Morning Report — Harris, Walz kick off campaign sprint

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Can Vice President Harris keep the momentum going into November?

Her presidential campaign, two weeks in the making, has ignited Democrats, opening fundraising coffers and resulting in a bump in the polling against former President Trump. The vice president’s Tuesday announcement of her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, further energized the party, with Harris’s campaign reporting it raised $36 million in the 24 hours following.

Campaign officials touted the haul as one of their best fundraising days of the cycle and a reflection of enthusiasm among Democrats about the vice president’s choice of Walz as her running mate. It builds on the $81 million her team said it had raised in the first 24 hours after Harris herself entered the race.

Now, the two are embarking on a barnstorming tour of crucial battleground states, stopping in Wisconsin and Michigan Wednesday as they continue the 88-day sprint to the voting booths.

“We are running a campaign on behalf of all Americans,” Harris said in Wisconsin Wednesday. “We will govern on behalf of all Americans. Because Coach Walz and I know, unlike the other side, we work for you.”

RATINGS SHIFT: Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a leading election handicapper, shifted its ratings of three states in the presidential race in favor of Democrats Wednesday, as Harris surges in the polls against Trump. The indicator moved its rating of Minnesota and New Hampshire from “Leans Democratic” to “Likely Democratic” and Georgia from “Leans Republican” to “Toss-up,” noting Harris “has ‘reset’ the electoral map to some degree, as she has polled better than President Biden was performing before he ended his campaign.”

New polling from The Economist/YouGov shows Harris leading Trump by 2 points nationally for the second week in a row.

It’s too early to say how much Walz will shake up the race, in which Harris and Trump are still polling closely in battleground states. The former president sought to portray Walz as “a very, very liberal man” and “a shocking pick” on a Wednesday Fox News appearance — echoing arguments that other Republicans have embraced in trying to discredit Harris’s selection.

Trump and his allies, including running mate Sen. JD Vance (Ohio), have struggled to define Harris — and now Walz — since President Biden dropped out and endorsed her. Vance approached Air Force Two “to check out” the plane after both he and Harris landed at the same airport in Wisconsin Wednesday. When he told gathered press what he was doing, Vance also attacked Harris for not answering questions from the media.

“I figured that I would come by and get a good look at the plane because hopefully it’s going to be my plane in a few months,” Vance said in front of Air Force Two. “I also thought you guys may get lonely, because the VP doesn’t answer questions from reporters.” Harris’s campaign responded to Vance approaching Air Force Two by calling it “weird.”

The Hill’s Niall Stanage writes that while Republicans are seizing on the more progressive elements in Walz’s record to portray him as outside the mainstream, a look back over his career suggests a more complicated reality. Representing a rural House district for a dozen years, Walz was ranked as one of the 15 most conservative House Democrats by GovTrack. His most progressive moves have come recently.

Among them: Walz is stoking optimism in critics of the Biden administration’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza, without alienating pro-Israel supporters. Walz is supported by a number of pro-Israel groups, but has also raised hopes from groups demanding the U.S. take a harder line toward Israel to end the war. And he’s spoken favorably about the movement of Democrats voicing their opposition to Biden’s policies by voting “uncommitted” in the primaries.

▪ The Hill: A former educator, Walz signed into law free school lunches for every student in the state and helped enact major budget increases for schools.

▪ The Hill: Walz’s climate agenda as governor marks a departure from his more centrist record on the issue in the House.

▪ The New York Times: The governor of Minnesota hasn’t spent his life striving for the pinnacle of politics. That is how he got there.

▪ The Hill: Vance, a Marine veteran, criticized Walz over his Army National Guard service, setting up a clash between the two vice presidential candidates’ military records.

Despite all the chatter about Walz, vice-presidential candidates rarely fundamentally alter the race, but for now, Democrats see at least an intangible benefit to the fresh enthusiasm — or “joy in politics,” as Walz has dubbed it.

“Fun campaigns are winning campaigns,” Democratic operative Caitlin Legacki said on the social platform X. “And this is a very, very fun campaign.”

3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY:

▪ The NASA astronauts stuck on the International Space Station because of issues with their Boeing Starliner shuttle could have a return date to Earth. But it’s next year.

▪ A summer wave of COVID-19 continues to wash over the Americas and parts of Asia and Europe, including the Paris Olympics.

▪ China is imposing new restrictions on chemicals used in the production of fentanyl, a move long sought by the U.S. that signals Beijing’s desire to keep a diplomatic channel open with Washington ahead of the election.

LEADING THE DAY

CAMPAIGN POLITICS

In Montana, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) is locked in a tight race as Trump boasts a wide lead over Harris in the state. A new Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey puts Trump-backed Republican Tim Sheehy 2 points ahead of Tester, 48 percent to 46 percent support. Tester, one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the Senate who has yet to endorse Harris, this week launched a “Republicans for Tester” group to rally support from across the aisle as he braces for a competitive November contest.

In Missouri, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) vowed revenge on the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) after she lost her Tuesday primary. The group boosted her opponent, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, in a tightly contested race, knocking off a second member of the progressive “squad” this cycle. AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, was a top funder of Bell, who ran his campaign on standard Democratic issues: criminal justice reform, protecting voting rights and abortion access, among others. His views are not dissimilar from Bush’s positions, though the race became defined by each candidate’s stance toward Israel.

Bush has called the ongoing Gaza war “Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign,” and earlier this year introduced the Ceasefire Now Resolution. Some of her rhetoric has been met with backlash from other congressional members, but also constituents in her own district.

In a Wednesday interview with “CBS Sunday Morning,” Biden said he’s not at all confident there would be a peaceful transition of power if Trump loses the election in November.

“He means what he says. We don’t take him seriously. He means it. All this stuff about ‘if we lose, it’ll be a bloodbath,’” Biden continued, referencing comments the former president made in March that he and his allies insisted were about the economy. Biden also argued Republicans were putting officials in place in local jurisdictions to oversee the vote count, suggesting it was setting the table for a contentious election.

2024 Roundup:

▪ Before Biden dropped out of the presidential race, a poll from Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote showed a 19 percent drop in support for him among South Asian Americans. Now, with an Indian American at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket, the phones of South Asian organizers “have not stopped ringing.”

▪ Trump has repeatedly denied knowing about the Project 2025 policy blueprint or the people behind it. But in April 2022, the former president shared a 45-minute private flight with Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts.

▪ Several polls in recent weeks have shown Vance’s already-underwhelming image deteriorating. And they suggest his past comments about childless women aren’t helping.

▪ The GOP nominee said Wednesday that he’ll debate Harris in the near future, suggesting the two sides could reach an agreement after he backed out of a planned ABC News debate.

▪ The return of Trump’s Jan. 6 prosecution to District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan has ignited a flurry of activity in the once-dormant case, reviving a high-stakes court battle after a series of legal wins for the former president.

WHERE AND WHEN

The House and Senate are out until after Labor Day.

The president will call Hawaii Gov. Josh Green (D) and Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Maui wildfires before receiving the President’s Daily Brief at 2:15 p.m. The president will then welcome the Texas Rangers to the White House to celebrate their 2023 World Series championship season. In the evening, the president and first lady Jill Biden will travel to Delaware, where they will greet campaign staff in Wilmington before heading to Rehoboth Beach.

The vice president will campaign in Michigan before heading to Phoenix, Ariz., for a campaign event.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff is in Paris through Monday and will attend the closing Olympics ceremony and other events.

ZOOM IN

STATE WATCH

🌧️ DEBBY DOWNER: Tropical Storm Debby is heading off the coast of South Carolina toward the Northeast as heavy rain and flooding continue to inundate the East Coast. The storm is expected to make a second landfall on the coast of South Carolina, after making a turn toward the north-northwest Wednesday. The storm could strengthen before reaching the coast, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), but is expected to weaken today once its center heads inland. Debby is expected to speed up as it heads north across the Carolinas and the U.S. mid-Atlantic region today and Friday (The Hill).

❄️ GLACIER MELT: A melting Alaska glacier keeps inundating Juneau. The torrent of frigid meltwater that has burst from the glacier and flooded at least 100 homes has become a summertime scourge for the residents who live in its path — and one with no easy solutions (The Washington Post).

ELSEWHERE

INTERNATIONAL

SEVERAL ARAB COUNTRIES are encouraging Iran to exercise restraint in its response to the Tehran assassination of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, as fears of an unpredictable regional war expand. The diplomatic push, led by U.S. allies, comes as the Biden administration is trying to lower tensions in the Middle East and renew efforts to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza. Meanwhile, Israeli officials increasingly believe it will be Hezbollah, rather than Iran, that will be first to launch a major attack on Israel in the coming days (The New York Times and The Times of Israel).

▪ The Washington Post: Who are Hamas’s top leaders? What to know about Yahya Sinwar.

▪ The New York Times: The toll of 10 months of simmering conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border.

▪ Reuters: Turkey on Wednesday filed its official request to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel over its conduct in the war in Gaza.

THOUSANDS OF COUNTER-PROTESTERS took to the streets across the U.K. on Wednesday after reports police were anticipating far-right demonstrations in more than 100 locations. Over the last week, the country has been rocked by the worst unrest in more than a decade as anti-immigration protests turned violent (Politico).

Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González did not appear before the country’s high court Wednesday for a hearing related to an election audit requested by President Nicolás Maduro. The hearings follow days of global criticism of Maduro over the election results. Electoral authorities declared Maduro the winner but have yet to produce voting tallies. Meanwhile, the opposition claims to have collected records from more than 80 percent of the 30,000 electronic voting machines nationwide showing he lost (ABC News).

OPINION

■ Harris, Walz and Democrats’ joyful campaign, by Charles M. Blow, columnist, The New York Times.

■ Will Trump blow another election? by The Wall Street Journal editorial board.

THE CLOSER

Take Our Morning Report Quiz

And finally … It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for this week’s Morning Report Quiz! Inspired by Tropical Storm Debby, we’re eager for some smart guesses about hurricane names.

Be sure to email your responses to asimendinger@thehill.com and kkarisch@thehill.com — please add “Quiz” to your subject line. Winners who submit correct answers will enjoy some richly deserved newsletter fame on Friday.

How are hurricane names chosen?

1. Based on local baby-naming data
2. From six rotating alphabetical lists of names for Atlantic hurricanes, maintained by the World Meteorological Organization
3. By pulling names out of a hat
4. After the meteorologist who discovers the storm

At what stage does a developing cyclone receive a name?

1. When it develops into a tropical storm
2. When it reaches speeds of 74 mph
3. When the local news begins to cover it
4. When the first emergency warnings are issued

Which of these hurricane names have been retired, following particularly devastating storms?

1. Katrina
2. Floyd
3. Harvey
4. All of the above

If the year’s alphabetical naming list runs out, the World Meteorological Association has a backup list. When was it last used?

1. 1999
2. 1987
3. 2004
4. 2020

Stay Engaged

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