How Harris can use her debate momentum
Vice President Kamala Harris wiped the floor with former President Donald Trump at Tuesday night's debate. It started with her aggressive pursuit of a handshake and continued with the trap she set by talking about his obsession with crowd sizes. He never regained control.
All that being said, debate performances alone don’t win elections. Just ask John Kerry or Hillary Clinton, who both won all of their debates and did not win their elections. But debates can help differentiate candidates and motivate voters.
On Tuesday night, the key exchange, at least in my opinion, centered around abortion rights.
After Trump boldly claimed he “did a great service” in overturning Roe v. Wade, Harris had this to say:
You want to talk about this is what people wanted, pregnant women who wanted a pregnancy to term, suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because the health care providers are afraid they might go to jail, and she’s bleeding out in a car in the parking lot. She didn’t want that. Her husband didn’t want that. A 12- or 13-year-old survivor of incest being forced to carry a pregnancy to term, they don’t want that.
She was direct, passionate and made the impact of abortion bans specific and personal.
Trump, meanwhile, failed to commit to vetoing an abortion ban.
There were a lot of spicy moments in this debate. But that exchange showed where Harris and Trump stand on an issue that could be a key motivator of turnout, if not voter behavior.
If I were Team Harris, I would make sure Trump doesn’t forget it.
A story you should be following: Taylor Swift's 2024 choice
This summer, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz warned Trump and JD Vance: “See what cat people do when you go after ’em.” And Tuesday night, they found out.
Taylor Swift’s endorsement was one of the most highly anticipated this election. Why? Swift’s social media call to action drove over 400,000 visits to the federal voter registration website Vote.gov within 24 hours of her post. And for context, this website typically only receives about 40,000 visits per day. So far, the pop star’s original Instagram post has been shared by over 1.5 million users on Instagram.
Trump claimed that Swift will “probably pay a price for it in the marketplace.” But Swift’s influence, to say nothing about her business, did just fine after she endorsed Joe Biden for president in October 2020. If anything, she’s only grown more powerful.
Vance, whose “childless cat lady” insults got a callout in Swift’s post, attempted to shrug off the development, saying he doesn’t think many Americans “are going to be influenced by a billionaire celebrity who I think is disconnected from the interests and the problems of most Americans.”
To quote Rep. Adam Schiff: “Has JD Vance met his own running mate?”
Someone you should know: Karen Dunn
Meet Karen Dunn, the powerhouse attorney leading Harris’ debate prep team. The New York Times reports she is described by people close to her as a “skilled handler of high-ego politicians.” And Dunn also knows how to give candidates “tough love” when they need it, according to Hillary Clinton.
Dunn got her start in politics on Clinton’s 2000 Senate campaign. She rose to become Clinton’s communications director and joined Clinton’s presidential campaign after attending Yale Law School. After clerking for then-Judge Merrick Garland and Justice Stephen Breyer, Dunn returned to politics to work on debate prep teams for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, Clinton in 2016, and Harris (for her vice presidential debate with Mike Pence) in 2020.
In 2021, Dunn also won a landmark case holding the organizers of the Charlottesville rally accountable for injuries suffered by counterprotesters, securing over $25 million in damages.
After Obama won re-election in 2012, Dunn took a job in the White House counsel’s office. We don’t know where she’ll land next, but she’s absolutely a player to watch in a potential Harris administration.