THE COOK POLITICAL REPORT.
IT'S GREAT TO SEE YOU, WELCOME BACK. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING
YESTERDAY WATCHING THIS, FOR A CAMPAIGN WE WERE TOLD WOULD BE
MORE DISCIPLINED AND MORE EFFICIENT, THEY WERE MEASURING
THE DRAPES IN MILWAUKEE, WHAT ARE WE DOING NOW? AMY:
THAT'S RIGHT. WE SAW SOME EARLY INDICATION IT
WOULD BE VERY DIFFICULT FOR TRUMP TO REMAIN AS DISCIPLINED
AND ON MESSAGE EVEN IN MILWAUKEE.
YOU RECALL HIS ACCEPTANCE SPEECH WAS A LITTLE LONG, A
LITTLE RAMBLING, MORE IMPORTANT IT LOST THE TREND OF THE
MESSAGE. HE WENT IN AND OUT OF HIS SORT
OF TRADITIONAL GRIEVANCE, HIS FRUSTRATIONS ABOUT WHAT
HAPPENED IN 2020, THAT THE ELECTION WAS STOLEN, THAT NANCY
PELOSI IS CRAZY, ALL OF THAT. BUT IT DIDN'T MATTER AS MUCH
BECAUSE THE FOCUS WAS ON BIDEN AND BIDEN WAS HIS AGE AND HIS
PERFORMANCE AT THE DEBATE WAS EVERYTHING.
NOW THAT BIDEN IS NO LONGER IN THE PICTURE, THE FOCUS GOES
BACK TO DONALD TRUMP OR AT LEAST DONALD TRUMP WANTS TO BE
THE FOCUS AGAIN. I THINK HE'S FRUSTRATED THAT
MEDIA ATTENTION IS GOING TO NOT JUST KAMALA HARRIS AND TIM WALZ
INTO THE FACT THEY ARE BRAND-NEW TICKET, TAKING THE
RALLIES LIVE, SHOWING THESE LONG LINES OF PEOPLE WAITING TO
GET INTO THE RALLIES. I REMEMBER WHEN HARRIS WAS I
GUESS PICKED, SHALL WE SAY, WHEN THE PRESIDENT ENDORSED HER
RIGHT AFTER HE ANNOUNCED HE WASN'T RUNNING AGAIN AND A
NUMBER OF DEMOCRATS SAID TO ME, ONE THING HARRIS REALLY CAN DO
IS GET UNDER DONALD TRUMP'S SKIN. THAT WOULD BE ONE OF HER
BIGGEST STRENGTHS. AND INDEED, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM
THE PRESS CONFERENCE, SHE HAS. JOE:
WELL, SO MUCH SO HE WANTS TO DO THREE DEBATES ALL OF A SUDDEN.
AMY: THAT'S RIGHT. JOE: HE'S TAKING AN INTERESTING
APPROACH TO HER RUNNING MATE AS WELL.
WE ARE TALKING ABOUT STOLEN VALOR THIS WEEK. VERY HEADY ACCUSATIONS, J.D.
VANCE SAYING TIM WALZ ABANDON HIS BROTHERS IN ARMS BEFORE
THEY WERE DEPLOYED TO IRAQ WHEN HE DECIDED TO RUN FOR CONGRESS.
IT'S PRETTY REMARKABLE. HARRIS DID RESPOND TO THAT LINE
OF ATTACK BRIEFLY YESTERDAY AND HERE'S WHAT SHE SAID. >> I THINK WE ALL SHOULD.
KAILEY: WE -- JOE: WE SEEM TO BE IN A WORLD WHERE
THE HARRIS-WALZ CAMPAIGN WANTS TO STAY ABOVE THIS STUFF AND
NOT GET IN THE WEEDS WITH THE DONALD TRUMP.
IS THAT THE MOST EFFECTIVE STRATEGY? AMY:
I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WE WILL BE LOOKING FOR IN
THESE NEXT 80-HOWEVER MANY DAYS WE HAVE LEFT IN THE CAMPAIGN IS
WHO DOES THE BETTER JOB OF DEFINING HARRIS AND WALZ BUT
MOSTLY HARRIS, BECAUSE THE VICE PRESIDENT, WHILE IN IMPORTANT
FIGURE, IS NOT THE PRINCIPAL AND VOTERS VOTE FOR THE
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND NOT SO MUCH FOR THE VICE PRESIDENT.
WHO DEFINES HER AND HOW IS DEFINED?
THE GOOD NEWS FOR HARRIS IS RIGHT NOW SHE'S NOT BURDENED BY
WHAT HAS BEEN, SO TO SPEAK. SHE IS MORE POPULAR THAN BIDEN
RIGHT NOW. SHE'S NOT GETTING AS MUCH OF
THE BLOWBACK -- I GUESS HE'S NOT AS MUCH OF AN ANCHOR.
THE ECONOMY AND ALL THOSE THINGS NOT AS MUCH OF AN ANCHOR
AROUND HER AS BIDEN. PART OF THAT IS SHE ISN'T VERY
WELL DEFINED IN THE MINDS OF VOTERS, THEY DON'T KNOW THAT
MUCH ABOUT HER. THIS IS WHY YOU SEE THE TRUMP
CAMPAIGN SPEND A GREAT DEAL OF TIME ON PAID MEDIA, NOT
NECESSARILY WITH THEIR CANDIDATE MOTHER FORMER
PRESIDENT, BUT IN PAID MEDIA, GOING AFTER HER RECORD ON
IMMIGRATION, GOING AFTER HER OPINIONS AND VIEWS ON POLICE
REFORMS, CALLING HER DANGEROUSLY LIBERAL FOR SOME OF
THESE POSITIONS. TRYING TO FILL IN THE FULL
PICTURE OF HARRIS. HARRIS IS DOING THE SAME, OUT
WITH HER OWN AD ON IMMIGRATION SEEING WHEN SHE WAS IN OFFICE
IN CALIFORNIA SHE WAS REALLY TOUGH ON BORDER SECURITY AND
CRACKING DOWN TRAFFICKERS. THIS SPRINT TO DEFINE HARRIS
WILL BE CRITICALLY IMPORTANT IN THE NEXT THING WILL BE WHAT IS
THIS RACE ABOUT? THIS IS WHERE TRUMP STILL HAS
AN ADVANTAGE IF THE RACE REALLY DOES COME DOWN TO WHO DO YOU
THINK WOULD DO A BETTER JOB ON THE ECONOMY, YOU THINK WILL DO
A BETTER JOB ON IMMIGRATION AND BORDER SECURITY.
TRUMP CONTINUES TO HAVE AN ADVANTAGE THERE.
IF IT IS ABOUT DONALD TRUMP, AS WE SAW AT THAT PRESS
CONFERENCE, AND WHAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT EARLIER, HE GOES
ON THE RETRIBUTION TOUR IN MONTANA INSTEAD OF SPENDING
TIME IN A BATTLEGROUND STATE. HE DECIDED TO DEBATE CROWD SIZE
INSTEAD OF IMMIGRATION OR INFLATION.
IF THAT'S WHERE THIS RACE GOES, THAT IS REALLY GOOD NEWS FOR
HARRIS. JOE: JOE BIDEN WILL BE ON STAGE WITH
HARRIS NEXT THURSDAY IN MARYLAND, FIRST TIME WE WILL
SEE THIS, FOUR DAYS BEFORE THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION.
WHO DOES THIS HELP? AMY: THAT'S A REALLY GOOD POINT. IT IS FOUR DAYS BEFORE THE
CONVENTION SO WHAT HARRIS IS GOING TO DO IS GO STRAIGHT FROM
THERE INTO THE WARM EMBRACE OF HER PARTY INTER PARTES
DELEGATES. IT WASN'T LOOKING THAT WAY A
MONTH AGO. THE IDEA OF CHICAGO BEING A
PLACE OF EXCITEMENT AND ENERGY A MONTH AGO WOULD BE LAUGHABLE
AND NOW THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING. I THINK THE CHALLENGE FOR
HARRIS IS FINDING ENOUGH DISTANCE FROM BIDEN INTO THE
UNPOPULAR STUFF ABOUT BIDEN AND ALSO REMINDING FOLKS ABOUT THE
GOOD STUFF THAT THEY CAN SAY THE ADMINISTRATION IS
RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING TO THE PUBLIC.
THE OTHER THING THAT REALLY STANDS OUT WHEN HARRIS STANDS
NEXT TO PRESIDENT BIDEN IS THE FACT THAT SHE DOES LOOK AND
SOUND AND ACT VERY DIFFERENTLY FROM HIM AND THIS HAS IN QUITE
WORKABLE, EVEN THOUGH SHE'S PART OF THE ACCUMBENS --
INCUMBENT PARTY, SHE IS THE "STATUS QUO,"
SO TO SPEAK, SHE'S BEEN ABLE TO COME OUT AS A NEW FACE, AS
SOMEBODY ABLE TO FLIP THE PAGE AND MOVE ON FROM BIDEN AND
TRUMP. BEING ON STAGE WITH BIDEN DOES
REMIND VOTERS OH YEAH, SHE STILL PART OF THIS
ADMINISTRATION, BUT ALSO REMINDS THEM THAT SHE LOOKS AND
SOUNDS VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE PERSON WHO USED TO BE THE
NOMINEE. JOE: THE PARTY HAS SUDDENLY TURNED
THE PAGE.