Leland Vittert’s War Notes: Who is the Real Kamala Harris?

NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight’s 7 p.m. ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.

State of play :

• 91 days to the election
• 13 days to the DNC
• 35 days to the debate Sept. 10
• 16 days since Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the candidacy, and she still hasn’t had a meaningful interaction with the press
• Decision Desk HQ average: Donald Trump +0.1 (and dropping). Click here to see the numbers

Events today and tomorrow:

• Vice President Harris : Tonight, Harris will rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with her newly announced running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Tomorrow, she and Walz will campaign in Detroit, Michigan, and Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
• President Biden : Nothing today
• Trump : Nothing today
• JD Vance : Today, he spoke to the press in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Vance will follow Harris and Walz to Michigan and Wisconsin for media appearances.
• Gov. Tim Walz: Today, he will rally with Harris in Philadelphia as her running mate. Tomorrow, he will join Harris in Michigan and Wisconsin.

Who is the Real Kamala Harris?

Kamala Harris picking Walz is her first executive decision. It gives us great insight into her — into how she will govern as president.

• In short, Harris’ first executive decision makes Democratic Twitter happy and the Babylon Bee satirical headline come true: “Democrats Worried Choosing Jewish Vice President May Cost Them The All-Important ‘Death To America’ Vote.”

We hire the president to be our commander in chief. Normally, it’s a long job interview, with lots of questions. The primaries. The primary debates. Tons of interviews. Impromptu gaggles. Unscripted moments with voters — that’s all gone.

And Harris won’t tell us who she is — she hasn’t had a meaningful interaction with the media since the coronation 16 days ago.

When given an option, Harris just made the same decision Donald Trump did: She played to the base.

Vance got defined as “man who hates childless women.”

Waltz won’t upstage Harris like Shapiro would have.

Now, the race is on to define Tim Walz:

• Democrats want you to see a veteran, former teacher, coach and faculty adviser to the school’s LGBTQ+ club , a father, hunter and grandfather, and who, as CNN says , represented a Republican district for 12 years in Congress.
• Republicans tell you he is a riot-loving, COVID-19 lockdown czar who raises taxes and recently said , “One person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness.”

Even Van Jones on CNN said Harris caved into “some of these darker parts in the party.”

Maybe that is the real Kamala Harris; after all, she won’t sit for a job interview.

Editor’s note : Past clips of Walz on a host of issues might be more troubling politically than JD Vance’s “ childless cat ladies ” or “inconvenient” pregnancies from rape and incest.

• Click here to read the email Republicans are out with. These are some of the highlights:
  • Advocating for “period products” in boy’s high school bathrooms
  • His sanctuary state policies, not to mention his comments about starting a ladder company to help people over the border wall
  • Whitewashing the BLM riots as what happens in “a society that does not put equity and inclusion at the center.”

Watch tonight : We will ask Geraldo Rivera if Walz will get the JD Vance treatment.

The Reset Trump Needs

Often, who most vocally supports a decision tells you a lot …

• I got this email today pitching Imara Jones. She is the CEO of TransLash Media
  • Jones explained, “Tim Walz signed a bill making Minnesota a sanctuary state for transgender people, as well as safeguarding gender affirming care. His nomination sends a powerful signal to the trans community at a moment of unprecedented attacks.”
• The Hamas-adjacent wing of the Democratic Party — Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y. , and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. — are thrilled.

As Harris and Walz make a barnstorming trek through the swing states, Trump is taking the week off. His next event is Friday in the safely red state of Montana.

Watch tonight : Erick Erickson will discuss if this is the reset Trump needs.

• Fact check : Harris is up a net eight points from Biden two weeks ago.
  • Trump can be disciplined — just not when he is behind.

‘Dodged a Bullet’

The road to the White House rolls through Pennsylvania this year — the math is that simple.

• As our buddy Chris Cillizza points out on X , there are many ways for Harris to win with Pennsylvania and very, very few without.
• The popular Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro, would have given Harris a huge leg up in the state. Steve Kornacki of MSNBC and NBC reports Tim Walz doesn’t do that:
  • “The results of Walz’s ’22 GOV race in MN don’t suggest he provides an obvious boost with the blue collar voters Dems have been shedding in WI/MI/PA”

Thought bubble : If Harris loses, not getting picked will be the best thing that EVER happened to Josh Shapiro.

Watch tonight : Decision Desk HQ director of data science Scott Tranter takes us through the polls, the map and how it’s changed.

Pro-Hamas Referendum

We know how vocal the pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic Party can be (and might be in Chicago for the DNC); we just don’t know how big it is.

My hometown of St. Louis will give us a sense of things tonight.

Hamas apologist and Congresswoman Cori Bush, D-Mo., faces a pro-Israel, moderately progressive and VERY well-funded primary challenger.

The New York Times did a very good job outlining the race.

The same groups behind outsitting Hamas enthusiast and Tim Walz mega supporter Jamaal Bowman want to get rid of Bush as well.

The Jews living in Bush’s district (full disclosure: many are my relatives) face a relatively easy choice — because they are both Jewish and liberal.

American Jews more broadly will face a far tougher decision this fall.

Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here .

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.

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