© Morry Gash and Manuel Balce Ceneta, Associated Press |
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Democratic enthusiasm for Harris tempered by 'realism' |
By all measures, Vice President Harris's campaign launch has been a resounding success, as she's seamlessly overtaken President Biden's campaign operations while rejuvenating a once-downtrodden Democratic Party. - Harris drew 3,000 exuberant supporters to her first campaign rally in the critical battleground of Wisconsin on Tuesday.
- Nearly 40,000 people registered to vote in the days following Biden's decision to step aside, many of them young Democrats, according to Vote.org.
- House Democrats say they have new hope of winning a majority.
- About 8 in 10 Democrats agree that Harris, who already has enough delegates to win the nomination, should be the party's standard-bearer.
- Hollywood has turned the money spigot back on, and more than $100 million has flowed into Harris's campaign coffers this week alone.
- Harris's entrance shakes up a stagnant race. Former President Trump appeared headed for a landslide victory with Biden on the ticket.
- Democrats have removed the question of Biden's age and fitness for office, and effectively turned the tables on Trump, who becomes the oldest-ever nominee for president.
So why are the same Democrats who called on Biden to drop out suddenly pumping the brakes on the hype train? "I still rate [Trump] a pretty substantial favorite in this race just because of the electoral challenges," Democratic strategist David Axelrod said on his podcast "Hacks on Tap." "This has been a real change in mood in party and around a country, but we got to be a little careful. About 10 percent too much triumphalism going on, and you know, it's going to be a very difficult race…that excitement has got to be tempered with realism, and the realism is she has a tough campaign on, and as you say, she's got several things she's got to accomplish at the same time," Democratic strategist James Carville said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." Those remarks come as a new CNN poll finds Trump leading Harris by 3 points nationally. Their remarks draw attention to Harris's campaign record, as well as the work she has ahead of her in building a coalition to defeat Trump with just more than 100 days to go before the election.
- Harris has never received a vote in a Democratic presidential primary. Despite entering the 2020 presidential race to great hype and huge fundraising numbers, she dropped out before any votes were cast.
- Her approval rating has tracked close to Biden's, which is at historic lows.
- Harris won her first statewide race to be attorney general by less than 1 point over a Republican in deep blue California. She cruised to reelection, and also easily won her Senate race.
- The early conventional wisdom is that Harris will win back some Black, Hispanic and young voters that have been considering Trump amid Biden's polling collapse. But that's yet to bear out in the polls, and Harris's bigger challenge might be in winning over the white working class voters in the Rust Belt and Midwest that swung from Trump in 2016 to Biden in 2020.
From the Cook Political Report's Amy Walters: "Coalescing the base only gets you so far. To win in states like Pennsylvania, Harris needs to be able to win over swing voters in white, working-class areas like Erie and Scranton in Pennsylvania." The Harris campaign released a memo Wednesday outlining its pathway to victory. - It looks similar to Biden's pathway, with the "Blue Wall" states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania playing a crucial role. That leaves very little margin for error.
- The Harris campaign believes they'll make up ground in diverse Sun Belt states, such as North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada, where "the Vice President's advantages with young voters, Black voters, and Latino voters will be important to our multiple pathways to 270 electoral votes."
Republicans believe they have some effective lines of attack against Harris, who will take over much of the Biden administration's baggage on the border, inflation and cost of living. Dave McCormick, the GOP's Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, laid out another angle that many Republicans view as the blueprint for going after Harris. McCormick's new ad, which is playing across Pennsylvania, highlights Harris's leftward turn in the 2020 primaries, where she said she would get rid of the filibuster to pass the Green New Deal, ban fracking and offshore drilling, decriminalize illegal border crossings, "start from scratch" with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, support a mandatory gun buyback program and eliminate private health care. Perspectives: - Hillary Clinton: How Harris can win and make history.
- The Hill: Harris' record is as bad as Biden's.
- USA Today: What did Harris know about Biden's health and when did she know it?
- New York: Democrats might want to take JD Vance seriously.
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Welcome to Evening Report! I'm Jonathan Easley, catching you up from the afternoon and what's coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here. |
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Netanyahu address roils Washington
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's afternoon address to a joint session of Congress provoked turmoil in Washington, D.C., and sharply divided lawmakers amid Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza. - Tens of thousands protested in the streets around the Capitol. Police made scores of arrests, including some within the House gallery. Police clashed with protesters in a chaotic scene at Union Station, where a U.S. flag was burned and Palestinian flags were hoisted on flagpoles.
- The Watergate Hotel, where Netanyahu stayed, had to be sanitized after protesters released maggots and worms inside.
- Many Democrats — and a few Republicans — boycotted the address. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who is Palestinian American, attended the address and held up a sign that said "Guilty of Genocide." Republicans are furious, with Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) calling Tlaib "an absolute disgrace."
- Elon Musk attended as a guest of Netanyahu's.
- Vice President Harris is traveling and did not attend. She and President Biden will meet separately with Netanyahu privately later this week.
- Some lawmakers who boycotted the speech, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), are meeting with the families of those held hostage by Hamas.
- Former President Trump will meet with Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago later this week.
Netanyahu's 53-minute speech was almost secondary to the reaction it provoked: - Netanyahu described a "day after" vision for Gaza once Hamas is defeated. He said it should be led by a civilian administration of Palestinians in a "demilitarized and deradicalized" territory.
- "Some of these protestors hold up signs saying 'Gays for Gaza'. They might as well hold up signs that say 'Chickens for KFC'."
- "As we speak we are actively engaged in intensive efforts to secure their [hostages'] release. I am confident they can succeed. Some of these efforts are taking place right now. I want to thank President Biden for his tireless efforts to release the hostages."
- Netanyahu thanked Trump for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and for forging the Abraham Accords, which established relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
- Netanyahu called on the U.S. to "fast track" military aid to Israel. He did not rule out military action against Hezbollah amid rising tensions on Israel's northern border.
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GOP's DEI attacks on Harris backfire
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Some Republicans are attacking Vice President Harris as a "DEI hire" who only got ahead because of the color of her skin, provoking backlash from Democrats, the media and those in the GOP who view the attack line as inappropriate and offensive. House Democrats might censure Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) for calling Harris a "DEI" hire. - Burchett told Sirius XM's "The Laura Coates Show" on Wednesday that he wished he hadn't said it, "but it was the truth."
- Reps. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) and Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) have made similar remarks about Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian descent. "Intellectually, just really kind of the bottom of the barrel...I think she was a DEI hire. And I think that that's what we're seeing, and I just don't think that they have anybody else." — Hageman to reporter Josh Rultenberg
Politico reports that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) urged Republicans in a private meeting to not focus on Harris's race or gender. "This should not be about personalities. It should be about policy. And we have a record to compare. This has nothing to do with race. It has to do with the competence of the person running for president, the relative strength of the two candidates and what ideas they have on how to solve America's problems. And I think in that comparison, we'll win in a landslide." Biden and Democrats have talked openly about the need to promote Black women into positions of leadership, including in the runup to his selection of Harris as vice president and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. But the insinuation from Republicans is that Harris and Jackson were solely promoted because of their race and gender, rather than for their personal and professional accomplishments. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) told CNN that the GOP remarks are clear "racist dog whistles." "Whenever you hear DEI, I want you to think about the N-word. I want you to think about racial slurs. That's what they actually mean." -Frost Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who said he disagrees with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies, told MSNBC's "Meet the Press NOW" that the DEI attacks are "totally stupid and dumb." Read more: |
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Law enforcement releases new details on Trump shooting
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FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed new details around the security lapses that led to the assassination attempt on former President Trump. - Shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks flew a drone around the rally site only hours before he tried to kill Trump.
- Crooks was able to fire eight shots before he was killed by a sniper. He also had explosives and a remote transmitter.
- On the day of the shooting, Crooks did an online search to find out how far away Lee Harvey Oswald was from former President Kennedy on the day of his assassination.
- Wray said the FBI still does not have a "clear picture" of Crooks's motives.
Pennsylvania Police Commissioner Christopher Paris also revealed some new details. From The Hill's Eden Teshome: - The Secret Service assigned local police pofficers to secure the outside perimeter of the rally, including the building Crooks scaled.
- Two police officers left their post overlooking the roof Crooks shot from after the 20-year-old was identified as a suspicious person.
- Local law enforcement identified Crooks as a suspicious person when he failed to enter the secure area of the rally. This information was passed along through unofficial channels. Paris said he did not know why it was not communicated through formal channels.
NBC News reports that the Trump campaign will hold indoor rallies going forward at the urging of the Secret Service. MEANWHILE ... Republicans say Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the ranking member on the Homeland Security Committee, should be barred from the task force investigating the assassination attempt for introducing a bill that would have stripped Trump of his Secret Service protection because of his felony convictions. |
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Biden to deliver remarks in prime-time Oval Office address
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President Biden will address the nation for the first time since dropping out of the presidential race and backing Vice President Harris for the Democratic nomination. Biden is set to deliver remarks from the Oval Office at 8 p.m. ET tonight amid swirling questions about his health and his decision to end his presidential campaign with just more than 100 days to go. Biden, who has been recovering from COVID-19 at home in Delaware, is facing calls from Republicans to resign from office. Some in the GOP have made the case that if he's not fit to run for office, he's not fit to run the country. The Hill's Brett Samuels has five things to watch for in Biden's address. Watch the speech live HERE. Read more: |
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House headed for early recess amid GOP funding woes
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House Republicans canceled votes next week and will begin an recess early after abandoning an ambitious timeline to pass all 12 of their annual funding bills. - Republicans had hoped to pass all 12 funding bills before August recess, but the process was upended last week after a small group of Republicans sunk the bill to fund the legislative branch.
- The funding process has been hamstrung by the inclusion of riders pertaining to social issues, such as reproductive rights.
- A planned vote to fund the Department of Energy was abrupty cancelled on Tuesday night.
"When you have a situation where the Democrats all vote no on every appropriations bill, you eventually hit a wall because, you know, we have a few of our own members that vote against some of these bills…We've passed about 70 percent of all government funding over to the Senate. At some point, it's time for the Senate to start doing their work." -Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) |
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"Netanyahu doesn't deserve to step foot in the Capitol," Mustafa Barghouti for The Hill. "Netanyahu address comes at a pivotal moment," by Paul Teller for The Washington Examiner. |
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26 days until the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 48 days until the second presidential debate. 104 days until the 2024 general election. 180 days until Inauguration Day 2025. |
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Wednesday - Trump holds a campaign rally at 6 p.m. in Charlotte, N.C.
- Biden delivers remarks from the Oval Office at 8 p.m. ET.
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There a story you think should be getting more attention? Something people should be talking about? Drop me a line: jeasley@thehill.com | |
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