The pros and cons of a condensed campaign for Kamala Harris: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the policy deskevening bulletin that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill from the NBC News Politics team.

On today’s episode of “Meet the Press,” moderator Kristen Welker examines whether a shortened campaign calendar will help or hurt Vice President Kamala Harris. Plus, we focus on Robert F. Kennedy’s decision to end his third-party bid and endorse former President Donald Trump.

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How a condensed campaign could help or hurt Harris

By Kristen Welker

There are only 74 days left until the 2024 presidential race.

That’s right. After a tumultuous last six weeks with the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race, two candidate selections, two conventions, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. terminates the third party offer — There are only a little more than 10 weeks left in this campaign.

For Vice President Kamala Harris, this shortened calendar could be a boon, especially later Democratic convention By 2008, it was heavily affecting the power, drive and vibe of celebrities.

Harris exits his party’s four-day election with a narrow lead in most national and battleground polls — though, crucially, the results are within margin of error and reflect a close race.

Among the remaining challenges for his campaign: at least one debate with Trump scheduled for Sept. 10 and an Oct. 1 VP Tim Walz-JD Vance showdown.

And unlike Harris’s failed 2020 presidential bid, which featured peaks (his Oakland start and first primary debate) and valleys (“Medicine for All” comeback and his last speech before Iowa), it was spread out over a year. After taking the political baton from Biden a month ago, he now finds himself in a sprint.

But this shortened schedule also poses risks for Harris. But what if he falls into one of those valleys in the final weeks? Or what if he stumbles into an argument?

The 2020 election has been tailor-made for Biden, featuring reduced campaigning and less interaction with voters due to the Covid pandemic. The 2024 campaign could be shaping up the same way for Harris.

Still, even successful presidential candidates have many bad days and weeks. And Harris has yet to have a bad day or week as the Democratic standard-bearer.

Harris has speed. The question now is, can he turn that into a win?

• Below average: The Democratic convention focused on convincing skeptical moderates about the party’s direction, writes Chuck Todd. More →
• Show, don’t tell: Alex Seitz-Wald notes that eight years after Hillary Clinton chanted “I’m with her” and built her campaign around “breaking the highest, hardest glass ceiling,” Harris let her candidacy speak to its history-making potential. . More →
• ‘Sugar high’: Matt Dixon and Henry J. Gomez report that Trump’s campaign expects Harris to get a “one-up” from the convention, but generally doesn’t see the week-long event changing the overall trajectory of the race. More →

RFK Jr. backs Trump after weeks of back-channel meetings

By Katherine Koretski, Ben Kamisar, Henry J. Gomez, Garrett Haake, and Dasha Burns

PHOENIX – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed Donald Trump’s tumultuous independent presidential campaign in a lengthy speech Friday afternoon.

Kennedy’s campaign first confirmed the endorsement in a court filing in Pennsylvania before taking the stage for the Arizona battleground speech.

“A few months ago, I promised the American people that if I became a spoiler, I would quit the race.” “I no longer believe in my heart that there is a real path to electoral victory.”

Describing both Trump and himself as victims of Democrats’ “sustained legal warfare,” Kennedy criticized Kamala Harris for failing to win “a single delegate” during the 2020 race, accusing her of ignoring the press and subverting her own political platform. campaign was directed only against Trump.

In contrast, Kennedy made it clear that he sees Trump as a partner and colleague.

“These are the main reasons that convinced me to leave the Democratic Party and become an independent candidate, and now to support President Trump. The reasons were freedom of speech, the war in Ukraine and the war against our children.

“One of the two candidates took these issues as his own, and he asked to involve me in his administration. I’m talking about Donald Trump, of course,” Kennedy added.

Democratic National Committee general counsel Mary Beth Cahill said in a statement, “Donald Trump is not winning an endorsement to help boost support, he is inheriting the baggage of a failed fringe candidate. Happiness.”

So did numerous members of the Kennedy family He condemned RFK Jr.’s decision Supporting Trump, he called this step “treason”.

Within the negotiations: Kennedy’s decision to endorse Trump comes after weeks of back-channel meetings. A person familiar with the discussions said that Donald Trump Jr. had been trying to craft an endorsement of Kennedy’s father for six months, another source noted, the younger Trump had long felt Kennedy’s involvement in the race was hurting the GOP campaign.

For some time the polls were ambiguous on this question. But after Harris was accepted as the Democratic presidential candidate and the voting landscape changed, the situation changed dramatically. It’s a reality acknowledged in a memo by Tony Fabrizio, who participated in a poll the Trump campaign sent to reporters after Kennedy’s announcement, that his polling showed that Kennedy’s vote in every important state “breaks for President Trump.”

Still, the initial conservations began earlier, about a week before the Republican convention, when right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson paired Trump Jr. with Kennedy.

From there, Trump Jr. and donor Omeed Malik served as mediators to help seal the deal. Kennedy is expected to play a role in the upcoming campaign, two sources familiar with the negotiations said.

Read more about RFK Jr.’s move →

That’s all for the Policy Desk for now. If you have feedback – like it or not – send us an email politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com

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