A new Economist/YouGov poll finds Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump nationally in a multi-candidate field, 46% to 43%.
Trump Says It’s ‘Sad’ Democrats Are Talking About Him
Donald Trump told Hugh Hewitt it’s “pretty sad” for Democrats to focus on him at their convention this week.
Said Trump: “You know, I was mentioned at the Democrats’ little party that they have going on in Chicago, and it’s pretty sad.”
He added: “And they mentioned the economy about five times. They mentioned the border maybe none. They mentioned crime almost none. So I mean, they’re out of control. These people are out of control. And they’re ruining our nation. Our nation is going to hell.”
Trump Has Far Less Campaign Money and Infrastructure
“Donald Trump’s campaign spending more than doubled last month as he dropped big money on ads attacking his new opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris,” Politico reports.
“But he continues to significantly trail Harris in terms of campaign infrastructure that could help him turn his war chest into votes, according to new filings with the Federal Election Commission. Those reports underscore just how much Harris’ ascendance upended the race, including putting Trump behind once again in terms of campaign cash.”
“With the race reset for the final months, money could take on an ever greater importance as both sides scramble to turn out their respective bases and reach persuadable voters in battleground states.”
Fed Chair Confronts Policy Crossroads
“Jerome Powell will usher in the next chapter in the Federal Reserve’s inflation battle on Friday, when he’s expected to set the table for an interest-rate cut while reassuring investors that policymakers can stave off a sharp economic slowdown,” Bloomberg reports.
Why Democrats Still Need Bill Clinton
Jonathan Martin: “It’s time to take the big dog off the porch and let him run. Bill Clinton should return to the campaign trail this fall and do what he does best: articulate to Americans why they should vote for Democrats.”
“It’s what Clinton plans to do in his remarks Wednesday night, same as he has at every Democratic convention for over three decades. And it’s how he could best help the party going into November.”
“Running what’s effectively a snap election with a ticket that, between them, has competed in a single, Covid-shaped national campaign, the party has an incentive to summon every possible asset to fend off Donald Trump.”
“As buoyant as so many at the convention are about their sudden change of fate after a summer from hell, it’s not hard to detect an underlying measure of concern about whether the moment can last. It’s not quite fatalism, but, as at the end of the late-night parties here, there’s a creeping sense that the alarm bell is going to go off in a couple of hours.”
“And few Democrats know that it’s not just joy that cometh in the morning than those who have been on the ballot.”
Return of the Happy Warrior
Matt Lewis: “After nine (or so) years of fear-driven politics, the hunger for something different has finally reached a fever pitch. Joy, it seems, is making a comeback.”
“I’m not sure who figured out that there was a latent, bottled-up hunger for a happy warrior — or that this ‘joy’ strategy, rather than finger-wagging moral outrage, was the best way to fight a would-be authoritarian. But it was a profound discovery.”
Bill Pascrell Is Dead
Rep. William Pascrell (D-NJ), who spent 28 years in the U.S. House of Representatives “as a scrappy, impassioned advocate for his constituents, a proud liberal, a beacon of integrity, a ferocious advocate of tax fairness, and a fierce critic of former President Donald Trump, died today after a month-long illness,” the New Jersey Globe reports.
He was 87 years old.
U.S. Added Fewer Jobs Than Reported This Year
“The U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs from April 2023 through March this year than were originally reported,” the AP reports.
“The revised total adds to evidence that the job market has been steadily slowing and likely reinforces the Federal Reserve’s plan to start cutting interest rates soon.”
Biden’s Exit Transformed Democratic Fundraising
New York Times: “The new data shows how July was one of the most unusual months in American political fund-raising history. Before Mr. Biden’s exit, Democrats were struggling to raise significant money. Then, after he revealed his decision in a single post on social media on a Sunday afternoon, Democrats began raising money hand over fist.”
Obama’s Speech Had a Hidden Message to Democrats
Jonathan Chait: “Experienced in the moment, Barack Obama’s speech to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago felt like the rousing culmination of a pep rally, peppered with funny insults of Donald Trump and familiar soaring patriotic oratory. But if you read it more closely, an argument emerges: against Trump and also against Obama’s own skeptics, including those within the Democratic Party who have turned away from his legacy.”
“Obama first electrified his party 20 years ago at the Democratic convention in Boston with a hopeful speech disdaining social division. To Obama’s skeptics, Trump’s rise refuted his optimistic belief in the nature of America and called for a different kind of politics to respond to it: summoning an angry populism to counter Trump’s angry pseudo-populism. The case Obama made to his party is that his political blueprint remains morally and strategically correct.”
Trump Portrays Kamala Harris as Foreign
Donald Trump questioned whether Democrats knew where Vice President Kamala Harris “came from,” reprising a tactic that he has previously used against other Democrats, including former president Barack Obama and women of color in Congress, the Washington Post reports.
Said Trump: “I wonder if they knew where she comes from, where she came from, what her ideology is.”
Is Trump Sabotaging Peace Negotiations?
PBS Newshour: “The reporting is that former President Trump is on the phone with the PM of Israel urging him not to cut a deal right now because it’s believed that would help the Harris campaign.”
The Democratic Roll Call Playlist
The New York Times have every song played by DJ Cassidy last night at the Democratic convention.
Earlier for members: The Best Delegate Roll Call in History
Maria Bartiromo Still Spewing Conspiracy Theories
“Maria Bartiromo repeatedly used her Fox Business show to peddle an election fraud conspiracy theory that she claimed originated with the wife of a friend of a friend in Texas and that she made no apparent effort to confirm,” Media Matters reports.
“But when the Texas Department of Public Safety and the local Republican Party investigated her reckless allegation, they discovered that none of it was true.”
Democrats In Array
Andrew Egger: “We don’t know yet whether Kamala Harris and company will ride out of this week with the traditional post-convention polling surge—after all, parties don’t usually ride into their conventions on the heels of a race-resetting, vibe-unleashing change to the top of the ticket.”
“But here’s what we can say: Two days in, the Democrats are undoubtedly putting on the kind of high-energy, focused, and above all unified show that good polling tends to follow.”
Utah Seeks State Control of Federal Land
Associated Press: “The state’s attorney general said he asked to file a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court in what is considered a long-shot attempt to assert state powers on U.S. Bureau of Land Management property across about one-third of Utah.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“Here is a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago… There’s the childish nicknames, the crazy conspiracy theories, this weird obsession with crowd sizes.”
— Barack Obama, at the Democratic convention, joking about the size of Donald Trump’s penis. (Watch the video.)
What Global Trend Will Shape the U.S. Election?
Politico: “Tumultuous overseas events like Brexit are often harbingers of U.S. elections. What will be this year’s?”
