Political Wire (original) (raw)

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“The stars of Democratic politics were aligning behind Kamala Harris. Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama and assorted liberal luminaries had sung her praises at the Democratic convention. Megawatt endorsements from Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish would soon follow. But there’s another pop star who has not weighed in — and whose endorsement could hold unique power in November,” the Washington Post reports?

“By late August, political consultant Maria Cardona’s phone was buzzing with texts from people in Latino Democratic circles, asking the same question.”

Said the messages to Cardona: “Where’s Bad Bunny? We have to get Bad Bunny.”

A new AP-NORC poll finds “neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump has a decisive edge with the public on the economy, turning an issue that was once a clear strength for Trump into the equivalent of a political jump ball.”

“The finding is a warning sign for Trump, who has tried to link Harris to President Joe Biden’s economic track record.”

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) writes in the New York Times:

“As a supporter of former President Donald Trump and Senator J.D. Vance, I am saddened by how they and others continue to repeat claims that lack evidence and disparage the legal migrants living in Springfield. This rhetoric hurts the city and its people, and it hurts those who have spent their lives there…”

“The Springfield I know is not the one you hear about in social media rumors. It is a city made up of good, decent, welcoming people. They are hard workers — both those who were born in this country and those who settled here because, back in their birthplace, Haiti, innocent people can be killed just for cheering on the wrong team in a soccer match.”

Sidney Blumenthal: Trump and Vance’s Springfield smear is a microcosm of their entire campaign.

At a campaign event with Oprah Winfrey, Kamala Harris identified herself as a gun owner and said if someone breaks into her home, “they’re getting shot,” the Detroit News reports.

She added: “I’m not trying to take everyone’s guns away.”

CNN: Kamala Harris is a gun owner. Here is what we know.

In-person early voting starts today in Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia, USA Today reports.

For members: The Importance of Banking Early Votes

Kamala Harris plans on Friday to give her first abortion speech in Atlanta, where she will address the deaths of two Georgia women who, according to a senior campaign official, highlight the “dangerous consequences” of what Harris calls “Trump Abortion Bans,” ABC News reports.

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North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) is officially staying in the race for governor after the midnight deadline for him to drop out of the race passed, WRAL reports.

Robinson was pressured from members of his own party to drop out of the state’s gubernatorial race, following a CNN report that said he made lewd and divisive comments on a pornographic website.

Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball shifted its race rating to likely Democratic.

Kamala Harris outspent Donald Trump “by 20 to 1 on Facebook and Instagram in the week surrounding their debate, capitalizing on the moment to plaster battleground states with ads and to hunt for new donors nationwide,” the New York Times reports.

“The lopsided spending — 12.2millionto12.2 million to 12.2millionto611,228 on Meta’s platforms, according to company records — was hardly an outlier. Ever since Ms. Harris entered the race, her campaign has overwhelmed the Trump operation with an avalanche of digital advertising, outspending his by tens of millions of dollars and setting off alarm among some Republicans.”

“Rep. Matt Gaetz attended a drug-fueled sex party in 2017 with the 17-year-old girl at the center of the alleged sex trafficking scandal, according to legal documents filed to a Florida federal court shortly before midnight Thursday, which cite sealed affidavits from three eye-witness testimonies,” NOTUS reports.

“The minor, who was a junior in high school at the time, arrived in her mother’s car for a July 15, 2017 party at the Florida home of Chris Dorworth, a lobbyist and friend of Gaetz’s.”

“The House is expected to vote Friday to pass a bill bolstering Secret Service protection for major presidential and vice presidential candidates, a move that comes in the wake of two apparent assassination attempts targeting GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump,” CNN reports.

“The bill directs the Secret Service director to apply uniform standards for protection of presidents, vice presidents and major presidential and vice presidential candidates.”

“A group of House members from both parties succeeded Thursday in deploying a rarely executed method to bypass GOP leadership and force a vote on a bill to expand access to Social Security benefits,” Axios reports.

“It’s the second time this year that a bipartisan group of lawmakers has sidestepped House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) with the tool, called a discharge petition.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that Donald Trump lacks the “sanity” to be president of the United States, The Atlantic reports.

Said Pelosi: “It takes vision, knowledge, judgment, strategic thinking, a heart full of love for the American people, and sanity to be president of the United States.”

She added: “To be sane is probably an important characteristic to have if you’re going to have control over our nuclear weapons. Don’t you think? I don’t think he’s on the level. His thinking is not straight. Not on the level.”

Donald Trump told a largely Jewish audience in New York on Thursday that Israel will be “wiped off the face of the ” if he doesn’t win in November, ABC News reports.

He pointed out that Harris was leading in polls among Jewish voters “only because of the Democrat hold or curse on you.”

“Vice President Kamala Harris joined Oprah Winfrey for a conversation in front of a live studio audience made up of more than 400 mainly supporters on Thursday night for a campaign event that was reminiscent of the host’s long-running, award-winning talk show,” ABC News reports.

Associated Press: Harris looks for boost from Oprah as part of digital-first media strategy.

Aaron Blake: “For years, Donald Trump has directly and indirectly foisted damaging candidates on the GOP, in ways that have obviously cost his party dearly — up to and likely including control of the Senate.”

“It’s not just his endorsements of several flawed statewide candidates who went on to badly underperform and lose key races; it’s also the ethos he’s created in the party. He’s placed a premium on owning the libs and devotion to Trump, and he’s devalued political bona fides. He has effectively encouraged his party to overlook a Trump-loyal candidate’s very obvious baggage, by dismissing it as lies from the liberal media or even viewing it as an asset…”

“But for once, the pattern could be creating a real problem for Trump personally.”

NBC News: Mark Robinson vows to stay in N.C. governor’s race following report he made inflammatory comments on a porn site.

“Despite months of painstaking effort, senior U.S. officials say they don’t expect Israel and Hamas to agree to a cease-fire and a hostage-release deal before the end of President Biden’s term,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Out next month: John Lewis: A Life by David Greenberg.

Born into poverty in rural Alabama, John Lewis would become second only to Martin Luther King, Jr. in his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement.

John Lewis: A Life

John Lewis: A Life