New polls from Fox News were just released:
- Pennslvania: Harris 49%, Trump 49%
- Wisconsin: Trump 50%, Harris 49%
- Michigan: Harris 49%, Trump 49%
- Minnesota: Harris 52%, Trump 46%
New polls from Fox News were just released:
“In the days since Vice President Kamala Harris has taken over the campaign against former President Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance, Democrats are leaning into a new attack line against the Republican ticket: that they’re just really weird,” Politico reports.
“As this simple and quintessentially Midwestern description of Trump and Vance catches on, it marks a notable rhetorical shift — away from Biden’s apocalyptic, high-minded messaging toward a more gut-level vernacular that may better capture how many voters react to far-right rhetoric of the kind Vance in particular trades in.”
Said Democratic strategist Tim Hogan: “It perfectly describes the uneasiness people feel. It’s how people who don’t live and breathe politics every day react to hearing the Republican vice presidential candidate denigrate people without children. It’s simple. It’s how you might talk to your neighbor about the crazy political climate we’re living in.”
“J.D. Vance has had a difficult week, and some Republicans aren’t hiding their frustration,” Politico reports.
“Despite momentum after former President Donald Trump named him as his running mate, the Ohio senator started receiving unwanted attention after old clips resurfaced of him calling some Democrats ‘childless cat ladies’and suggesting parents should have more political power than non-parents.”
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A new Wall Street Journal poll finds Donald Trump just ahead of Kamala Harris in a two-person match up nationally, 49% to47% , but that is within the poll’s margin of error.
Trump held a six-point lead earlier this month over President Biden, before he exited the race.
In a multi-candidate ballot test, Harris leads Trump 45% to 44%, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at 4% and another 5% undecided.
Biden also trailed in the multi-candidate race by six points in the last poll.
“Donald Trump on Friday vowed to hold another campaign rally in the same area of Pennsylvania where he survived an assassination attempt less than two weeks earlier,” CNBC reports.
Bloomberg: “Two threads are emerging in the short time since launching her White House run: Many Harris aides have worked primarily or entirely for her, not Biden. And she’s said to be considering several veterans from the administration of Barack Obama, who on Friday endorsed her, as well as some Biden-era heavyweights.”
“Harris trusts a relatively small group of staff that she sees as loyal, and that circle can change, including when particular subjects are dominating the news. Aides familiar with her working style say she prefers in-depth briefings, asks probing questions and wants to know about her blind spots. Some former aides conceded Harris is demanding, driven in part by high expectations and heightened scrutiny she faces as the first Black, woman vice president.”
“Tough talk is this guy’s calling card and now there’s this extraordinary show of weakness. He said anytime, anyplace, but more than that, he agreed to this specific debate, on this specific network, on this specific date, and now he’s pulling out. It shows that he’s afraid.”
— Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, on Morning Joe, discussing Donald Trump not wanting to debate Kamala Harris.
“When America witnessed a pale, hoarse and feeble Joe Biden take the debate stage on June 27, the trajectory of the campaign changed almost instantly,” Politico reports.
“Here’s a look into the 28 days that transformed the 2024 election.”
For members: The Big Takeaway from the Last Month
“The longest-serving district judge on the federal bench in Washington, D.C., warned Thursday that false rhetoric about the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol — including the sorts of lies hurled by former President Donald Trump and some of his congressional allies — poses an ongoing danger to the nation,” Politico reports.
“Judge Royce Lamberth, a Reagan appointee to the bench, said the ‘destructive’ misinformation, spread by political leaders who have downplayed and misrepresented the attack, had become pervasive.”
Said Lamberth, in a court filing: “In my thirty-seven years on the bench, I cannot recall a time when such meritless justifications of criminal activity have gone mainstream.”
USA Today: “Last September on National Voter Registration Day, Swift set a record by encouraging more than 30,000 people to register in a single day.”
“But in the first 48 hours after President Joe Biden bowed out of his bid for reelection and Harris announced she was running in his place, more than 38,500 registered, according to Vote.org, a nonpartisan platform that encourages voter registration.”
“As of Friday morning, the figure had surged past 100,000.”
“Vice President Kamala Harris is pledging not to raise taxes on anyone making under $400,000 a year if elected in November,” Politico reports.
“That extends a promise that President Joe Biden made central to his administration’s economic agenda, arguing that corporations and the wealthy should instead pay a greater share of the tax burden. And it effectively rules out the prospect that Harris could embrace far more progressive policies as a candidate — such as massively expanding Social Security benefits — that would require raising taxes on a wider swath of Americans.”
Just for members: The latest edition of Inside Elections.
This issue includes an update on the state of the 2024 elections with the Democrats’ switch from Joe Biden to Kamala Harris, a look at the impact of J.D. Vance on the ticket and the future of his Ohio Senate seat, and analysis of the potential running mates for Harris.
The edition also includes a write-up of our exclusive poll in Michigan’s 7th and campaign updates from races around the country.
If you’re not a member, check out our membership options for instant access.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) addressed the firestorm brewing around his recently resurfaced remarks that the country was being run by “childless cat ladies,” calling it a “sarcastic comment” and pivoting to attack Democrats as “antifamily,” The Hill reports.
Said Vance: “I know the media wants to attack me and wants me to back down on this… but the simple point that I made is that having children, becoming a father, becoming a mother, I really do think it changes your perspective in a pretty profound way.”
The Daily Mail reports that Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) has a new Secret Service codename: Bobcat.
New York Times: “Mr. Kelly, a relative newcomer to politics, would bring to the Democratic ticket a résumé as remarkable as any political consultant could dream of: He is the working-class son of New Jersey police officers, a Navy pilot who flew 39 combat missions off the U.S.S. Midway in Operation Desert Storm, and a NASA astronaut and engineer who collected debris from the Columbia disaster, commanded a shuttle as the United States returned to space and flew the Space Shuttle Endeavour’s final mission.”
“Oh, and he is married to Gabrielle Giffords, the former Arizona representative whose near-fatal brain injury in a mass shooting made her a symbol against gun violence, in her battleground state and beyond.”
“All of that could be hugely helpful to Ms. Harris as she tries to recapture momentum among working-class voters and keep Arizona, where former President Donald J. Trump has been gaining an edge, winnable for Democrats.”
“But Mr. Kelly’s special appeal, beyond what other potential running mates from swing states could provide, is his expertise on the technical issues and politics of the U.S.-Mexico border, perhaps Ms. Harris’s biggest vulnerability, his backers say.”
The Daily Beast reports the family of the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is backing Kelly for the job.
Time: “Her team plans to keep Harris on the road where it makes sense, like next week’s trip to Georgia, but also take advantage of the lesser glare—at least from the public, if not the political press—to retool parts of the Biden operation, layer in new Harris-focused talent and tones, and stress test the machinery with a little more than 100 days until votes are counted.”
“Oh, and she has to pick a running mate, with Democrats quietly circling Aug. 7 on their calendars as the last possible day to make the announcement.”
Taegan 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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