1. Will she, won’t she?
The big question in the day-to-day tacking this week is whether Vice President Kamala Harris will agree to an interview with a major media outlet before the end of the month … which is the end of this week.
Playbook, whose co-author Eugene Daniels scored the promise of an interview in a press gaggle weeks ago, has a good readout of the calculations and tacking happening behind the scenes on another big moment in the race.
But a bigger question here: Have Harris and the Democrats finally figured out how to Trump the news cycle?
The former president is famous for floating wild things that never happen. Will he testify? Will he show up? Will he fire? Will he layer over deputies and aides? And Trump’s own team, notably running mate Sen. J.D. Vance, have added fuel to the Harris drama pressing the press to press her.
The will-they-won’t-they tactic is old hat in campaign politics, an easy way to create dramatic tension in The Narrative. (Will it be Beyonce? Taylor Swift? Mitt Romney?) Decades ago, young congressional candidate Mike Pence, fresh off a stinging loss in his first run for Congress in 1988 played the game to great effect touring Indiana giving interviews hinting that he would run again — which he was, in fact, already doing with that will-he-won’t-he tour of the state.
Now the focus is on Harris.
So, will she?
2. Rap Sheet
It’s been a banner year for high-profile politicos and the criminal justice system, Hunter Biden, Bob Menendez, Donald Trump.
But a former sheriff from Southern Indiana seems to be trumping some of the biggest scandals on the national stage.
Jamey Noel pled guilty to 27 felony charges Monday in a wide-ranging corruption case. Give a read (and look for more here in the coming days, this story is bonkers.)
3. Competing Formers
The Trump campaign announced that former Democrats Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard will serve on their transition team.
This adds to the realignment of the two major parties which has been underway for almost a decade now.
The Harris campaign has touted the endorsements of a large number of top Republicans — from featuring former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger onstage at the Democratic convention to rolling out a steady list of dozens upon dozens of former Republican administration officials who have endorsed her bid and sounded alarms about what could happen if Trump returns to office.
Interesting, though, have been the vocal critics and longtime conservatives and Republicans who have stayed out of the race, while maintaining their footholds in the GOP. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has been a consistent critic of the Republican nominee, Trump, particularly around his actions . Former Vice President Mike Pence has spoken well of what he and Trump accomplished together in the White House while standing firm that he was correct in refusing to overturn the 2020 election results on January 6th.
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4. Coalition Work
The Bulwark is out with a solid look at a critical dynamic which, your author thinks, deserves more attention: Will anti-abortion, pro-life voters show up for Trump at the polls? Read it here:
The key bloc of social conservatives and Christian Right activists were central to Trump’s victory in 2016 — it’s a big part of the reason he tapped Pence for his ticket back then. And the former president delivered on a key campaign promise to them, appointing three Supreme Court justices during his term who later overturned federal protections for abortion access in the Dobbs decision.
After spending months saying that he, and other Republicans, shouldn’t be talking about abortion — viewing it as a political liability — Trump has been steadily talking about the issue (granted, in Trump terms, which vary greatly week to week.) The Republican nominee has, at times, said the issue of abortion access should be decided by the states (which restates what the Dobbs decision did, by ending federal protections) and more recently has said he would veto a national abortion ban if it passed Congress.
I’ve written this many times before, but it bears repeating: oftentimes, voters will not flip to the other side, instead they will stay home, or even skip voting for the top of the ticket if they don’t like their choices.
There are many groups for which the same is true for Democrats, but the clearest analogous situation is the response to the Israel Hamas War, which Harris notably tried to balance in her acceptance speech saying that she both supports the right of Israel to defend itself and the rights of the Palestinian people to live safe and secure from harm.
5. Assassination Attempt Update
Congressional investigators traveled to the site of the attempted assassination of former president Trump Monday and took questions on their ongoing investigation into the attempted assassination of Trump last month. (Listen to the full conference here, courtesy of C-SPAN.)
Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Penn., noted his military service and that of his colleague, Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., and expressed his surprise that law enforcement did not cover the high ground and allowed a threat to get so close to Trump.
“‘How could not have this been prevented?’” said Kelly, the chairman of the congressional panel, whose district includes the Butler, PA site of the
Kelly said one of the most important goals of their work is to present accurate information, not a trickle of new information which could leave the public confused about what actually happened.
“Getting to the truth is a slow process,” Kelly said.
Rep. Laurel Lee, a Florida Republican, said that the House panel will be aggressive in subpoenaing information from federal investigators if they feel like they are being stonewalled.
In a race filled with historic moments and ongoing issues, the attempted assassination of a former U.S. president and the Republican nominee, remains top of mind.
6. Rising Tide?
Conventional wisdom has it that an energetic Democratic base should carry all Democrats up and down the ballot.
But the AARP is out with an astonishing poll finding that former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is running neck and neck in the Maryland Senate race, 46-46%.
7. Pooligans
In case you missed it yesterday afternoon, catch my talk with SiriusXM’s Julie Mason on the Julie Mason Show, SiriusXM POTUS Channel 124.
Listen here, it was hilarious and insightful.
Thanks for reading, drop a line: tom@24sight.news
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Cheers,
Tom
Thanks for sending the Julie Mason interview. For some reason I ran into glitches at about six minutes in. Couldn’t get past that on restart. Likely it’s me but just fyi.
That Indiana sheriff blew 50k on cigars? Yikes.