Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) is quickly finding his footing as a top messenger for former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.

Vance received high marks for his solo press conference in Detroit and remarks to reporters as he approached Vice President Kamala Harris’s plane at the airport in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. 

“Extremely solid extemporaneous political IQ here,” Republican strategist Josh Holmes, a former adviser to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), wrote on the social media website X. “Vance has barrel of the bat swings going here.”

National Review editor Rich Lowry described Vance as “​​inarguably a good spokesman for the ticket, and he’s shown it the last couple of days.”

“Pivot and attack, rinse and repeat,” Lowry continued (emphasis in the original). “That’s been the basic approach.”

“I wasn’t a fan of J.D. being the pick, but I like what I’ve seen over the past week,” a Republican operative told the Washington Examiner. 

Vice presidential running mates are frequently deployed as attack dogs on the campaign trail, allowing the top of the ticket to remain presidential and above the fray. Republicans have especially had a long history with this, from Spiro Agnew to Sarah Palin. 

Although a former president, Trump has seldom backed down from playing offense in order to appear presidential. Trump didn’t seem to need any help in this area, nor did the mild-mannered Hillbilly Elegy author he tapped as running mate initially seem best equipped to play the attacker role.

When Trump questioned how long Harris had identified as black while speaking to a conference of black journalists, Vance framed it as a broader attack on her authenticity amid a growing list of policy flip-flops.

“Look, I was not bothered at all by what President Trump said. And I didn’t take it as an attack on Kamala Harris’s biracial background at all,” Vance said. “What I took it as was an attack on Kamala Harris being a chameleon.”

Vance repeated this in his press conference on Wednesday. “What I took it as was an attack on Kamala Harris being a chameleon,” he said. “She pretends to be one thing when she’s in front of one audience. She pretends to be something else when she’s in front of another audience.” 

“And I think he was observing the basic foundational reality that Kamala Harris pretends to be something different, depending on which audience she’s speaking to,” he added.

If Trump used more alliteration in his famous nicknames, you could picture “Kamala the Chameleon” making the cut.

“Now, [Harris] has been able to hide this a little bit because, for the past couple of weeks, she only speaks in front of a teleprompter,” Vance continued. “She never gives unscripted remarks, and she’s hidden from the American media and from the American people. But we know she’s a chameleon. We know she’s a person who promised to defund the police and now wants to pretend she’s a tough prosecutor.”

Vance remained on this theme as he marched over to Harris’s airplane when they shared a tarmac in Wisconsin. While he quipped he wanted to take a look at what he hoped would be his airplane next year, he also said, “I also thought you guys may get lonely, because the vice president doesn’t answer questions from reporters.”

Sparring with the press has also been a Republican tradition dating back at least to Agnew. Vance didn’t disappoint there, either. When told he is normally angry and asked what makes him happy, Vance shot back, “Well, I smile at a lot of things, including bogus questions from the media, man.”

Vance has been reminding reporters that Harris did not fall out of a coconut tree but President Joe Biden’s White House. “She said that she would be our border czar, and yet, for 3 1/2 years, we have an open border,” he told reporters. “She said that she would bring some common sense and lower inflation to our economic policies, and yet, she cast the deciding vote that raised interest rates, raised home prices, and raised food prices.”

The freshman Ohio senator’s dogged pursuit of Harris makes another statement, reminding voters that Trump has been president while Biden’s vice president hasn’t been elected to the office — at least not yet.

Vance endured a tough news cycle and discouraging early poll numbers after he was announced last month at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Democrats and the media pounced, as the saying goes, on his “childless cat ladies” comments. Intraparty rivals second-guessed the pick and asked who vetted Vance.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

If Trump had any regrets, he didn’t show them publicly. Instead, he has leaned into using Vance on the trail even more.

Harris and her new running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), have responded in kind, making Vance a frequent target of their barbs. ​​”I can’t wait to debate the guy,” Walz said of Vance in his campaign rollout. “That is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up.”

2024-08-08 12:31:00, http://s.wordpress.com/mshots/v1/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonexaminer.com%2Fnews%2Fcampaigns%2F3114707%2Fvance-comes-into-own-trump-attack-dog%2F?w=600&h=450, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) is quickly finding his footing as a top messenger for former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign. Vance received high marks for his solo press conference in Detroit and remarks to reporters as he approached Vice President Kamala Harris’s plane at the airport in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  “Extremely solid extemporaneous political IQ,

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) is quickly finding his footing as a top messenger for former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.

Vance received high marks for his solo press conference in Detroit and remarks to reporters as he approached Vice President Kamala Harris’s plane at the airport in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. 

“Extremely solid extemporaneous political IQ here,” Republican strategist Josh Holmes, a former adviser to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), wrote on the social media website X. “Vance has barrel of the bat swings going here.”

National Review editor Rich Lowry described Vance as “​​inarguably a good spokesman for the ticket, and he’s shown it the last couple of days.”

“Pivot and attack, rinse and repeat,” Lowry continued (emphasis in the original). “That’s been the basic approach.”

“I wasn’t a fan of J.D. being the pick, but I like what I’ve seen over the past week,” a Republican operative told the Washington Examiner. 

Vice presidential running mates are frequently deployed as attack dogs on the campaign trail, allowing the top of the ticket to remain presidential and above the fray. Republicans have especially had a long history with this, from Spiro Agnew to Sarah Palin. 

Although a former president, Trump has seldom backed down from playing offense in order to appear presidential. Trump didn’t seem to need any help in this area, nor did the mild-mannered Hillbilly Elegy author he tapped as running mate initially seem best equipped to play the attacker role.

When Trump questioned how long Harris had identified as black while speaking to a conference of black journalists, Vance framed it as a broader attack on her authenticity amid a growing list of policy flip-flops.

“Look, I was not bothered at all by what President Trump said. And I didn’t take it as an attack on Kamala Harris’s biracial background at all,” Vance said. “What I took it as was an attack on Kamala Harris being a chameleon.”

Vance repeated this in his press conference on Wednesday. “What I took it as was an attack on Kamala Harris being a chameleon,” he said. “She pretends to be one thing when she’s in front of one audience. She pretends to be something else when she’s in front of another audience.” 

“And I think he was observing the basic foundational reality that Kamala Harris pretends to be something different, depending on which audience she’s speaking to,” he added.

If Trump used more alliteration in his famous nicknames, you could picture “Kamala the Chameleon” making the cut.

“Now, [Harris] has been able to hide this a little bit because, for the past couple of weeks, she only speaks in front of a teleprompter,” Vance continued. “She never gives unscripted remarks, and she’s hidden from the American media and from the American people. But we know she’s a chameleon. We know she’s a person who promised to defund the police and now wants to pretend she’s a tough prosecutor.”

Vance remained on this theme as he marched over to Harris’s airplane when they shared a tarmac in Wisconsin. While he quipped he wanted to take a look at what he hoped would be his airplane next year, he also said, “I also thought you guys may get lonely, because the vice president doesn’t answer questions from reporters.”

Sparring with the press has also been a Republican tradition dating back at least to Agnew. Vance didn’t disappoint there, either. When told he is normally angry and asked what makes him happy, Vance shot back, “Well, I smile at a lot of things, including bogus questions from the media, man.”

Vance has been reminding reporters that Harris did not fall out of a coconut tree but President Joe Biden’s White House. “She said that she would be our border czar, and yet, for 3 1/2 years, we have an open border,” he told reporters. “She said that she would bring some common sense and lower inflation to our economic policies, and yet, she cast the deciding vote that raised interest rates, raised home prices, and raised food prices.”

The freshman Ohio senator’s dogged pursuit of Harris makes another statement, reminding voters that Trump has been president while Biden’s vice president hasn’t been elected to the office — at least not yet.

Vance endured a tough news cycle and discouraging early poll numbers after he was announced last month at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Democrats and the media pounced, as the saying goes, on his “childless cat ladies” comments. Intraparty rivals second-guessed the pick and asked who vetted Vance.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

If Trump had any regrets, he didn’t show them publicly. Instead, he has leaned into using Vance on the trail even more.

Harris and her new running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), have responded in kind, making Vance a frequent target of their barbs. ​​”I can’t wait to debate the guy,” Walz said of Vance in his campaign rollout. “That is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up.”

, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) is quickly finding his footing as a top messenger for former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign. Vance received high marks for his solo press conference in Detroit and remarks to reporters as he approached Vice President Kamala Harris’s plane at the airport in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  “Extremely solid extemporaneous political IQ here,” Republican strategist Josh Holmes, a former adviser to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), wrote on the social media website X. “Vance has barrel of the bat swings going here.” National Review editor Rich Lowry described Vance as “​​inarguably a good spokesman for the ticket, and he’s shown it the last couple of days.” “Pivot and attack, rinse and repeat,” Lowry continued (emphasis in the original). “That’s been the basic approach.” “I wasn’t a fan of J.D. being the pick, but I like what I’ve seen over the past week,” a Republican operative told the Washington Examiner.  Vice presidential running mates are frequently deployed as attack dogs on the campaign trail, allowing the top of the ticket to remain presidential and above the fray. Republicans have especially had a long history with this, from Spiro Agnew to Sarah Palin.  Although a former president, Trump has seldom backed down from playing offense in order to appear presidential. Trump didn’t seem to need any help in this area, nor did the mild-mannered Hillbilly Elegy author he tapped as running mate initially seem best equipped to play the attacker role. When Trump questioned how long Harris had identified as black while speaking to a conference of black journalists, Vance framed it as a broader attack on her authenticity amid a growing list of policy flip-flops. “Look, I was not bothered at all by what President Trump said. And I didn’t take it as an attack on Kamala Harris’s biracial background at all,” Vance said. “What I took it as was an attack on Kamala Harris being a chameleon.” Vance repeated this in his press conference on Wednesday. “What I took it as was an attack on Kamala Harris being a chameleon,” he said. “She pretends to be one thing when she’s in front of one audience. She pretends to be something else when she’s in front of another audience.”  “And I think he was observing the basic foundational reality that Kamala Harris pretends to be something different, depending on which audience she’s speaking to,” he added. If Trump used more alliteration in his famous nicknames, you could picture “Kamala the Chameleon” making the cut. “Now, [Harris] has been able to hide this a little bit because, for the past couple of weeks, she only speaks in front of a teleprompter,” Vance continued. “She never gives unscripted remarks, and she’s hidden from the American media and from the American people. But we know she’s a chameleon. We know she’s a person who promised to defund the police and now wants to pretend she’s a tough prosecutor.” Vance remained on this theme as he marched over to Harris’s airplane when they shared a tarmac in Wisconsin. While he quipped he wanted to take a look at what he hoped would be his airplane next year, he also said, “I also thought you guys may get lonely, because the vice president doesn’t answer questions from reporters.” Sparring with the press has also been a Republican tradition dating back at least to Agnew. Vance didn’t disappoint there, either. When told he is normally angry and asked what makes him happy, Vance shot back, “Well, I smile at a lot of things, including bogus questions from the media, man.” Vance has been reminding reporters that Harris did not fall out of a coconut tree but President Joe Biden’s White House. “She said that she would be our border czar, and yet, for 3 1/2 years, we have an open border,” he told reporters. “She said that she would bring some common sense and lower inflation to our economic policies, and yet, she cast the deciding vote that raised interest rates, raised home prices, and raised food prices.” The freshman Ohio senator’s dogged pursuit of Harris makes another statement, reminding voters that Trump has been president while Biden’s vice president hasn’t been elected to the office — at least not yet. Vance endured a tough news cycle and discouraging early poll numbers after he was announced last month at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Democrats and the media pounced, as the saying goes, on his “childless cat ladies” comments. Intraparty rivals second-guessed the pick and asked who vetted Vance. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER If Trump had any regrets, he didn’t show them publicly. Instead, he has leaned into using Vance on the trail even more. Harris and her new running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), have responded in kind, making Vance a frequent target of their barbs. ​​”I can’t wait to debate the guy,” Walz said of Vance in his campaign rollout. “That is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up.”, , , https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/AP24220522124521.webp, Washington Examiner, Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/cropped-favicon-32×32.png, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/feed/, W. James Antle III,

Vice President Kamala Harris is signaling her intention to move beyond the “blue wall” in her path to the presidency by picking Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as her running mate.

Harris bypassed the governors of more competitive battleground states, especially Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), when she selected Walz on Tuesday. 

But the Harris campaign is hoping to put the Sunbelt back into contention rather than merely fighting former President Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) in the Rust Belt.

Harris held the biggest rally of her young presidential campaign in Atlanta, part of her bid to put Georgia back into play for Democrats. Arizona, North Carolina, and Nevada are no longer being left for dead or red.

The hope is that Walz can help Harris turn out white suburban voters in these battleground states. These voters were the key to President Joe Biden winning the White House in 2020. The most recent CBS News poll showed Harris still underperforming with black and Hispanic voters, though she improved on Biden’s numbers with the former voting bloc, but Trump is winning an anemic 55% of white voters nationally.

Walz will also be called upon to blunt Vance’s populist appeal, pitching economic progressivism as a solution to working-class voters’ bread-and-butter concerns. This is the role former Rep. Tim Ryan played in his surprisingly competitive Ohio Senate race against Vance in 2022. But Walz is highly vulnerable on cultural issues and may be better suited to suburban voter mobilization.

Biden was pinning virtually all his hopes on Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. He was also trailing in all three states. The Sunbelt looked like it was lost to Trump even before Biden’s disastrous June 27 debate.

Since taking over the top spot on the Democratic ticket, Harris has pulled even with Trump in the battleground states. She is up by 0.2 points in the national RealClearPolitics polling average. She is trying to expand the electoral map so a loss in Pennsylvania is not fatal.

It’s risky. Walz’s record on the George Floyd riots and illegal immigration, among other issues, ties in nicely with Harris’s existing vulnerabilities. Minnesota was becoming competitive in the Biden-Trump race, but now appears less so and hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate since Richard Nixon’s 49-state landslide in 1972. If Trump holds on to his leads in the swing states, Harris’s minuscule edge in the national polling averages is meaningless.

Many are already second-guessing Harris’s decision to choose Walz over Shapiro, who might have taken Pennsylvania off the table for Republicans. Shapiro is Jewish and at odds with progressives over Israel, possibly making the Harris camp fear it would merely be trading Michigan for Pennsylvania. Critics charge the vice president with catering to the Hamas sympathizers within her party’s ranks.

There have been multiple reports that Shapiro seemed too ambitious in his own right and might upstage Harris. He is still in his first term as governor and might be well-positioned to run for president himself in 2028 if Harris loses. Harris and Walz appeared to have better personal chemistry, possibly a decisive factor for a Democratic nominee who made the pick as a sitting vice president herself.

In any event, Republican strategists are relieved to be facing Walz on the Democratic ticket alongside Harris rather than Shapiro.

“It’s no surprise that San Francisco Liberal Kamala Harris wants West Coast wannabe Tim Walz as her running-mate – Walz has spent his governorship trying to reshape Minnesota in the image of the Golden State,” Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “While Walz pretends to support Americans in the Heartland, when the cameras are off, he believes that rural America is ‘mostly cows and rocks.’”

When it came to the veepstakes, both major party nominees doubled down. Trump bet that the Rust Belt voters who put him in the White House in 2016 could do so again and that Vance could reach the working class. Harris is similarly betting on the suburbanites to elect her as they did Biden, intending to use Walz to seal the deal.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Both running mates could have their uses as governing partners in a Trump or Harris administration. But their respective tickets have to win first.

Time will tell whether Harris made a bold choice or a misstep in the tradition of Hillary Clinton’s absence from Wisconsin.

2024-08-06 19:04:00, http://s.wordpress.com/mshots/v1/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonexaminer.com%2Fnews%2Fcampaigns%2Fpresidential%2F3112670%2Fwhy-harris-betting-bigger-map%2F?w=600&h=450, Vice President Kamala Harris is signaling her intention to move beyond the “blue wall” in her path to the presidency by picking Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as her running mate. Harris bypassed the governors of more competitive battleground states, especially Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), when she selected Walz on Tuesday.  But the Harris campaign is,

Vice President Kamala Harris is signaling her intention to move beyond the “blue wall” in her path to the presidency by picking Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as her running mate.

Harris bypassed the governors of more competitive battleground states, especially Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), when she selected Walz on Tuesday. 

But the Harris campaign is hoping to put the Sunbelt back into contention rather than merely fighting former President Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) in the Rust Belt.

Harris held the biggest rally of her young presidential campaign in Atlanta, part of her bid to put Georgia back into play for Democrats. Arizona, North Carolina, and Nevada are no longer being left for dead or red.

The hope is that Walz can help Harris turn out white suburban voters in these battleground states. These voters were the key to President Joe Biden winning the White House in 2020. The most recent CBS News poll showed Harris still underperforming with black and Hispanic voters, though she improved on Biden’s numbers with the former voting bloc, but Trump is winning an anemic 55% of white voters nationally.

Walz will also be called upon to blunt Vance’s populist appeal, pitching economic progressivism as a solution to working-class voters’ bread-and-butter concerns. This is the role former Rep. Tim Ryan played in his surprisingly competitive Ohio Senate race against Vance in 2022. But Walz is highly vulnerable on cultural issues and may be better suited to suburban voter mobilization.

Biden was pinning virtually all his hopes on Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. He was also trailing in all three states. The Sunbelt looked like it was lost to Trump even before Biden’s disastrous June 27 debate.

Since taking over the top spot on the Democratic ticket, Harris has pulled even with Trump in the battleground states. She is up by 0.2 points in the national RealClearPolitics polling average. She is trying to expand the electoral map so a loss in Pennsylvania is not fatal.

It’s risky. Walz’s record on the George Floyd riots and illegal immigration, among other issues, ties in nicely with Harris’s existing vulnerabilities. Minnesota was becoming competitive in the Biden-Trump race, but now appears less so and hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate since Richard Nixon’s 49-state landslide in 1972. If Trump holds on to his leads in the swing states, Harris’s minuscule edge in the national polling averages is meaningless.

Many are already second-guessing Harris’s decision to choose Walz over Shapiro, who might have taken Pennsylvania off the table for Republicans. Shapiro is Jewish and at odds with progressives over Israel, possibly making the Harris camp fear it would merely be trading Michigan for Pennsylvania. Critics charge the vice president with catering to the Hamas sympathizers within her party’s ranks.

There have been multiple reports that Shapiro seemed too ambitious in his own right and might upstage Harris. He is still in his first term as governor and might be well-positioned to run for president himself in 2028 if Harris loses. Harris and Walz appeared to have better personal chemistry, possibly a decisive factor for a Democratic nominee who made the pick as a sitting vice president herself.

In any event, Republican strategists are relieved to be facing Walz on the Democratic ticket alongside Harris rather than Shapiro.

“It’s no surprise that San Francisco Liberal Kamala Harris wants West Coast wannabe Tim Walz as her running-mate – Walz has spent his governorship trying to reshape Minnesota in the image of the Golden State,” Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “While Walz pretends to support Americans in the Heartland, when the cameras are off, he believes that rural America is ‘mostly cows and rocks.’”

When it came to the veepstakes, both major party nominees doubled down. Trump bet that the Rust Belt voters who put him in the White House in 2016 could do so again and that Vance could reach the working class. Harris is similarly betting on the suburbanites to elect her as they did Biden, intending to use Walz to seal the deal.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Both running mates could have their uses as governing partners in a Trump or Harris administration. But their respective tickets have to win first.

Time will tell whether Harris made a bold choice or a misstep in the tradition of Hillary Clinton’s absence from Wisconsin.

, Vice President Kamala Harris is signaling her intention to move beyond the “blue wall” in her path to the presidency by picking Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as her running mate. Harris bypassed the governors of more competitive battleground states, especially Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), when she selected Walz on Tuesday.  But the Harris campaign is hoping to put the Sunbelt back into contention rather than merely fighting former President Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) in the Rust Belt. Harris held the biggest rally of her young presidential campaign in Atlanta, part of her bid to put Georgia back into play for Democrats. Arizona, North Carolina, and Nevada are no longer being left for dead or red. The hope is that Walz can help Harris turn out white suburban voters in these battleground states. These voters were the key to President Joe Biden winning the White House in 2020. The most recent CBS News poll showed Harris still underperforming with black and Hispanic voters, though she improved on Biden’s numbers with the former voting bloc, but Trump is winning an anemic 55% of white voters nationally. Walz will also be called upon to blunt Vance’s populist appeal, pitching economic progressivism as a solution to working-class voters’ bread-and-butter concerns. This is the role former Rep. Tim Ryan played in his surprisingly competitive Ohio Senate race against Vance in 2022. But Walz is highly vulnerable on cultural issues and may be better suited to suburban voter mobilization. Biden was pinning virtually all his hopes on Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. He was also trailing in all three states. The Sunbelt looked like it was lost to Trump even before Biden’s disastrous June 27 debate. Since taking over the top spot on the Democratic ticket, Harris has pulled even with Trump in the battleground states. She is up by 0.2 points in the national RealClearPolitics polling average. She is trying to expand the electoral map so a loss in Pennsylvania is not fatal. It’s risky. Walz’s record on the George Floyd riots and illegal immigration, among other issues, ties in nicely with Harris’s existing vulnerabilities. Minnesota was becoming competitive in the Biden-Trump race, but now appears less so and hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate since Richard Nixon’s 49-state landslide in 1972. If Trump holds on to his leads in the swing states, Harris’s minuscule edge in the national polling averages is meaningless. Many are already second-guessing Harris’s decision to choose Walz over Shapiro, who might have taken Pennsylvania off the table for Republicans. Shapiro is Jewish and at odds with progressives over Israel, possibly making the Harris camp fear it would merely be trading Michigan for Pennsylvania. Critics charge the vice president with catering to the Hamas sympathizers within her party’s ranks. There have been multiple reports that Shapiro seemed too ambitious in his own right and might upstage Harris. He is still in his first term as governor and might be well-positioned to run for president himself in 2028 if Harris loses. Harris and Walz appeared to have better personal chemistry, possibly a decisive factor for a Democratic nominee who made the pick as a sitting vice president herself. In any event, Republican strategists are relieved to be facing Walz on the Democratic ticket alongside Harris rather than Shapiro. “It’s no surprise that San Francisco Liberal Kamala Harris wants West Coast wannabe Tim Walz as her running-mate – Walz has spent his governorship trying to reshape Minnesota in the image of the Golden State,” Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “While Walz pretends to support Americans in the Heartland, when the cameras are off, he believes that rural America is ‘mostly cows and rocks.’” When it came to the veepstakes, both major party nominees doubled down. Trump bet that the Rust Belt voters who put him in the White House in 2016 could do so again and that Vance could reach the working class. Harris is similarly betting on the suburbanites to elect her as they did Biden, intending to use Walz to seal the deal. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Both running mates could have their uses as governing partners in a Trump or Harris administration. But their respective tickets have to win first. Time will tell whether Harris made a bold choice or a misstep in the tradition of Hillary Clinton’s absence from Wisconsin., , , https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/kamala_harris_map.webp.webp, Washington Examiner, Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/cropped-favicon-32×32.png, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/feed/, W. James Antle III,

When former President Donald Trump chose Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris was quick to challenge Vance to a debate.

In her congratulatory voicemail, Harris urged Vance to accept a debate on CBS News on either July 23 (since passed) or Aug. 13.

“Vice President Harris is prepared to debate J.D. Vance,” Biden campaign spokesman T.J. Ducklo told reporters during the Republican convention on the day the pick was announced. “We have accepted the proposal from CBS News — I think as folks are aware — to participate in that debate, and we feel very good.”

Nobody expects Harris to debate Vance on Aug. 13. That gauntlet was thrown down by the then Biden-Harris campaign trying to project normalcy amid a Democratic revolt. The race has since changed and Harris is now the Democratic presidential nominee. For her, it’s a debate with Trump or bust.

The Trump campaign believes the same logic applies to the presidential debates: The race has changed, and what they agreed to do when President Joe Biden was on top of the ticket is null and void. Now new terms need to be agreed to with the new Democratic nominee.

Harris believes that she inherited the Biden debate terms, much as she inherited his delegates and campaign funds. She is mocking Trump for abandoning his “anytime, anyplace” stance on debating, adopted when Biden was still the presumptive nominee. 

But while scoring points against Trump’s bravado, Harris noticeably isn’t adopting it: She seems no more interested in debating Trump on Fox News than he is in debating her on ABC News.

This is the sort of jockeying that many expected to take place when Biden publicly challenged Trump to a debate — “Well, make my day, pal” — on terms that seemed quite favorable to the Democrats’ then standard-bearer. No Fox News, no conservative moderators, no live audiences, no interruptions, no late fall debates at all.

Instead, Trump quickly accepted Biden’s terms. The former president bet that simply getting up on stage with Biden would set up a contrast favorable to him. Trump was right, so much so that the June 27 encounter knocked Biden out of the race.

This time, the ground rules matter more. Therefore, the Trump campaign would like another shot at a debate on Fox, which the Democrats have always rejected no matter whether Biden or Harris was at the top of the ticket.

Trump has always debated based on what serves his political interests. He skipped the Republican primary debates this year to avoid giving his opponents any oxygen. It worked. While former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley used the debates to pull ahead of the rest of the field, she never got particularly close to beating Trump.

In 2015 and 2016, Trump used the GOP debates to upstage a large field of more established politicians. He made their relative polish and experience look like inauthenticity, and none matched his charisma or star power. 

Trump’s debates against Hillary Clinton in 2016 were unconventional and uneven. But he scored some points against the Democratic nominee and his performances were good enough to survive the Access Hollywood scandal and ultimately win the White House.

The record against Biden was even more mixed. Trump came in too hot against Biden in their first debate in 2020, skipped the next scheduled debate because it was going to be held virtually after his COVID-19 infection, and then settled down a little the second time he debated Biden. Four years later, Trump scored the most lopsided win in the history of presidential debates.

That may have been a pyrrhic victory, since Trump now faces a much more competitive race with Biden gone. (Though the hostile press coverage of his attempts to renegotiate the debate terms with Harris suggests he probably couldn’t have turned Biden down.) The politics of a Trump-Harris debate are unclear.

Democrats would like the debate to resemble Trump’s appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists convention: a contentious event where the Republican nominee fights with the moderators and rants angrily about whether Harris is black. If Trump avoids this spectacle, Democrats can portray him as weak. This isn’t low-polling Chris Christie calling Trump “Donald Duck.”

But Republicans would also like to get Harris in an unscripted setting and have her answer tough questions about her rapidly shifting policy positions. And while she is a much more disciplined communicator than Trump, a lot of the fodder for anti-Harris ads has come from her past debates.

The June 27 debate blew up Biden’s basement strategy and made it impossible to hide him from the electorate until Election Day. Harris can still run a version of that play in a truncated campaign. Republicans would prefer to avoid that outcome.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

There is still a chance Harris and Trump debate. The polls after the Democratic convention may dictate which side is more willing to give on debate terms.

This year has shown that debating can have unpredictable results.

2024-08-03 19:01:00, http://s.wordpress.com/mshots/v1/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonexaminer.com%2Fnews%2Fcampaigns%2Fpresidential%2F3109862%2Ftrump-harris-debate-the-debates%2F?w=600&h=450, When former President Donald Trump chose Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris was quick to challenge Vance to a debate. In her congratulatory voicemail, Harris urged Vance to accept a debate on CBS News on either July 23 (since passed) or Aug. 13. “Vice President Harris is prepared to,

When former President Donald Trump chose Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris was quick to challenge Vance to a debate.

In her congratulatory voicemail, Harris urged Vance to accept a debate on CBS News on either July 23 (since passed) or Aug. 13.

“Vice President Harris is prepared to debate J.D. Vance,” Biden campaign spokesman T.J. Ducklo told reporters during the Republican convention on the day the pick was announced. “We have accepted the proposal from CBS News — I think as folks are aware — to participate in that debate, and we feel very good.”

Nobody expects Harris to debate Vance on Aug. 13. That gauntlet was thrown down by the then Biden-Harris campaign trying to project normalcy amid a Democratic revolt. The race has since changed and Harris is now the Democratic presidential nominee. For her, it’s a debate with Trump or bust.

The Trump campaign believes the same logic applies to the presidential debates: The race has changed, and what they agreed to do when President Joe Biden was on top of the ticket is null and void. Now new terms need to be agreed to with the new Democratic nominee.

Harris believes that she inherited the Biden debate terms, much as she inherited his delegates and campaign funds. She is mocking Trump for abandoning his “anytime, anyplace” stance on debating, adopted when Biden was still the presumptive nominee. 

But while scoring points against Trump’s bravado, Harris noticeably isn’t adopting it: She seems no more interested in debating Trump on Fox News than he is in debating her on ABC News.

This is the sort of jockeying that many expected to take place when Biden publicly challenged Trump to a debate — “Well, make my day, pal” — on terms that seemed quite favorable to the Democrats’ then standard-bearer. No Fox News, no conservative moderators, no live audiences, no interruptions, no late fall debates at all.

Instead, Trump quickly accepted Biden’s terms. The former president bet that simply getting up on stage with Biden would set up a contrast favorable to him. Trump was right, so much so that the June 27 encounter knocked Biden out of the race.

This time, the ground rules matter more. Therefore, the Trump campaign would like another shot at a debate on Fox, which the Democrats have always rejected no matter whether Biden or Harris was at the top of the ticket.

Trump has always debated based on what serves his political interests. He skipped the Republican primary debates this year to avoid giving his opponents any oxygen. It worked. While former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley used the debates to pull ahead of the rest of the field, she never got particularly close to beating Trump.

In 2015 and 2016, Trump used the GOP debates to upstage a large field of more established politicians. He made their relative polish and experience look like inauthenticity, and none matched his charisma or star power. 

Trump’s debates against Hillary Clinton in 2016 were unconventional and uneven. But he scored some points against the Democratic nominee and his performances were good enough to survive the Access Hollywood scandal and ultimately win the White House.

The record against Biden was even more mixed. Trump came in too hot against Biden in their first debate in 2020, skipped the next scheduled debate because it was going to be held virtually after his COVID-19 infection, and then settled down a little the second time he debated Biden. Four years later, Trump scored the most lopsided win in the history of presidential debates.

That may have been a pyrrhic victory, since Trump now faces a much more competitive race with Biden gone. (Though the hostile press coverage of his attempts to renegotiate the debate terms with Harris suggests he probably couldn’t have turned Biden down.) The politics of a Trump-Harris debate are unclear.

Democrats would like the debate to resemble Trump’s appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists convention: a contentious event where the Republican nominee fights with the moderators and rants angrily about whether Harris is black. If Trump avoids this spectacle, Democrats can portray him as weak. This isn’t low-polling Chris Christie calling Trump “Donald Duck.”

But Republicans would also like to get Harris in an unscripted setting and have her answer tough questions about her rapidly shifting policy positions. And while she is a much more disciplined communicator than Trump, a lot of the fodder for anti-Harris ads has come from her past debates.

The June 27 debate blew up Biden’s basement strategy and made it impossible to hide him from the electorate until Election Day. Harris can still run a version of that play in a truncated campaign. Republicans would prefer to avoid that outcome.

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There is still a chance Harris and Trump debate. The polls after the Democratic convention may dictate which side is more willing to give on debate terms.

This year has shown that debating can have unpredictable results.

, When former President Donald Trump chose Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris was quick to challenge Vance to a debate. In her congratulatory voicemail, Harris urged Vance to accept a debate on CBS News on either July 23 (since passed) or Aug. 13. “Vice President Harris is prepared to debate J.D. Vance,” Biden campaign spokesman T.J. Ducklo told reporters during the Republican convention on the day the pick was announced. “We have accepted the proposal from CBS News — I think as folks are aware — to participate in that debate, and we feel very good.” Nobody expects Harris to debate Vance on Aug. 13. That gauntlet was thrown down by the then Biden-Harris campaign trying to project normalcy amid a Democratic revolt. The race has since changed and Harris is now the Democratic presidential nominee. For her, it’s a debate with Trump or bust. The Trump campaign believes the same logic applies to the presidential debates: The race has changed, and what they agreed to do when President Joe Biden was on top of the ticket is null and void. Now new terms need to be agreed to with the new Democratic nominee. Harris believes that she inherited the Biden debate terms, much as she inherited his delegates and campaign funds. She is mocking Trump for abandoning his “anytime, anyplace” stance on debating, adopted when Biden was still the presumptive nominee.  But while scoring points against Trump’s bravado, Harris noticeably isn’t adopting it: She seems no more interested in debating Trump on Fox News than he is in debating her on ABC News. This is the sort of jockeying that many expected to take place when Biden publicly challenged Trump to a debate — “Well, make my day, pal” — on terms that seemed quite favorable to the Democrats’ then standard-bearer. No Fox News, no conservative moderators, no live audiences, no interruptions, no late fall debates at all. Instead, Trump quickly accepted Biden’s terms. The former president bet that simply getting up on stage with Biden would set up a contrast favorable to him. Trump was right, so much so that the June 27 encounter knocked Biden out of the race. This time, the ground rules matter more. Therefore, the Trump campaign would like another shot at a debate on Fox, which the Democrats have always rejected no matter whether Biden or Harris was at the top of the ticket. Trump has always debated based on what serves his political interests. He skipped the Republican primary debates this year to avoid giving his opponents any oxygen. It worked. While former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley used the debates to pull ahead of the rest of the field, she never got particularly close to beating Trump. In 2015 and 2016, Trump used the GOP debates to upstage a large field of more established politicians. He made their relative polish and experience look like inauthenticity, and none matched his charisma or star power.  Trump’s debates against Hillary Clinton in 2016 were unconventional and uneven. But he scored some points against the Democratic nominee and his performances were good enough to survive the Access Hollywood scandal and ultimately win the White House. The record against Biden was even more mixed. Trump came in too hot against Biden in their first debate in 2020, skipped the next scheduled debate because it was going to be held virtually after his COVID-19 infection, and then settled down a little the second time he debated Biden. Four years later, Trump scored the most lopsided win in the history of presidential debates. That may have been a pyrrhic victory, since Trump now faces a much more competitive race with Biden gone. (Though the hostile press coverage of his attempts to renegotiate the debate terms with Harris suggests he probably couldn’t have turned Biden down.) The politics of a Trump-Harris debate are unclear. Democrats would like the debate to resemble Trump’s appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists convention: a contentious event where the Republican nominee fights with the moderators and rants angrily about whether Harris is black. If Trump avoids this spectacle, Democrats can portray him as weak. This isn’t low-polling Chris Christie calling Trump “Donald Duck.” But Republicans would also like to get Harris in an unscripted setting and have her answer tough questions about her rapidly shifting policy positions. And while she is a much more disciplined communicator than Trump, a lot of the fodder for anti-Harris ads has come from her past debates. The June 27 debate blew up Biden’s basement strategy and made it impossible to hide him from the electorate until Election Day. Harris can still run a version of that play in a truncated campaign. Republicans would prefer to avoid that outcome. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER There is still a chance Harris and Trump debate. The polls after the Democratic convention may dictate which side is more willing to give on debate terms. This year has shown that debating can have unpredictable results., , , https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/trump_harris_debates.webp.webp, Washington Examiner, Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/cropped-favicon-32×32.png, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/feed/, W. James Antle III,

MILWAUKEE — If there was a single unifying theme of the Republican National Convention, it was confidence in the leadership of former President Donald Trump.

That’s not to say that making America safe, strong, and great again weren’t important parts of the Republican message over those four nights. But Republican delegates trust Trump to deliver on those goals more than ever and his emotional bond with the party faithful has never been stronger, in a way that has superseded their connections to past leaders such as George W. Bush. 

The list of living former GOP presidential and vice presidential nominees who weren’t at the convention that circulated widely on social media simply did not matter to the delegates inside the Fiserv Forum, whatever their feelings about these Republicans individually. When asked about Trump, delegates used words like “strong,” “tough,” “brave,” and “courageous.”

This trust in Trump is what tied together the “amens” that greeted evangelist Franklin Graham, son and successor of Billy Graham, and the “yeah, brothers” of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan directly before him. The realization that Trump could have died the weekend before the proceedings and the jubilation over the fact that he survived, bloodied but unbowed, suffused the whole event.

“Heading into Milwaukee, former President Trump was riding the wave of what could be described as the most successful three weeks of his political career, excluding Election Day 2016. This period includes a monstrous debate, favorable Supreme Court rulings, the dismissal of the classified document case, and even surviving an assassination attempt,” Republican strategist Ford O’Connell said. “That momentum continued at the RNC convention. The atmosphere was electric, the convention was meticulously choreographed and executed, and the GOP is at least as unified as it was in 2004, and possibly even 1984. Nearly every single Republican now sees Trump as the toughest SOB ever to run for president.”

Modern political conventions are mainly extended television commercials for the party’s nominee. Here Trump the showman also put his stamp on the gathering.

“This was the best programming that an RNC convention has done in quite some time,” Republican strategist Ron Bonjean said. “Bringing in compelling speakers to share emotional and interesting stories that helped to shape the narrative for Trump’s candidacy.”

Trump has now been the titular head of the Republican Party as long as any two-term president, despite having only served one. That’s why he didn’t need ambassadors to vouch for his Republican or conservative credentials, a list of Supreme Court picks or specific assurances to social conservatives, or a vice presidential selection from the pre-Trump GOP or conservative movement like Mike Pence.

Instead Trump had already proved himself on judges and taxes. He could choose a running mate from his own faction of the party in Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH). He could water down the pro-life plank in the platform because of his role in the reversal of Roe v. Wade. If he returns to Washington in January, Paul Ryan will be gone and Mitch McConnell will have stepped down from leadership.

Not everyone in the party is happy with these changes. But Trump is no longer the interloper from New York with no political track record outside of bipartisan donations and a brief campaign for the Reform Party presidential nomination running to the left of Pat Buchanan. Republicans trust him, and even those who don’t now see him as Buchanan’s heir, if not Ronald Reagan’s.

If Trump himself is not new, some of the confidence in him as a man is. Yes, he has had a passionate MAGA following from the moment he came down the escalator in Trump Tower in 2015, now nearly a decade ago. But there were plenty of Republicans who liked the policies, especially the more conventionally conservative ones, but not the tweets. Which was another way of saying they had misgivings about Trump’s tone and temperament, as well as his penchant for picking petty and counterproductive fights.

One of the earliest adopters of Trump on the Right, syndicated columnist Ann Coulter, wrote the book In Trump We Trust. Coulter sharply broke with Trump afterward. Unlike many others who did so, it wasn’t because she drifted leftward or lost her White House job. Coulter didn’t believe he followed through on his promises on immigration.

Never Trumpers, some of them lifelong Republicans, never trusted Trump’s conservatism or his character. Trump governed as a conservative in his first term, though intraparty disagreements over trade and foreign policy (less so immigration) remain potent. The character concerns looked prescient in the aftermath of the 2020 election, culminating in the disaster of Jan. 6, forming the centerpiece of the Democrats’ argument that Trump is a threat to democracy. The most fervent Never Trumpers relocated to the Democratic Party.

But the prosecutions of Trump, including the two cases related to Jan. 6, hardened the Republican base’s faith in the former president. They came to increasingly see him not as the self-interested figure presented by his detractors, but rather as a man giving up a comfortable existence and risking his fortune, freedom, and after the assassination attempt in Butler, Pa. his life for their values and the country.

The assassination attempt also sparked conversation about Trump as a changed man. He appeared visibly moved at his reception by the convention delegates, a side of him the public had never seen before. He was amused by Hulk Hogan and seemed to take more pleasure in the tributes paid to him by convention speakers, especially his granddaughter. 

Tears streamed down delegates’ cheeks as Trump recounted the attempt on his life with the firefighter uniform of Corey Comperatore, who was killed by the shooter at the rally, behind him on stage. While the speech went long and eventually reverted to standard campaign talking points, for the first 20 or so minutes Trump spoke in hushed tones and the delegates hung on his every word. Trump told the Washington Examiner he had thrown out his previous version of the speech after the shooting.

Longtime Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) did an about face and endorsed the Republican nominee after the assassination attempt. “Your life was spared,” Cox wrote to Trump in a letter dated July 14. “Now, because of that miracle, you have the opportunity to do something that no other person on earth can do right now: unify and save our country.”

Uncertainty over the identity of the Democratic nominee amid the unprecedented mutiny against President Joe Biden also factored into the Trump-centric GOP convention. Republicans left Milwaukee united while Democrats may head into Chicago deeply divided.

How long the GOP will be Trump’s party remains to be seen. If he wins, he will be ineligible to run again in 2028 under the 22nd Amendment. If he loses, he will be 82 by the next election, older than Biden is now, and a twice-defeated nominee. Reagan’s grip on the party lasted more than 40 years, while George W. Bush’s influence began slipping even before he left office. 

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“If the election were held today, Trump would become the 47th president of the United States,” O’Connell said. “For those who doubt this assessment, just tune into MSNBC or The View. They have cranked up the conspiracy theory narrative to the max because they recognize that Trump is on a roll, and the convention in Milwaukee only bolstered his political momentum.”

For now, it’s Trump’s party like never before.

MILWAUKEE — The biggest development at the Republican National Convention may be happening nearly 800 miles away, as the push to oust President Joe Biden appears to be once again gaining steam.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who is running for Senate this year, became the latest Democratic lawmaker to call for Biden to step down as the party’s nominee. The number is now approaching two dozen, which might be manageable if Biden clearly had the support of the rank-and-file. 

But an Associated Press poll found that two-thirds of Democrats want Biden to withdraw from the race and allow someone else to take his place at the top of the ticket. Less than a third of Democrats were confident in Biden’s ability to serve a second term. 

A massive survey of the battleground states by BlueLab Analytics painted a dire picture of Biden’s reelection prospects while a replacement candidate could fare much better.

The Democratic National Committee is still moving forward with plans for an early virtual roll call to nominate Biden, but that now won’t take place until August. Democrats say the roll call is intended to ensure their ballot access in Ohio, though state lawmakers already moved to allow Biden ballot access in the state by extending the filing deadline. DNC officials argue because of state law, the extension won’t take effect until 90 days after it was signed, which would be on Sept. 1 and therefore after the Aug 7 deadline.

But the move is widely viewed as an attempt to help Biden run out the clock and avoid a mutiny by delegates in Chicago.

Now Biden has himself laid out a circumstance in which he would consider dropping out of the race, something he has recently dismissed as a possibility: if doctors informed him of a serious medical condition. 

Whether Biden is setting himself up for a gracious exit or it was just an attempt to reassure Democrats he would not put the country on the line for his own political goals, it will create the impression that his mind can be changed on reelection.

It is abundantly clear that many leading Democrats, including his top former allies, would like Biden to change his mind. But in the days since former President Donald Trump was shot at a rally in Pennsylvania, the pressure campaign has waned.

Even after the NATO summit, capped by an uneven Biden solo press conference, the anticipated flood of Democratic lawmakers calling on his withdrawal never materialized. Most of the Democrats who have publicly sought to push Biden out are in the House, and many are backbenchers.

It had seemed in recent days that time might be on Biden’s side. Trump was back in the spotlight after a failed assassination attempt. Then came the Republican National Convention and Trump’s selection of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his running mate. The Democratic National Committee seemed on track to ratify Biden’s nomination as early as this month.

But Biden has given a series of uneven interviews. He made repeated verbal slips and televised remarks calling for his civility after Trump was shot. He misstated parts of a new economic proposal. The Secret Service has been ensnared in a controversy about whether it mishandled Trump’s security. Biden misstated the gender of the agency’s head in an interview. House Democrats were on the cusp of revolting against the DNC’s plan to nominate Biden early.

All this has turned the tide against Biden once again. Trump is only leading Biden by 2.5 points in the RealClearPolitics national polling average. FiveThirtyEight’s model actually predicts a Biden win, although that is at least partially based on adjusted polling for “fundamentals,” such as unspecified economic conditions. 

But Democrats are worried in the battleground states, even though most of their Senate candidates there still lead. Some lawmakers say they are looking at internal polling that shows a wipeout. 

Biden has done little to calm worries that he is no longer up to the job. Confidence in him among Democratic elites has been in a free fall since a disastrous debate performance on June 27 — a debate Biden’s camp pushed for that was largely conducted according to their terms.

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The BlueLab Analytics polling suggests that Democrats would need to jettison both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket while also steering clear of other administration figures. That’s a tall order. Governors and other fresh faces have so far been reluctant to express interest in the race. Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) received high marks for his handling of the Trump shooting.

Biden has responded to the recent spate of bad news by seeking to shore up his left flank, backing a number of progressive economic and Supreme Court reforms.

MILWAUKEE — Former President Donald Trump is set to accept the Republican nomination for the third straight presidential race, but for most of the past two weeks — until the attempt on Trump’s life in Pennsylvania — the focus has been on President Joe Biden.

Biden will be a major theme of the Republican National Convention. But it’s the Democrats who have been giving Biden problems ever since his disastrous debate performance. The truth is, however, the man of the hour in Milwaukee is the source of Biden’s problems here, too.

For months, the Biden campaign has tried to make clear to anyone who would listen that the presidential race is close. They claim to have their own polling showing Biden within the margin of error of Trump. Some of the public polls tell the same story: Trump led by just 1 point in the latest Fox News poll, by 2 in NBC News’s. NPR/PBS/Marist actually had Biden ahead by 2 after days of Democratic lawmakers saying he should drop out.

The RealClearPolitics polling average has Trump leading nationally by 2.7 points, down from his post-debate peak of 3.4 points, heading into the GOP convention.

Trump is himself a deeply polarizing figure. His favorability rating remains underwater by 12.6 points, though that is still a bit better than Biden. That is enough to keep the race competitive.

Democrats have never liked hearing that the race is close. They lost just about all patience with that argument after the debate. Why? Again because of Trump.

To Democrats, losing to Trump is unacceptable. Many of them believed he was a spent political force after losing to Biden in 2020 or, if not then, certainly after Jan. 6. Whatever else happens in Milwaukee, that will once again be shown to be untrue.

Democrats often claim, and many of them to varying degrees genuinely believe, that Trump poses a unique threat to democracy. Some of those arguments may be more muted after Trump was wounded by an assassin’s bullet. But the feeling won’t go away.

If democracy is on the ballot, then being within the margin of error of Trump, who outperformed his poll numbers in both 2016 and 2020, isn’t good enough. Democracy can’t be a jump ball.

No answer Biden gave in his post-debate cleanup interview with George Stephanopoulos upset Democrats and Never Trumpers more than when the president said how he would feel if he lost the rematch with his predecessor: “I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the good as job as I know I can do, that’s what this is about.” (Some transcribed Biden as saying “goodest,” but the grammar wasn’t what bothered Democrats.)

Democrats are looking for greater assurances that they will beat Trump than Biden and his top aides have ever given them. They perhaps want more certainty about defeating Trump than any Democratic campaign realistically can give them. But the debate opened the door for someone to try.

An NBC News report detailing Democratic panic in the wake of the assassination attempt against Trump quoted a party strategist saying it was “so bizarre” that “many people on my side are firmly in the camp of [Biden] can’t win.”

What Democrats most want to believe is that the top of their ticket can’t lose, or at least that Trump can’t possibly win. They are not currently seeing data that comforts them on that score.

Even in a poll like NRP/PBS/Marist where Biden appears to be winning, he is probably losing. Biden’s lead is within the poll’s margin of error. More importantly, absent changes in the battleground state polling, he can win the popular vote by 2 points and still lose the Electoral College — and the presidency — to Trump. Hillary Clinton edged Trump in that metric by 2.1 points in 2016.

Biden’s camp keeps trying to persuade Democrats that the race is close, that voters won’t really start focusing on the campaign until after the conventions, that it is still a long way until Election Day, that they should have more confidence in their battleground state get-out-the-vote operations than Trump’s, and that only modest polling errors would erase any Republican lead just like that illusory “red wave” two years ago.

These arguments are plausible. Yet faced with the prospect of a second Trump term, Democrats no longer have the patience to find out if they are correct.

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For Biden, Trump is a double-edged sword. He’s controversial enough to keep Biden in the race. But Trump is also why Biden’s party cannot tolerate the possibility of losing.

Trump looms large not just over the GOP, but both major parties.

While the world waits for the other shoe to drop with President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump has a momentous decision to make of his own: his 2024 running mate.

Trump has had a lot to say in public about his prospects, but he has yet to identify his pick. He has repeatedly said he would like to make the announcement as close as possible to the Republican National Convention, which starts on Monday in Milwaukee. There are reports that he might roll out his choice Apprentice style.

The short list is widely believed to have shrunk to three people: Sens. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND). Trump mentioned all three of them earlier this week in a radio interview with Brian Kilmeade, weighing their pros and cons.

“Vance is probably where his heart is, Rubio his head, and the smart money is on Burgum,” a senior Republican told the Washington Examiner while conceding that “nobody really knows anything for sure.”  

MEET THE EIGHT TOP NAMES ON TRUMP’S VP SHORT LIST

Trump is a mercurial candidate who loves surprises and tweaking the press, so nothing can be taken as a given. He waffled on his last selection until practically the last minute.

Vance, who before being elected to the Senate was the author of the acclaimed book Hillbilly Elegy, would represent a doubling down on working-class voters and the Rust Belt states Trump won in 2016 but lost in 2020. The Biden campaign told nervous Democrats on Thursday that Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin remain their best path to a majority of electoral votes.

The freshman Republican senator is an effective communicator. He is also more committed to a more populist and nationalist version of conservatism than Trump himself, on both foreign policy and economics. He has collaborated with Democrats in the Senate on legislation, including Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), his state’s senior senator who Republicans are trying to unseat this November.

All of these things are viewed as pros by elements of Trump’s MAGA base, who would like to see the former president repeat his winning formula from 2016 and perhaps govern more in line with that branding in a second term. But other factions of the GOP view these attributes as negatives, signifying that Vance doesn’t hail from a different wing of the party than Trump and doesn’t add anyone to the coalition the presumptive presidential nominee couldn’t win on his own.

These Republican critics often point out that Vance ran behind other candidates on the 2022 Ohio GOP ticket as well as both of Trump’s previous presidential performances and required a substantial infusion of cash, some of it from the Republican establishment, to win his race. But it is also true that Vance’s Democratic opponent, former Rep. Tim Ryan, an erstwhile aide to the eccentric populist former Rep. Jim Traficant, fought to win a similar constituency. 

There is also a risk that the media will be more hostile to Vance than other prospective VP candidates, including the conservative outlets that have tended to oppose Trump. But that hasn’t proven decisive against the top of the ticket, so it may not matter.

Some observers consider Donald Trump Jr., a Vance friend and ally, speaking ahead of the vice presidential nominee at the Republican convention to be a positive sign for the Ohioan.

Like Vance, Rubio did not start on good terms with Trump. Endorsed by Nikki Haley in 2016, “Little Marco” was the choice of many anti-Trump Republicans in that year’s primaries. But Rubio, who warmed up to Trump, has shifted in a more populist direction on economic policy and hired staffers who reflect that commitment.

But lingering questions remain on immigration (Rubio was a booster of the 2013 Gang of Eight proposal that seriously handicapped his campaign for president three years later) and foreign policy (he has a more interventionist history). Trump Jr. has worried that Rubio is too establishment friendly.

At the same time, Rubio could conceivably be MAGA friendly enough while also retaining some support from Haley voters who have been reluctant to come around to Trump. His appeal to Hispanic voters is also a consideration.

Yet the biggest problem might be technical: Florida’s electors cannot cast votes for two candidates from their state. Trump will likely need Florida’s 30 electoral votes and may be reluctant to switch his primary residency back to New York given the high taxes and legal troubles for both himself and his business. 

“You do that and it makes it more complicated. There are people that don’t have that complication. Now it’s fairly easily fixed, but you have to do something with delegates or there has to be a resignation,” Trump told Fox News Radio. “So it’s not like picking some people where it’s very easy, where there is none of that.”

Burgum might be the most similar to former Vice President Mike Pence. He looks like someone who could play a president or vice president on TV but won’t upstage the boss. The last time Trump had to make this choice, he picked someone calmer and more conventional than he was. 

The North Dakotan wouldn’t have the same draw with evangelicals that Pence had, but he might with Trump-wary GOP donors. Spencer Zwick, for example, was an adviser and finance chairman for Mitt Romney, a business partner of one of Romney’s sons, and a Haley 2024 finance team member. Burgum would reportedly get him on board the Trump train.

Trump has said he is worried about the strict abortion ban in place in North Dakota. It is also possible that the similarities to Pence are less attractive to him after breaking with his former vice president in the aftermath of the 2020 election. Pence will not endorse Trump for president this year and has stepped up the criticism of his former boss’s conduct on Jan. 6.

At 67, Burgum is also older than Rubio, 53, and Vance, 39. This could be a factor in a race increasingly defined by the 81-year-old incumbent’s age. Trump turned 78 last month.

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It’s possible that none of these three will be Trump’s VP selection and he will name someone else entirely. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) may still be in contention. Tightening polls in New York could pave the way for Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY). Haley, once Trump’s U.N. ambassador, or Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) could be unifying after the primaries. Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) is another potential dark horse. 

The wait will soon be over.

President Joe Biden could take some advice from Sen. James Mountain Inhofe (R-OK). Running his last Senate race at 85, he faced criticism that he was too old for the job.

A pilot, Inhofe announced his bid for a fifth term by flying an airplane upside down. “When I can no longer fly a plane upside down, then I’m too old to be in the United States Senate,” he said. He won nearly 63% of the vote, beating a Democratic opponent 55 years his junior by 30 points, though he retired before completing his term.

Nevertheless, Inhofe served nearly 30 years in the Senate. He had already been in Washington as a member of the House for almost eight years when he got an early start in the upper chamber as part of the 1994 “Republican Revolution.”

The staunch conservative won a special election to replace Sen. David Boren, himself a not terribly liberal Democrat who often went against the Clinton administration, who had departed to become president of the University of Oklahoma. Republicans won control of the Senate that day, but Inhofe was sworn in nine days later to fill the vacancy and seated before the new GOP majority.

Inhofe died at age 89 on July 9. It was his battles on behalf of the energy industry against progressive climate activists that headline writers remembered most. A Politico newsletter memorialized him as a senator “who called climate change a ‘hoax.’” The New York Times described him as a “senator who denied climate change.” The Washington Post remembered him as an “Oklahoma senator and climate-change denier.” The Wall Street Journal called him “a former Oklahoma senator who denied climate science.” NBC News was a bit more expansive, dubbing Inhofe “a defense hawk who called human-caused climate change a ‘hoax.’”

The lawmaker was a defense hawk, taking over the Senate Armed Services Committee from Sen. John McCain after the Arizona Republican’s death from cancer in 2018. Inhofe also did have a lot to say about climate change, little of which Democrats liked.

“With all of the hysteria, all of the fear, all of the phony science, could it be that man-made global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people?” Inhofe said in a 2003 Senate floor speech. “It sure sounds like it.” This was not an unusual Republican opinion at that time. Inhofe became chairman of the Senate environment committee in 2015 after Republicans finally won the Senate during former President Barack Obama’s last midterm election.

Across the aisle, Inhofe was remembered as a longtime champion of conservative causes: limited government, a strong national defense, the right to life, the traditional family, and making English the official language of the United States. He retired with a 94% lifetime conservative rating from the Conservative Political Action Conference, formerly known as the American Conservative Union. 

Inhofe was first elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1966 before moving up to the state Senate in 1969. Inhofe then served three terms as mayor of Tulsa before arriving in Washington as a congressman in 1987 for the final years of the Reagan administration. His career in elected office lasted nearly 60 years.

In both the House and Oklahoma’s state legislature, Inhofe often toiled in the minority. But after 1994, Republican majorities were no longer unusual on Capitol Hill. Today, Republicans also hold 81 of the 101 seats in the lower house of the Oklahoma legislature and a supermajority of 40 seats in the 48-member upper chamber.

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Inhofe was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1934. He served in the U.S. Army until 1958 and held various positions in a life insurance company founded by his father, becoming president in 1970. He participated in the graduation ceremony at the University of Tulsa in 1959 despite being a few credits short. He finished his coursework in 1973.

“What I suspect so many of our colleagues will remember most about Jim was his honesty, his decency, and his deep faith, his love of God, love of country, and love of neighbor,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said on the Senate floor after Inhofe’s death. “It would be difficult for anyone to hope for a richer legacy than that.”

W. James Antle III is executive editor of the Washington Examiner magazine.

President Joe Biden made a bad debate performance worse with days of dithering afterward before shoring up support among key Democratic decision-makers. 

Now Democrats who fear Biden cannot win in November risk repeating that mistake with their own protracted period of indecision about how to proceed.

Biden finally took the offensive in an attempt to rescue his flagging reelection bid and then followed up with a steady performance at the NATO summit, where Democrats were loath to undermine the commander in chief. Soon the spotlight will shift back to former President Donald Trump, his vice presidential pick, and the Republican National Convention.

Yet congressional Democrats failed to coalesce around any one approach to Biden’s candidacy this week, with some denouncing the circular firing squad directing fire at the president, others calling on the presumptive Democratic nominee to bow out before next month’s convention, and still others privately worrying about their November prospects but saying nothing in public or on the record to reporters.

THE PROMINENT DEMOCRATS CALLING ON BIDEN TO DROP OUT

A trickle of Democratic lawmakers continue to come out against the president. The number of House Democrats publicly seeking Biden’s withdrawal is up to seven. A pair of at-risk Democratic incumbents were among those reportedly telling their party’s Senate luncheon that Biden cannot win. Leadership has been supportive, if equivocal when commenting about Biden’s future, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) saying, “I’m with Joe.”

But the Congressional Black Caucus came out in support of Biden this week, a group whose numbers far exceed those of the Democrats asking Biden to drop out. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), perhaps the most influential member of the progressive “Squad,” is sticking with Biden.

If anything, anti-Biden Democrats appear to be going wobbly. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) was reported to be among a group of senior Democrats who agreed Biden should bow out but has since backed down.

“Whether or not I have concerns is besides the point. He is going to be our nominee and we all have to support him,” Nadler told reporters on Capitol Hill of his position on Biden.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) was said to be getting Democrats together to go to the White House in pursuit of Biden’s exit, as Republicans did to seek Richard Nixon’s resignation during Watergate 50 years ago next month.

By Monday, Warner had pivoted to the strongly worded letter approach. Less than four months before the presidential election, he said, “Now is the time for conversations about the strongest path forward.”

“As these conversations continue, I believe it is incumbent upon the President to more aggressively make his case to the American people, and to hear directly from a broader group of voices about how to best prevent Trump’s lawlessness from returning to the White House,” Warner continued.

“We need to give the president time,” a Democratic strategist told the Washington Examiner. “We owe him that.”

Democrats who are worried about Biden’s electability or even his ability to serve after the first presidential debate and a mixed cleanup attempt sound increasingly resigned to his nomination.

Biden isn’t out of the woods yet. With a few exceptions, the polls look dismal. He trails Trump by more than 3 points in the RealClearPolitics polling average, the first Democrat without a national lead heading into the July 4 weekend in 24 years. Even the hapless John Kerry, the last Democratic nominee to lose the popular vote, was up 2 in the RealClearPolitics average on July 9, 2004. Biden’s battleground numbers are worse.

While few Democratic governors are up for reelection this year and many with presidential ambitions are eyeing 2028 instead, Democrats are defending 23 Senate seats this year and the whole House Democratic conference is up. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report moved six Senate races toward the GOP on Tuesday.

“Downballot effects of a Biden loss are clear for Democrats. The House would likely be gone. GOP has opened up an edge on the generic ballot,” CNN political analyst Harry Enten projected. “If Biden loses, the chance of Democrats holding the Senate is close to zero because of the map and WV being an easy GOP pickup.”

If Trump emerges from Milwaukee with anything like a convention bounce, the Democratic panic will be hard to contain.

Nevertheless, if Biden remains committed to his reelection bid and Democrats fail to unite, he will be difficult to dislodge. All the moves that would nudge, or even force, Biden from the race require a level of consensus that the party does not currently demonstrate.

Multiple big donors would need to starve Biden’s campaign of contributions, running the risk of Trump opening up a cash advantage he has not enjoyed in two previous presidential runs. There would need to be massive defections of delegates committed to Biden, more than 90% of the total pledged delegates eligible to vote on the first ballot, if Democrats try to oust him at a contested convention. 

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All this would need to come together quickly. Democrats plan to nominate Biden by virtual roll call before they gather in Chicago, possibly as soon as July 21.

Democrats don’t yet look ready to move on to plan B if Biden doesn’t reassure them. Slow and steady is unlikely to win the race.

President Joe Biden’s first interview after his disastrous debate showing was a preview of what is likely to happen if Democratic leaders go to the White House to persuade him to stand down in the 2024 election.

“If the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race. But the Lord Almighty’s not coming down,” Biden said.

That doesn’t bode well for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), or even former President Barack Obama.

George Stephanopoulos conducted the interview for ABC News like it was an intervention. The former Clinton White House communications director almost pleaded with Biden to consider whether he was misjudging his ability to win the race and his fitness to continue to serve in office until age 86.

DEMOCRATS’ TOP FIVE BIDEN REPLACEMENT ROADBLOCKS

Biden did not lose his cool. But he mostly swatted away every concern about his age, health, and electability by citing times he proved doubters wrong in the past, praising his record in the Oval Office, or trying to shift the focus to former President Donald Trump.

Although Biden once again acknowledged he did poorly in the debate, he disputed that he was trailing Trump or had a low job approval rating. “That’s not what our polls show,” Biden said in response to the 36% approval figure Stephanopoulos cited. “All the pollsters I talk to tell me it’s a toss-up,” he said of the race with Trump.

Biden also insisted his life in the White House and on the campaign trail was the only cognitive test he needed. “Watch me between — there’s a lot of time left in this campaign,” he said.

If prominent Democrats thought they were going to be able to coax him out of the race easily in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden cast considerable doubt on that Friday. “It’s not going to happen,” Biden told Stephanopoulos, insisting the Democratic leaders he talked to wanted him to stay in.

“There’s been a lot of speculation: What’s Joe going to do? Is he going to stay in the race?” Biden told a crowd in the swing state of Wisconsin earlier in the day. “Well, here’s my answer: I am running and going to win again.”

“Some folks don’t seem to care who you voted for,” he said. “Well, guess what? They’re trying to push me out of the race. Well, let me say this as clearly as I can: I’m staying in the race. I’ll beat Donald Trump.” He briefly got the election years mixed up.

The debate highlighted concerns about the 81-year-old’s fitness for office. Leading Democrats then viewed the White House and the campaign as being slow to do damage control afterward, taking days to make contact with party leaders to reassure them. 

Biden continued to speak with a weak voice in his Friday interview and complained of a severe cold interfering with his recovery from foreign travel but overall did better answering questions and following his train of thought.

But even before the debate, many Democrats worried Biden and his team were misreading the dynamics of the race. The president is seen as being too insular, too dependent on an inner circle committed to the idea that the presidential election will be more about Trump than Biden.

“The president is rightfully proud of his record. But he is dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have about his capacities moving forward and his standing in this race,” former top Obama adviser David Axelrod wrote on X after the interview. “Four years ago at this time, he was 10 points ahead of Trump. Today, he is six points behind.”

Trump still came within 43,000 votes in three states of topping Biden in the Electoral College in 2020 and winning a second consecutive term. The presumptive Republican nominee has led for most of this cycle and is now up by 3.3 points nationally in the RealClearPolitics polling average, which includes some predebate polls.

The odds are increasing that Democrats may have to consider fighting Biden for the nomination at the convention in Chicago next month. This would require a massive shift among the pledged delegates who are committed to Biden, though a Democratic lawmaker reminded party activists they can choose other alternatives under the rules.

There may be enough concern among delegates to make a convention coup a live possibility if Biden neither withdraws nor shows serious signs of improvement in the coming weeks. But Democrats passed on a competitive primary process earlier this year because they feared it would only further weaken Biden in the general election rather than produce a different nominee.

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Democrats are now struggling with that dilemma ahead of the convention.

“The best way forward right now is a decision for the President to make. Over the coming days, I urge him to listen to the American people and carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump,” Gov. Maura Healey (D-MA) said in a statement. “Whatever President Biden decides, I am committed to doing everything in my power to defeat Donald Trump.”