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:
- 98 days to the election
- 20 days to the DNC
- 42 days to the debate on Sept. 10
- Click here to see the Decision Desk HQ average: Trump +1.8
Two weeks after the Donald Trump assassination attempt, Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn. (and possible VP pick), made it clear the “turning down the temperature” time is over, calling Trump a fascist bully who is a threat to democracy.
Buzz = Chainsaw?
Vice President Kamala Harris’ strategy of running from the bubble (vs. Biden’s 2020 basement strategy) is working:
- Huge media support
- Watch Mark Halperin’s hit with us last night saying the support could last the 98 days until the election — right now, she’s getting “billions” in earned media.
- Inside baseball: MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend, formerly on Team Harris, tweeted a defense of journalists asking questions of Trump at the National Association of Black Journalists.
- Our response: “So when will we see tweets demanding @KamalaHarris ‘sit for serious interviews and answer real questions?’”
- But seriously, in the nine days since Harris announced her campaign, she’s done zero interviews. Meanwhile, Trump is walking into the National Association of Black Journalists, and Harris can’t even sit down with MSNBC?
- To be fair: Lester Holt proved a trip to Europe was too far for Harris.
- The intersectional groups coming out in droves
- “White Dudes for Harris” leader Ross Morales Rocketto joins us after raising over $2.7 million last night during a Zoom call that included Pete Buttigieg.
- Buttigieg said on the call, “So much politics is just vibes. Having said that, the vibes right now are incredible.”
- Fair question: Are there lots of guys coming out after 12 hours in the coal mines talking about Buttigieg’s vibes?
- Last thought: For a campaign that claims to want to end racism, Harris is leaning into dividing America by race.
- “White Dudes for Harris” leader Ross Morales Rocketto joins us after raising over $2.7 million last night during a Zoom call that included Pete Buttigieg.
- Fundraising from megadonors continues to impress.
It sounds great, but so did her 2020 presidential campaign. Democrats worry about her ability to convert voters.
- Christopher Cadelago writes in Politico, “It’s worth remembering that Harris also had a wildly successful presidential campaign rollout in 2019. Things went downhill after that. This time around, she’s far better prepared. There isn’t a lot of time to get it right, but she has the advantage of a clear enemy, an inherited campaign structure and a well-defined objective.”
No sweat: Team Trump tells our buddy Henry Rogers at the Daily Caller they aren’t worried.
- The plan? “Get her off-script,” writes Rogers.
- He continues, “A number of allies close to Trump and some officials on his campaign said a debate between Trump and Harris plays right into their hands due to their desire to get her off-script in front of large audiences. Her penchant for gaffes and awkward moments in interviews and live events will help drive voters away, they told the Caller. After all, that’s what ultimately killed Biden’s reelection bid.”
- Thought bubble: Risking everything on a debate one month from now seems, well, risky.
He’s Still the President
In the past 24 hours, the president of the United States said the speaker of the House was “dead on arrival” and repeated a demonstrably false story about him seeing two men kissing that he has told before.
- Thought bubble: He still has the nuclear codes, and Karine Jean-Pierre is still the press secretary.
- Must watch: Click here to see Jean-Pierre try to explain Biden saying the speaker of the house is “dead on arrival.”
- Look forward: While the media moved on from Biden’s health in a matter of minutes after he dropped out, world leaders did not.
- Quick tour of the world:
- Venezuela: The Biden administration’s propping up of Nicolas Maduro supported the socialist experiment, allowing the strongman to hold on — and now rigged the election in his favor.
- Iran: The mullahs continue to push and cement their control over the region. The American policy of “nonescalation” at any cost ended up costing 12 Israeli kids their lives and will likely lead to a war between Israel and Hezbollah.
- Russia: Vladimir Putin continues more aggressive pushes into Ukraine.
- China: A new study shows the United States might lose a war with China.
Timeline: We still have six months to go — the world is watching.
To be fair: The Republican nominee for president is saying some pretty wacky stuff himself, including, “You got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not going to have to vote.”
- Fox anchor Laura Ingraham acted like his PR person trying to clean it up — and he still couldn’t talk himself out of the hole.
- We all know what he meant. No, Trump won’t be a dictator, but at a time when the news cycle is stacked against him, why does he keep saying stuff like this?
All the Things We Care About
The real issues (the border, crime, immigration, foreign policy) have not joined the political conversation over the past nine days.
- Axios did an entire piece about Republican messaging problems
- Why is this so hard for Republicans? Namely, for Trump, who can’t get out of the need for personal insults.
In a 60-second video, Republicans have Harris on the wrong side of issues that poll north of 70%.
- Harris wants to get radical
- She was the most liberal senator in 2019
- She wants to start from scratch by disbanding ICE
- Rapists and murders might get to vote
- She wants a mandatory buyback of assault rifles
- She wants to ban fracking and offshore drilling
- She wants to destroy the filibuster for a “Green New Deal”
- She would give citizenship and health care to illegal aliens
- She would end private health insurance
What are Republicans thinking?!
The Wall Street Journal editorializes, “Kamala Harris Confounds the Republicans.”
- Really?! If Harris confounds you, what are you going to do with Putin, Xi Jinping and the ayatollah?
Can Shapiro Deliver Pennsylvania?
Harris told reporters this afternoon that she hadn’t picked her running mate yet.
- Tonight, we’ll show you the map to 270 and whether Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., or Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Pa., would give her a better path to victory.
- Dennis Owens from our station in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, covers Shapiro on a daily basis. Owens will tell us if Shapiro can deliver the state.
Bonus points: For all the talk about vice presidential picks and the map, the vetting process (the vet) and personality, we haven’t heard the name Nancy Pelosi once on who she would want.
- The former Speaker of the House led the way to kick out a sitting president – one might think her opinion on the VP matters!
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.