Dan Pfeiffer: “Two related things happened in the 2024 campaign yesterday. First, a bevy of new polls came out, which showed Vice President Harris taking the lead nationally and in the swing states.”

“Second, Trump swerved out of his way to rewrite his position on abortion. At a rally, Trump said that his administration would protect IVF treatments and mandate that government or insurance companies pay for such treatments. Notably, neither Trump nor his campaign offered a single detail on how this would be accomplished…”

“Later, in an interview with NBC, Trump implied that he would vote for an amendment in Florida guaranteeing access to abortion up until the point of fetal viability.”

“Now, this is a dramatic shift considering Trump is the person most responsible for overturning Roe v. Wade. At every opportunity, Trump brags about his role in stripping a constitutional right from more than half the country.”

Los Angeles Times: “If Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance were to succeed in remaking the federal workforce in the way they have described, it would be the most radical reconfiguration of the U.S. government in 140 years.”

“Critics, including nonpartisan analysts, fear Trump’s proposal to replace thousands of civil servants with his loyalists would resurrect something like the 19th century “spoils” system, which Congress scrapped in the late 1800s due to rampant incompetence and cronyism.”

“The U.S. operated for much of the 1800s on the understanding that individuals won jobs with the government not by proving their expertise, but by having connections to presidents and their parties.”

“Congress moved to eliminate the spoils system in 1883, about 18 months after a disgruntled job-seeker assassinated the man he believed owed him a government appointment — James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States.”

“Kamala Harris’ campaign is launching a bus tour in Palm Beach, Fla., with its surrogates to promote access to reproductive rights,” The Hill reports.

“The ‘Fighting for Reproductive Freedom’ bus tour is set to start on Tuesday in former President Trump’s hometown. Surrogates from second gentleman Doug Emhoff, the first lady of Minnesota Gwen Walz, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Harris campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, among others, will be on the tour.”

“The tour will make at least 50 stops in red, blue and battleground states in the next couple of months, the campaign announced.”

Eighty-one percent of Americans in a new ABC News/Ipsos poll say that regardless of which candidate they support, they are prepared to accept the outcome of the election.

Fewer, but still 68%, see Kamala Harris as prepared to accept the outcome. Just 29% say the same about Donald Trump.

“Democrats in Congress are scrambling for ways to publicly dredge up as much information as possible about an altercation between Trump staffers and an Arlington National Cemetery official,” Axios reports.

“The incident has been dogging the ex-president’s candidacy this week, with one House Armed Services Committee member telling Axios he’s trying to get his panel to formally investigate the matter.”

“Kamala Harris’ rally in Savannah, Georgia, was the first time a general election presidential candidate had campaigned in the city since the 1990s,” NOTUS reports.

“Democratic operatives say it was a signal: Winning Georgia isn’t only about Atlanta this time.”

“As the presidential candidates eye a busy Labor Day weekend in Pennsylvania, the Harris campaign will be opening its 50th campaign office in the state, dwarfing the Trump campaign’s presence,” Penn Live reports.

“Besides the advantage in campaign offices, there are now more than 350 staffers in Pennsylvania, according to the Harris campaign.”

“Kamala Harris’ latest ad buy likely won’t net her a win in Florida, but it’s sure to get under Donald Trump’s skin. Her campaign ran an attack ad in battleground states across the country on Tuesday and in Florida, which has been a safely red state since 2016,” the Daily Beast reports.

“The decision to shell out precious campaign cash in the Sunshine State appeared to be a perplexing one, but the campaign’s intentions became more clear after The Bulwark reported the advertisement was only run in the media market of West Palm Beach—home to Trump and his estate at Mar-a-Lago.”

New York Times: “Mr. Trump set off a blitz of negative headlines when he falsely suggested that Ms. Harris had identified as Black only later in life, and for political gain. It was an absurd assertion, and the vice president has sought to cut off oxygen to it.”

Said Harris, in her CNN interview: “Same old, tired playbook. Next question, please.”

Asked if she had anything to add, Harris replied: “That’s it.”

“Even after a softball question about a viral New York Times photo of her niece watching her speak at the Democratic convention, Ms. Harris refused to lean into the prospect of becoming the first Black woman elected as president.”

NPR: “From a strictly performance standpoint, Harris was clear, calm and didn’t get rattled when pushed about changes to her positions on certain issues.”

“In some past interviews, she came across as defensive, but that wasn’t the case here. She seemed comfortable and in command, which is important for a presidential candidate who people are still getting to know.”

“She also continued to show a degree of relatability. For example, she talked about making pancakes and cooking bacon for her nieces when President Biden called to inform her of his decision to drop out of the race.”

Playbook: “On issue after issue, Harris signaled moderation and a gauzy centrism that has been the hallmark of every winning Democratic presidential campaign for decades. Notably, when given the chance to pivot to the topics she wanted to talk about, she chose middle-class economics, not abortion rights or other base motivators.”

“Overall, the interview suggested to us how tough Donald Trump’s job is now — and especially at the Sept. 10 debate. His two main areas of attack are to cast her as left-wing and to tie her to the unpopular Biden. Last night, Harris showed how she will defend herself against both of those charges.”

“Donors to Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign are pushing her to reconsider supporting a proposed tax on the wealthiest Americans, as some Wall Street and Silicon Valley executives try to reshape the Democratic nominee’s governing agenda,” the New York Times reports.

“Ms. Harris’s campaign last week said she supported the tax increases included in President Biden’s latest White House budget proposal. One of those plans would require Americans worth at least $100 million to pay taxes on investment gains even if they have not sold the stocks, bonds or other assets that have appreciated.”

“Vice President Kamala Harris has been diligently preparing for the debate stage for months — first by gearing up to face the Republican vice presidential nominee and now, over the past several weeks, to debate former President Donald Trump,“ NBC News reports.

“The prep sessions have been sandwiched between campaign stops, official duties as vice president and preparation for her first joint interview with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, which aired Thursday night on CNN.”

“Among Harris’ chief aims are to avoid being pulled into Trump’s personal attacks by remaining calm and focused on talking about how her presidency would help everyday people.”