Thursday's Final Word

AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Closing the tabs ...

The Harris-Walz ticket is on pace to do fewer interviews and press conferences than any major party's presidential pairing in modern U.S. history.

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Why it matters: Vice President Harris' team is betting she and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, can avoid many tough interviews and still win as they run down the clock to Election Day.

Ed: David wrote about this earlier today, so be sure to read his post. The only reason it will matter, though, is if the media stands up and demands transparency and accountability. So far, though, all we're getting are cricket sounds. 

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The Harris campaign did not comment directly on the policy shift, instead pointing to her new ad on the economy, and saying it makes sense for the former senator and California attorney general to focus on different policy areas than Biden — a son of Scranton, Pennsylvania whose career was built on connecting with blue-collar union workers. And there’s some evidence that the messaging shift is working. Harris has cut into former President Donald Trump’s lead on the economy in recent national polls, as well as in new polling from Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania out this week.

But the pivot is also raising concerns among some Democrats in the upper Midwest, who worry she risks losing some of the working-class voters that helped the party win the White House and Senate in 2020. That concern has been bolstered by other recent surveys that show Harris losing non-college educated voters by a much wider margin than Biden did in 2020.

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Ed: She won't talk about ANY policy, not even Biden's giveaways, because she probably doesn't have enough of a grasp on it. Harris only really knows her biography, which is why she starts offering it as the response to any policy question: "I was born into a middle-class family..."

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Harris touts her role in expanding connectivity on her campaign website. Her campaign writes that she worked to pass landmark legislation including the infrastructure law and American Rescue Plan, adding, “This has included investing billions to help connect all Americans to accessible, affordable internet.” ...

“It appears that your performance as ‘broadband czar’ has mirrored your performance as ‘border czar,’ marked by poor management and a lack of effectiveness despite significant federal broadband investments and your promises to deliver broadband to rural areas,” Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), Senate Commerce ranking member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and seven others wrote Harris.

Ed: The ARP was passed and signed three and a half years ago. 

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Conservative podcaster Tim Pool is suing Kamala Harris' presidential campaign for allegedly claiming that he was advocating a Donald Trump dictatorship.

In a lawsuit filed in a West Virginia federal court on Tuesday, Pool claims that the Harris campaign falsely said that he backed the Project 2025 plan to put Donald Trump in the White House. It also states that the Harris campaign claimed Pool was advocating the execution of political enemies.

The legal action followed a post by the Harris campaign on X, formerly Twitter, over the Labor Day weekend.

Ed: This seems like a very good moment for a retraction and apology from Team Kamala ... and maybe better rhetorical target selection in the future, too. 

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No. 4: Israel and the both-ways solution.

Daniels tried to push Harris to articulate what she offers that is different from the current Biden approach to the Gaza War, after he noted, "You've gotten a lot of credit for emphasizing the humanity of Palestinians." (Friendly.)

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Harris stood up for Israel's right to exist and defend itself -- but in a way that makes you wonder how long that would last if she is elected president. Her mantra: "We need to get this deal done and that is my position and that is my policy."

Word salad. Short version.

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Ed Morrissey 10:00 PM | December 23, 2024
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David Strom 7:20 PM | December 23, 2024
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