Former President Trump and Vice President Harris are battling to convince voters they should be trusted to steer the economy, as polls show the race for the White House may come down to which candidate voters believe is best for their bank accounts.
Trump has long held an advantage over Democrats on two of the most salient political issues: The economy and immigration.
But new surveys find Harris gaining fast on economic issues. A survey by the Financial Times found her taking the lead.
Harris and President Biden made a joint appearance Thursday at an event in Maryland to celebrate the newly negotiated Medicare prices for prescription drugs that the administration says will reduce costs for consumers by billions of dollars.
Harris took the podium ahead of Biden:
“Big Pharma has often inflated the price of life-saving medications, often charging many times what it costs to make, just to increase their profits.”
“We believe deeply every senior in our nation should be able to live with security, stability and dignity. And so in the United States of America, no senior should have to choose between fulfilling their prescription or paying their rent.”
This comes a day after the Biden administration celebrated a new report that found inflation is cooling.
Harris will unveil her first policy proposals as the Democratic nominee at a Friday event in North Carolina, where she’ll call for a federal ban on price gouging. The Associated Press reports Harris has honed in on high food prices as inflation plays a central role in the election.
Axios reports that Harris may be looking to distance herself from the Biden administration’s economic agenda, as the high cost-of-living has contributed to dragging Biden’s favorability ratings down. But Biden rebuffed that notion.
“She’s not going to,” Biden told reporters ahead of the Maryland rally.
Trump, who will hold a press conference this afternoon, signaled Wednesday that he intends to tie Harris to Biden’s record on the economy.
“They’re a team,” Trump said.
Speaking in Asheville, N.C., Trump laid out his vision for the economy.
Trump doubled down on tariffs, saying he’d raise them from 10 percent to 20 percent on goods imported into the U.S.
Trump called to eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits.
Many Republicans believe that Trump can win the election if he stays focused on the economy, rather than on racial attacks against Harris and a debate over who has bigger crowds at their rallies.
Trump seemed to jab at his advisers and GOP critics on Wednesday.
“They wanted to do a speech on the economy. A lot of people are very devastated by what’s happened with inflation and all of the other things. So we’re doing this as an intellectual speech. You’re all intellectuals today. Today, we’re doing it, and we’re doing it right now. And it’s very important. They say it’s the most important subject. I think crime is right there. I think the border is right there, personally.”
Perspectives:
The Hill: I am a Jewish progressive. Will I vote blue?
The NewStatesman: Trump must choose between populism and Elon Musk.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Ohio Sen. JD Vance (R) will participate in the first — and likely only — vice presidential debate on ABC.
Vance has said he wants to debate Walz “more than once,” but Vice President Harris’s campaign says they’ll only do one vice presidential debate.
Vance had a rocky few weeks after becoming former President Trump’s running mate.
He’s sat for several interviews in which he’s had to answer for past inflammatory remarks, including his knock on Democratic women being “childless cat ladies.”
Walz, like Harris, has not sat for any interviews or given any press conferences.
It was a rough day of headlines on Thursday for Walz:
ABC News: Walz previously faced criticism over the way he characterized his military service, records show.
CNN: Walz’s 2006 campaign falsely described details about his arrest for drunk driving in 1995.
The New York Times: Walz faces scrutiny of 2020 Minneapolis riots. Was he too slow to respond?
The Washington Post: Walz’s false claim that Vance never voted for any pro-worker bills.
Fox News: Video shows Walz praising controversial cleric Harris campaign said he had no relationship with.
There’s also still the matter of hashing out a second presidential debate.
Trump and Harris will meet onstage for the first time on Sept. 10, also with ABC News.
Trump has proposed two additional debates, but the Harris campaign said Thursday they’d agree to only one more.
Will we see a record number of ticket-splitters this election cycle?
The data points that way, according to some fascinating new polling from The Cook Political Report/GS Strategy Group/BSG Swing State Project.
While the presidential race in most battlegrounds appears to be within the margin of error, Democratic Senate candidates in those same states are running well ahead of Vice President Harris.
MI: Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D) leads Rep. Mike Rogers (R) by 8 points.
WI: Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D) leads businessman Eric Hovde by 7 points.
AZ: Rep. Ruben Gallego (D) leads Republican Kari Lake by 9 points.
PA: Sen. Bob Casey (D) leads businessman David McCormick by 11 .
NV: Sen. Jacky Rosen (D) leads Army veteran Sam Brown by 18 points.
From The Cook Political Report’s Jessica Taylor:
“The 2024 election has already been historic in a number of ways, but November could mark another recent electoral oddity — a rise in ticket-splitting between presidential and Senate races.”
Democrats currently have a 51-49 majority in the Senate. Republicans are favored to win a majority thanks to a map that largely has Democrats playing defense.
Republicans expect Gov. Jim Justice (R) will cruise to victory in West Virginia, replacing Sen. Joe Manchin (I), who caucused with Democrats.
The best pick-up opportunities for Republicans are in Montana and Ohio. Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) is running for reelection in a state Trump carried by 16 points. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is up for reelection in a state Trump carried by 8 points.
If Republicans flip one of either Montana or Ohio, they’d be the heavy favorite to have a majority. If they fail to flip either, the new Republican or Democratic vice president would likely cast the tie breaking vote in a 50-50 Senate.
Democrats still feel good about their position considering their incumbents are running strong against a tough map. Do they have potential pick-up opportunities? Polls are tightening in Florida and Texas, where Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) have low favorability ratings.
Jessica Taylor:
“As we’ve previously detailed, the current map essentially starts out at 50-50, with Republicans assured to pick up the open West Virginia Senate seat. Therefore, Democrats cannot afford to lose any incumbents and must keep the White House as well. But even if Tester or Brown were to lose, Democrats may be able to halt any further losses if these numbers hold through November.”
More polling…
While we’ve been documenting Harris’s stunning rise in the polls, a couple of new surveys remind that the race for the White House is very close:
The Wall Street Journalhas the rundown on the missteps in Washington and Tehran that have brought the Middle East to the brink of wider war.
According to a senior Biden administration official who believes Iran will retaliate against Israel very soon:
“We truly don’t know if they will do it, when they will do it, and with what force they will do it. We don’t have firm answers for all of that right now. But we believe an attack of some sort could very well come, potentially soon and without much notice.”
Negotiations continued in Doha on Thursday between officials with the U.S., Qatar, Egypt and Israel, as the countries seek a peace deal that releases the hostages being held by Hamas.
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