CHRIS CRUCIAL: Kamala Harris' no-press strategy

PLUS: Nancy Pelosi slams the Biden political operation

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1. 18 days

On July 21, Joe Biden announced he would not seek a 2nd term. Within 48 hours (at most!), it was clear that Vice President Kamala Harris would be the Democratic presidential nominee.

Harris has done a lot of things in those intervening two-plus weeks. She’s brought in some old hands from Barack Obama’s campaign to supplement the team Biden already had in place. She’s picked a vice president. She’s campaigned in front of raucous crowds in swing states all across the country.

What she had NOT done — before today — is take any questions from the media. (Harris took a select few questions on the tarmac today.) Harris still has not held a press conference. She has not sat down with any media outlet for an interview.

I pointed this out a few days ago on Twitter X:

The responses were, er, something else. Here’s just a brief sampling:

The general sentiment went like this: a) Harris is busy b) She’s winning so why does she need you c) cry more.

It’s an attitude that is positively, well, Trumpian. Aren’t Democrats the party who believe in the free and independent press? And click their tongues when Trump refers to the “fake news”? And get super angry that Trump won’t sit for interviews from the mainstream media?

Situational ethics anyone?

Look. It is absolutely true that Harris has a lot to do and not much time to do it! But the idea that she has to “build” a campaign from scratch is utter BS. She inherited the entire Biden operation! Yes, she added some people to it and jettisoned a few others. But it’s not like she is starting from zero. Not even close.

And, even if she did have to build the campaign from scratch, she STILL should have already found time to sit for at least one major interview and/or hold some sort of formal press gathering where a wide variety of reporters could ask her questions.

Know why? Because she is the freaking Democratic presidential nominee — even though not a single voter voted for her during the primary process this year! We have zero idea, really, how she feels about policy. Where does she differ from the the president — and why? And how about this one: Was she aware of his obvious mental and physical deterioration and, if not, why not?

There’s a 50-50 chance she is the next president of the United States. Whether you think that is a good thing or a bad thing, you have to believe that someone with that amount of potential power should face real questions and scrutiny, right?

RIGHT.

Look. I know that Trump mostly sits for interviews with his Fox News fanboys. And that even when he does do a press conference — like today — his answers are filled with lies and BS.

But, remember that Democrats have expressly said that that sort of behavior is unacceptable! That we cannot elect someone who refuses to face hard questions. Or actively works to undermine or end-run the media.

Being just like Donald Trump then isn’t enough. Democrats — and Harris — have pledged to be better. And her comments Thursday afternoon aren’t encouraging on that front.

“I've talked to my team,” Harris said. “I want us to get an interview scheduled before the end of the month.”

End of the month? It’s August 8, Madam Vice President.

2. Pelosi throws Biden team under the bus

Nancy Pelosi isn’t pulling any punches about Joe Biden’s political operation — and how she believes they failed the incumbent following his disastrous debate at the end of June.

“I’ve never been that impressed with his political operation,” Pelosi told New Yorker editor David Remnick. “They won the White House. Bravo. But my concern was: this ain’t happening, and we have to make a decision for this to happen.”

Pelosi’s decision to go public with her critique of the president’s political team comes after reporting over the last month that she was at the center of the behind-the-scenes effort to push Biden out of the race.

Here’s how CNN reported Pelosi’s role last month:

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi privately told President Joe Biden in a recent conversation that polling shows that the president cannot defeat Donald Trump and that Biden could destroy Democrats’ chances of winning the House in November if he continues seeking a second term, according to four sources briefed on the call.

The president responded by pushing back, telling Pelosi he has seen polls that indicate he can win, one source said. Another one of the sources described Biden as getting defensive about the polls. At one point, Pelosi asked Mike Donilon, Biden’s longtime adviser, to get on the line to talk over the data.

Which, again, brutal.

I have long maintained — and written! — that Pelosi is not just the best political strategist in the party but also the toughest. Unlike lots of other party leaders, Pelosi was willing to confront Biden with the fact that he simply could not win the race this fall and that he would cost the party downballot.

She was right. And without her, Biden might still be in the race. And that would have been very bad news for Democrats.

3. We have a debate!

The news coming out of Donald Trump’s press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday afternoon was this: The former president wants three debates!

Trump said he agreed to participate in a Fox News debate on September 4, an ABC debate on September 10 and and NBC debate on September 25.

Harris had already agreed to the September 10 debate, which was negotiate between Trump and Joe Biden’s campaign, and the network said the event will now go forward.

Harris and her team have already turned down the Fox News debate, which Trump agreed to earlier this week. Her team said late Thursday that they were open to future debates but wouldn’t agree to any until Trump showed up at the September 10 debate.

(Nota bene: Trump, in his remarks, said the NBC debate would be September 10 and the ABC debate would be September 25. But I — and lots of other people — think he just got mixed up.)

As I wrote in this space last night, Trump needs at least one debate with Harris as he seeks to reset the dynamic of the contest. He is losing the narrative fight right now — and he knows it. He has to ding Harris up, the sooner the better.

How many times will Harris agree to debate Trump? I’d set the over/under at 1.5. The ABC debate appears to be a thing. And the NBC one at the end of September seems like a real possibility too.

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

“He’s somebody that must be dealt with, and must be dealt with in real terms.” — Democratic strategist James Carville on Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman

ONE GOOD CHART

Only one in four Democrats have a favorable opinion of the Supreme Court, according to new Pew data.

SONG OF THE DAY

Twenty years ago, the movie “Garden State” came out. It had an amazing soundtrack — including the song “New Slang” by the Shins. Awesomeness.

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