Jesse James running for office promising new bank security laws.
- Case in point: This side-by-side clip of ABC’s Jonathan Karl about Harris’ border responsibilities.
Republicans can rightly complain all they want about the media double standard, the undemocratic switch, the coronation, the honeymoon, but much like arguing with referees in sports, you look like a loser.
It’s about the vibe. The Associated Press headlines, “Harris is pushing joy. Trump paints a darker picture. Will mismatched moods matter?”
- Vibe check: Of course the mood matters
- There were four years of mean tweets under Trump
- There have been over three years of COVID-19 and Biden gaslighting
Americans told us for years they wanted somebody other than Trump or Biden — now, they have that person. Why should we be surprised?
Our buddy Chris Cillizza laid out a devastating analysis of why the 2024 election is Trump’s to lose, and he’s losing.
- Go deeper: The youth vote is swinging rapidly for Harris. Cillizza talks about this on his Substack.
- Read the polling.
Team Harris (with lots of Obama talent) figured out almost innately that America wanted something other than Trump’s grievances or Biden’s incoherence and is delivering.
Full North Korean: Time magazine’s profile on Harris explains it all.
- It’s noteworthy that Time did the glowing article without Harris sitting for an interview with them.
- Glenn Greenwald — hardly a Trump fan — writes in response, “The way the US corporate media transformed Kamala Harris from a national embarrassment to a transformative pioneer overnight — without even pretending to care about anything that she thinks or believes — is a powerful testament to how potent the science of propaganda is.”
Legit gripe: Trump complains so much it’s easy to overlook his legitimate gripes.
- Example: It’s been over three weeks, and Harris’ only policy proposal – no tax on tips – has legitimately been taken directly from the Trump campaign.
Things won’t change.
- From Politico’s newsletter: “‘Values unite and specific policies divide, so I don’t think there is a desire to spend the next 80 days litigating Medicare for All, for example,’ one senior Democratic congressional aide told Playbook.”
It’s starting: The Washington Post editorial board showed a modicum of intellectual honesty with their piece, “Questions We’d Love to Ask Kamala Harris.”
- Thought bubble: The press likes to feel important — the Harris campaign will rue the day they embarrass them.
Trapped
One can imagine the Harris campaign would like nothing more than hitting JD Vance over a picture showing him in drag during a law school Halloween party.
Be fair: Nobody wants their college or law school pictures on display for the world to see, but to borrow a phrase, it’s a little weird.
Don’t Take the Bait
Ahead of his interview with Elon Musk tonight, “@realdonaldtrump” started posting again.
- “Are you better off now than you were when I was president?”
- “Our economy is shattered. Our border has been erased. We’re a nation in decline.”
- “Make the American Dream AFFORDABLE again. Make America SAFE again. Make America GREAT Again!”
Cue the segments about “the new Trump” or a “more disciplined Trump” suddenly talking about issues people care about — dream on.
Trump still thinks and acts like he’s running against President Biden … it’s not working … worse still for him is he shows zero interest in changing:
- Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan write in the New York Times, “The scion of a New York real-estate family, whose father is an old friend of Mr. Trump’s, asked how Mr. Trump planned to take the narrative back from Democrats, and what his positive vision for the country would be. It appeared to be a request for reassurance. Mr. Trump provided none. Instead, he criticized Ms. Harris on a range of fronts, before adding: ‘I am who I am.’”
- More evidence: The tweeting of a photo alleging Harris crowds were faked … they aren’t, and predictably, it backfired.
- Even more evidence: His $100 million suit against the Department of Justice for the Mar-a-Lago raid — spare me.
Watch tonight: Meredith McGraw is out with an incredible new book, “Trump in Exile.”
Wednesday vs. Friday
In 48 hours, Kamala Harris went from attacking pro-Hamas protesters to all but joining them.
- At a rally Wednesday, she clapped back at protesters during her rally with, “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”
- On Friday, she went off the prompter and looked down — almost like she was reading a prepared statement — saying, “I have been clear: Now is the time to get a cease-fire deal, and get the hostage deal done.”
Famed Democratic pollster Mark Penn went for the jugular about her comments after Hamas claimed Israel killed dozens by hitting a “school.” He wrote on X, “Hamas makes wild claims and Harris immediately responds to them as facts. Any serious presidential candidate would have said they were getting the facts on the Israeli strike (which Israel is providing) and then condemned Iran for the attack on US troops in Syria and possibly even mentioned the mass drone attack by Hezbollah.”
Fact check: Click here to see the IDF respond about the 31 terrorists killed in the airstrike this weekend.
Watch tonight: Alex Caprariello spent the day with the 30,000 protesters promising to disrupt the DNC unless Harris agrees to an arms embargo against Israel. We’ll hear from him tonight.
The politics: The Republican Jewish Coalition posts to YouTube that they “(Issue) ‘Praise Israel’ Challenge to Democrats Heading to the Chicago Convention.”
Zoom out: There is about to be a war between Israel and Iran — the Biden administration cares almost exclusively about their cease-fire deal for domestic political purposes.
- Increasingly, Israel doesn’t care what the United States says.
Again, Glenn Greenwald — no fan of Israel — writes on X, “Major US military assets are being deployed to the Middle East as a regional war becomes increasingly possible. The NYT says all this was ‘ordered’ by Defense Sec. Austin ‘to take every possible step to defend Israel.’ Is the President involved? Anyone know if Kamala agrees?”
Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.
