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Debate Was a Split Decision

October 1, 2024 at 11:51 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A CBS News instant poll of vice presidential debate viewers found 42% believed J.D. Vance won, 41% thought Tim Walz won and 17% said it was a tie.

A CNN instant poll found 51% thought Vance won while 49% believe Walz won.

My Reaction to the Vice Presidential Debate

October 1, 2024 at 10:48 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Compared to the rest of this campaign, that was actually a real and civil debate. It focused more on policy specifics than anything we’ve seen so far — and I’d even say it was somewhat enlightening.

J.D. Vance presented himself as a friendlier, less fiery candidate than the one who often appears on Fox News and Newsmax. He avoided making personal attacks on Tim Walz, instead trying to pin the country’s problems on Kamala Harris and her policies.

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The Vice Presidential Debate

October 1, 2024 at 8:45 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. J.D. Vance will meet in New York City for a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News.

The debate begins at 9 p.m. ET and will run for 90 minutes. There will be no live audience.

Leave your reactions in the comments.

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Exchange of the Day

October 1, 2024 at 8:44 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Donald Trump took questions from reporters:

REPORTER: Do you trust the election process this time around?

TRUMP: I’ll let you know in about 33 days.

Republican Senate Challengers Lag Behind Trump

October 1, 2024 at 8:37 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and NRSC Chair Steve Daines are grappling with an uncomfortable reality: Republican Senate challengers are lagging well behind former President Trump in public surveys,” Axios reports.

“The polling gap has baffled Republican candidates and strategists, who expected it to collapse as November neared.”

“Its persistence is a warning for the Republican high command that a close Trump victory in any given swing state doesn’t guarantee a GOP Senate seat — even if it also signals a bloc of still-persuadable voters.”

Corey Lewandowski Loses the Power Struggle

October 1, 2024 at 8:26 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Tara Palmeri: “The power struggle between Trump’s ‘personal envoy,’ Corey Lewandowski, and campaign co-managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, apparently reached a tipping point earlier this month, leading to a blow-up on the campaign plane that ended with Lewandowski relegated back down to the surrogate level.”

“As I previously reported, Trump formally brought in Lewandowski, a chaos agent from his 2016 campaign, back in August, presumably in an attempt to shake up his operation and give LaCivita and Wiles a jolt. All throughout the month, the consensus view inside Trumpworld was that the campaign was too small for both Corey and Chris—’two alpha men,’ as one source put it—and that LaCivita might ultimately take the back seat.”

“Instead, after weeks of mounting frustration, it appears that it’s Lewandowski who has been put back in his place.”

Trump Claims Harris Has a ‘Migrant Phone App’

October 1, 2024 at 7:06 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Donald Trump falsely claimed that Kamala Harris has a “migrant phone app” which she uses to coordinate with drug cartels.

Said Trump: “I will shut down all entries through Kamala’s migrant phone app. She’s got a phone app. It’s meant for the cartel heads. The cartel heads call the app, and they tell them where to drop the illegal migrants… It’s not even believable.”

Harris Hits Trump’s Age in New Ad

October 1, 2024 at 6:49 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Kamala Harris’ campaign is launching a new digital ad slamming Sen. J.D. Vance as “extremist” and a “danger to our democracy,” NBC News reports.

The spot argues Vance “could be a heartbeat away” from the presidency if Donald Trump wins in November.

The 50-second ad, which will target voters in battleground states, concludes with video of Trump appearing to slur his words at an event and then a Fox News host saying “the former president, he’s been off his game.”

Republican Flails When Asked About Vance’s Bad Polling

October 1, 2024 at 6:17 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) has been helping Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) by standing in for Gov. Tim Walz (D) during debate preparation,” the New Republic reports.

“But Emmer had trouble responding to questions on CNBC about Vance polling historically low for a vice presidential candidate…”

“It’s pretty clear that Emmer had to deflect the question because he had no good response to why Vance is polling lower than any other vice presidential candidate of the twenty-first century, even lower than Sarah Palin.”

Trump Pulls Out of ‘60 Minutes’ Election Interview

October 1, 2024 at 6:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Donald Trump is turning up his nose at ‘60 Minutes‘ once again,” Variety reports.

“The former president, who walked out of an interview with correspondent Lesley Stahl in 2020 amid the last presidential campaign, has cancelled an exchange he was scheduled to make on a special edition of the venerable CBS News newsmagazine for Monday night — after previously committing to do so.”

Axios: “With Trump saying it’s ‘too late’ for another debate with Harris, the show could have been a final chance for both candidates to reach a mass audience, 29 days before Election Day.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

October 1, 2024 at 6:06 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Iran made a big mistake tonight – and will pay for it.”

— Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, quoted by the Times of Israel.

Texas Senate Race Shifts to Lean Republican

October 1, 2024 at 5:39 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Cook Political Report moved its rating for the Texas Senate race from Likely Republican to Lean Republican as Democrats are making a “multimillon dollar investment” in the race.

Trump Launches Go Fund Me for Hurricane Victims

October 1, 2024 at 5:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Despite being worth an estimated $4 billion, Donald Trump launched a GoFundMe page, asking others to donate to help those impacted by Hurricane Helene,” The Independent reports.

Republicans Will Secretly Cheer Walz During Debate

October 1, 2024 at 5:09 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) told the Daily Beast that not only will he be rooting for his former colleague Tim Walz (D) to defeat Sen. J.D. Vance (R) in Tuesday night’s debate, but former colleagues on the other side of the aisle will be, too.

Said Murphy: “There’s a silent majority out there that wants to send a message to Donald Trump that he was fired once for a reason.”

How Fentanyl Traffickers Exploit U.S. Trade Law

October 1, 2024 at 5:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Reuters: “In short, a regulatory tweak fueling America’s online shopping habit is also enabling the country’s crippling addiction to synthetic opioids. So is an immutable aspect of international trade: Transporting goods is largely an honor system that’s easy for bad actors to exploit.”

“Senders are supposed to tell the truth about what’s inside the boxes they export. But shipping documents are easy to falsify, and contraband fairly simple to camouflage. Authorities can’t inspect every box without bringing global commerce to a halt.”

Trump Trying to Heavily Redact Special Counsel Report

October 1, 2024 at 4:35 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Donald Trump’s lawyers are scrambling to get ahead of what could be this election’s October surprise: the public release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report detailing evidence in the election fraud case against the former president,” NOTUS reports.

“In a court filing on Tuesday, Trump’s legal team accused the Department of Justice of putting together a ‘politically motivated manifesto’ specifically timed to influence voters ‘in the final weeks of the 2024 Presidential election while early voting has already begun throughout the United States.'”

“They asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to highly redact the report or stop it from appearing in the court’s public docket altogether.”

Louisiana Governor Seeks to Overhaul State Tax System

October 1, 2024 at 4:30 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry says that he plans to call the Legislature into a special session in November, marking the third such gathering this year, with the hopes of overhauling the state’s current tax system that the Republican said is failing residents,” the AP reports.

“Landry detailed his proposed tax plan during a news conference on Tuesday, with a focus on reducing the income tax and charging sales tax for more items and services.”

Georgia Judge Signals Need to Clarify Certification Rule

October 1, 2024 at 4:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A Georgia judge signaled Tuesday that he sees a need to bring clarity to the meaning of a ‘vague’ new election certification rule approved by Donald Trump allies that critics say will inject chaos into the battleground state after Election Day,” CNN reports.

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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