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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at her Presidential Campaign headquarters in Wilmington, DE, U.S., July 22, 2024.
Harris and Trump plot new campaign strategies
InKamala Harris’s previous run for president, her campaign was plagued with so much public infighting she was forced towithdraw before the first primary votes were cast. In addition, herapproval ratings during her time as vice president have sometimes fallen below President Joe Biden’s.
So how has she generated so much excitement among Democratic voters and donors so quickly?
Between Biden’s withdrawal announcement on Sunday afternoon and Monday evening, the Harris for President campaign says it raisedmore than $100 million, a huge haul by any standard. That adds to the party’s already formidable fundraising this year. Credible Democratic Party challengers quickly endorsed her. By Monday night, Harris had secured enough delegates to lock down the party’s presidential nomination.
In part, her success is a sign of Donald Trump’s perceived weakness. The media’s recent focus on Biden’s unpopularity has obscured the reality that a majority of Americans –57% in a recent poll – want Trump out of the race too. That figure includes 51% of independents and 26% of Republicans. Add the reality that Biden’s exit from the race leaves Trump, 78, as the oldest person ever to win the nomination of a major party for president. Trump remains the betting favorite, but Dems believe, rightly or wrongly, that he’s beatable.
And for anyone wondering what strategy Harris might adopt against Trump, there’s this obvious clue from her first speech as a presidential candidate. Highlighting both her history as a prosecutor and Trump’s status as a convicted felon: “I took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So, hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type.”
Much of the media attention on the Harris campaign will now focus on her choice of a vice-presidential running-mate. But there’s another looming question: Will Harris and Trump debate? ABC News is scheduled to host a second presidential debate on Sept. 10, but Trump has already cast doubt on his plans to attend. Heposted the following on his Truth Social account:
“My debate with Crooked Joe Biden, the Worst President in the history of the United States, was slated to be broadcast on Fake News ABC, the home of George Slopadopolus, sometime in September. Now that Joe has, not surprisingly, has [sic] quit the race, I think the Debate, with whomever the Radical Left Democrats choose, should be held on FoxNews, rather than very biased ABC. “
Beyond that, Trump is keeping his options open.
Finally, Trump faces another challenge he didn’t expect: His new opponent is a woman of African and South Asian descent. He defeated Hillary Clinton eight years ago, but Harris doesn’t come with Clinton’s considerable baggage, and there are plenty of women and people of color who will listen carefully to Trump’s every word for signs of bias against women and/or racial minorities.
In short, Trump faces an opponent with no history of national electoral success of her own but one who poses a series of campaign dangers he didn’t face until Sunday.
The politics of a pandemic: interview with Sen. Chris Coons
Ian Bremmer is examining the state of U.S. response and recovery six months into the pandemic. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) joins to discuss what Congress has done to provide economic relief to businesses and people impacted by the unexpected and unprecedented downturn, and next steps still to come. He also takes jabs at GOP Congressional colleagues who he says have "followed (Trump's) lead rather than science."
Bremmer and Coons also discuss reports of a Russian bounty plot to pay for the murders of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. Coons tells the story of 43-year-old Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Christopher Slutman who died in a 2019 roadside bombing alleged to be a part of that plot.
The two also dive into election security and the 2020 presidential race. Coons offers details of "The Biden Doctrine," what U.S. foreign policy could look like if Biden wins. He also discusses lessons learned from Sec. Hillary Clinton's failed 2016 campaign.
Tom Vilsack's Advice for Joe Biden in the 2020 Election
Tom Vilsack, former Iowa Governor and President Obama's Secretary of Agriculture, has been an important voice in VP Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign. In an interview with Ian Bremmer for GZERO World, Vilsack shares some of the conversations he's had with Biden about the importance of the rural vote and caring about issues that impact the heartland. He also discusses the need for empathy at a time when so many Americans are suffering, and his take on why President Trump hasn't expressed much of that sentiment.