By
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Despite Donald Trump’s dreadful August, the latest national poll of likely voters by The New York Times and Siena College found the former president narrowly leading Vice President Kamala Harris, 48% to 47%. (Click the link for information on the survey’s methodology and margin of error.)
* Speaking of 2024 polling, the latest CBS News/YouGov survey found Harris narrowly leading Trump in Wisconsin, 51% to 49%, and in Michigan, 50% to 49%. The same batch of results showed the two major-party nominees tied in Pennsylvania, 50% to 50%. (Click the link for information on the survey’s methodology and margin of error.)
* The final primaries of the 2024 cycle will be held this week in New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Delaware, and there are some congressional and gubernatorial contests of note.
* The Harris campaign’s official website now has an “issues” page fleshing out the Democratic candidate’s vision on a variety of areas.
* The Harris campaign also unveiled a new, minute-long television ad ahead of the vice president’s debate with Trump, shining a light on the high-profile members of the Republican’s own team who (a) have denounced him; (b) oppose his re-election; or (c) both. A Politico report noted, “The ad will run nationally on Fox News and in West Palm Beach — home to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort — and Philadelphia media markets on Tuesday, the day he will debate Harris for the first time.”
* In Texas, the latest University of Texas at Austin survey found Trump ahead in the Lone Star State, 49% to 44%, but just as importantly, the same poll showed incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz with a sizable lead over Democratic Rep. Colin Allred, 44% to 36%. (Click the link for information on the survey’s methodology and margin of error.)
* Appeals courts in Michigan and North Carolina ruled in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s favor late last week, removing the independent presidential candidate’s name from ballots in both of the battleground states.
* Elon Musk’s America PAC is investing in new digital ads in support of Trump’s candidacy, warning voters that “the crazies” will prevail if the former president loses.
* And during her latest appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Nikki Haley dodged questions about whether Trump is a good nominee. The South Carolina Republican nevertheless made herself available to campaign on behalf of her party’s candidate — who, at least so far, hasn’t asked her to do anything on his behalf.