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:
- 97 days to the election
- 19 days to the DNC
- 41 days to the debate on Sept. 10
- 10 Days since Kamala Harris accepted the candidacy, and she hasn’t had a meaningful interaction with press
- Decision Desk HQ average: Donald Trump +1.7 (and dropping) Click here to see the numbers
Events tonight and tomorrow:
- Trump: Today, he speaks at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention. Tonight, he will rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
- Harris: Tonight, she will attend a private campaign event before speaking at historically Black sorority Sigma Gamma Rho’s 60th International Biennial Boule in Houston, Texas. Tomorrow, she will attend Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s funeral.
- Vance: Tonight, JD Vance will rally in Glendale, Arizona.
- Harris’ VP: Currently waiting for a phone call, his first rally with Harris will be Tuesday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Game Change!
We are living in perhaps the quickest, most seismic change to ever happen in American politics. Ten days ago, Trump talked about putting New Hampshire and Minnesota in play:
- Now, every swing state is a toss-up, and some are leaning blue — don’t just look at the averages … look at the new polls and trend lines.
- For the first time in recent memory, the Democrat is ahead of Trump — again, forget the average … everything changed 10 days ago.
- The momentum for Harris continues to grow. Next comes the rollout of her running mate and then the Democratic National Convention.
- Meanwhile, Team Trump appears to have no plan.
We will cover this a lot more in depth on the show…
- There is a lot of news today:
- War breaking out in the Middle East, and the U.S. president completely MIA
- A Republican vice presidential nominee in freefall with no plan while people are making jokes about him having sex with a couch
- “Mark my words — worst VP pick since Eagleton,” says CNN’s data guy.
- The Trump campaign is trying to find a message (and a nickname) for Kamala Harris
- A Democratic candidate turned first living saint in nine days who has changed virtually all her positions — on the border, guns, health care, child care — you name it. She’s now a centrist.
- A Democratic nominee who refuses to talk to the press — and the press is not only OK with that, they are attacking her rival for … talking to the press.
- I could go on …
But seriously …
- It’s not just momentum and energy:
- The insane shift in polls over 10 days is something unseen in American political history.
- Warning lights: Ohio is now tied.
Watch tonight: The great Chris Cillizza on whether I am making too much of it.
- Whether Democrats can keep the momentum going
- Whether it’s real or just a sugar high of emotion
- If Harris’ Atlanta crowd actually came for her or for a free Megan Thee Stallion concert
- If she can expand the excitement beyond Black people and young white women
Thought bubble: Think of everything that’s changed in past 10 days
- Harris’ prompter reading skills
- The campaign’s entire message
- The rally chants: “We’re Not Going Back” and “Lock Him Up”
- The candidate’s stump speech, even her stump speech last night vs. 10 days ago
- It’s pretty astounding. Am I the only one who thinks the planning for this started more than 10 days ago?
Chicago Vibes
Today, Donald Trump went to speak to the National Association of Black Journalists Convention — not exactly a safe space — as evidenced by the jeers and boos from “journalists.”
- ABC’s Rachel Scott used her first question to all but ask if Trump forgot his Klan hood — it was beyond a hostile environment.
- When in her entire time as VP or a candidate in 2020 did Harris ever have even a remotely challenging, much less hostile, interview?
- To be fair: Trump swung at pitches in the dirt and missed a few softballs, but he was there.
- Never underestimate Republicans’ ability to screw things up – he litigated Harris’ racial identity.
- Look back: The co-chair of the convention resigned in protest of Trump coming, but Kamala Harris, the sitting VP who is celebrated by those same journalists as the possible “first Black and South Asian female president,” didn’t show up.
- Wait, what? Now journalists need a safe space from one of the two major candidates for president?
- Thought bubble: For journalists allegedly worried about transparency, shouldn’t the anger be at a presidential candidate who after nine days as the nominee apparent still hasn’t faced a single meaningful question?
She doesn’t need to bother taking questions (even from Black journalists) because any tough question will be deemed racist.
What about Biden?
Israel’s killing of a Hamas political leader and Hezbollah’s military commander makes the world a better place. Also, the headlines of every major news site in the world tell us the Gaza war could soon turn into a full-blown Middle East war.
- Is the White House putting out pictures of Joe Biden on the phone with world leaders? No
- Is the president coming to the briefing room to tell the American people what he’s doing to prevent a war? No
- Did Biden get a 3 a.m. phone call today?
- What is our president doing?
Everybody said he could finish the job and run American foreign policy…
- State of play: Israel’s “go it alone” strikes lay bare Team Biden’s abject failure to “manage” events in the Middle East
- Israel feels so isolated it must make big moves to prove it’s not vulnerable given lack of American support
- It’s a giant middle finger from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Biden and Harris
- Netanyahu met with them last week — they demanded a cease-fire …
- The U.S. didn’t get advance warning on either strike and the one on Tehran
- Shows how Biden’s national security team cares most about a “cease-fire” in Gaza for a domestic political situation
- Blinken today talked only about the need for a cease-fire in Gaza — if the head of Hamas and No. 2 of Hezbollah both get whacked in 24 hours … talking about cease-fires is hilarious
- Fair point: Terrorists negotiate only from positions of extreme weakness — Israel might have made a cease-fire more likely.
- Shows the stunning ineptitude of Iran and its security apparatus
- Hint hint: If Israel can take out Hamas’ No. 1 in Tehran, think about what America should be able to do
History lesson:
- In the end, Israel finally delivered justice for the 241 Americans killed by Hezbollah in the Beirut barracks bombing.
- Think about what Israel did that America would not.
- During my time as a Middle East correspondent, shops in the old city of Jerusalem sold T-shirts saying, “Don’t worry America, we have your back” with a picture of an Israeli F-15.
Don’t Say His Name!
Harris’ new 19-minute, well-written, zippy stump speech hits Trump hard and completely changes her positions on big issues:
- She no longer wants to ban fracking
- She now opposes assault weapons buyback program
- She pledges to sign a bipartisan border bill into law. Click here to watch her new ad.
- Trump is out with his own border ad. You decide who’s prosecuting the case better
- She now backs the Biden administration’s budget requests for increased funding for border enforcement
- She is reiterating support for Israel’s right to defend itself
- She no longer supports single-payer health care (Medicare for all)
Missing: She left out the name of the person who she was so proud of ten days ago: Joe Biden.
- Read more: Bill O’Reilly’s message of the day lays out pretty succinctly why Harris won’t mention Biden’s name.
- His conclusion: “I am a bit confused about what Joe Biden has done for me and my countrymen.”
Remember a few months ago when the media told us the Democrats’ biggest problem was not talking about Biden’s accomplishments enough? Now, they can’t run away from everything Biden fast enough.
Vanquished: Biden will speak on Monday of the DNC. We don’t know a time slot, but it’s not exactly a place of honor!
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.
