It is the first day of the post Labor Day campaign. Sprint 63 days to go until the election, one week until the big debate between Vice President Harris and former President Trump. CNN senior political commentator David Axelrod is with us now. David, you've seen a few post Labor Day sprints, and there's an article in the Washington Post. You're actually quoted in it, which suggests that the Trump campaign sees a need to go even harder against Vice President Harris. Now, perhaps because some of the attacks they have and they've used so far haven't been working. And there's a blind quote in this article that says, quote, if you think this race is going to be decided by likability, you're making a grave error because neither one of them is going to be liked at the end of this race. What do you think of that? Do you think they have to try to muddy it even more? I think if you live in one of the six battleground states, you should hide your children from the television set for the next, eight weeks. I think it's going to be a very tough race. and yes, I think that it is very clear that people have formed the opinion of Donald Trump and if this race is decided on popularity, he will lose. that race. So their mission is to try and tear Kamala Harris down. She's relatively new to people, John. The fact is, vice presidents are known, but they're not known. She's done a very good job in the first phase of filling in, information about herself. and, she's made up a lot of ground, but this is a neck and neck race. Trump doesn't have the option of selling a new trump. He doesn't seem interested in selling a new Trump. In fact, one of the problems the campaign has is that he is the old Trump, and he can't stay on a message. so, his preferred avenue is to rip down the opponent. That's what he does with great zeal and and joy. And I expect that you're going to see that, from now until the finish. your friend and partner, old partner David Plouffe, told Politico on this subject. He said, of course people get motivated about voting against somebody, but when they're as motivated or more motivated about voting for somebody, there's magic there. The idea that maybe Vice President Harris, whom he's working for now, is animating the base there. How much faith if you were running this campaign, would you put in that hope? Well, look, David and I are veterans of the Obama campaigns and the Obama campaign of 2008. We've seen this dynamic. I do think that's part of what's seized this race in the in the five weeks since the vice president got into the race, I think people, were so despondent about the choice they had. And then here comes this fresh new choice, who has made a very good impression. And there is this sense of possibility that maybe we don't have to vote are our fears, but our hopes, and that can have a lot of power. I agree with David on that, especially juxtaposed with the kind of grinding, negative nature of the, Trump campaign and particularly Trump. I mean, you know, the relentless grinding about how bad the country is and how, awful everything is and so on weighs on people. And she, she has, presented a counterpoint to that, a different, vantage point about, yes, we have problems, but we have so much going for us. I think there is a constituency for that. The question, John, is this is a very close race, and there's a relative handful of people who are going to decide this. What motivates them? and I think that's going to determine the outcome of this race. Hey, David, who's the incumbent, do you think in this race? Because when you talk about Donald Trump and his tendency to look toward the past and, and talk about himself so much, he does play into this role of a vice president. Harris may be trying to paint him as more of the incumbent. Clearly, the Trump campaign doesn't want any of that. Yeah, I think this has been the dynamic from the moment she, emerged as a candidate. John, she is the turn the page candidate in this race. At least that's the way it's been so far. And, Trump, as you point out, has played into that. There is a weariness, with Trump and Trumpism and frankly, a desire to turn the page on this whole era. And she has offered herself as the, as the way to do that, as the vehicle to do that. I think that's been a powerful driver behind her surge that has put her in the race. yeah.
I think that, you know, Trump was changed in a race against Biden. Suddenly Trump is not changed. And when people start chanting, we're not going back, they're talking about Trump. so this is a problem for them. And they've tried to link her to Biden. I think that was a reasonable strategy to try and make her a stand in. for Biden. but, she has, she has established her own identity in this race. And, that's a problem for the Trump campaign. Yeah. Watch this space. We'll be watching the debate to see who emerges as more of the incumbent in those two hours. David Axelrod, great to see you. Thanks so much, one thing the presidential candidates are sprinting to do right now is to get ready for their big debate ahead of their first face to face. CNN has new reporting on how the candidates are preparing, and maybe no surprise, they are taking very different approaches. One major focus from both campaigns is and will continue to be the economy on that, Kamala Harris is set to roll out more of her economic agenda tomorrow, and is already rolling out a major new ad buy to go with it. She'll make groceries more affordable by cracking down on price gouging, and she'll cut housing costs by taking on corporate speculators. Middle class families build America. We need a leader who has their back. Still, the latest polling suggests nationally, Americans trust Donald Trump more than Kamala Harris in handling the economy. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is leading us off this hour. So, Priscilla, what are you learning about the focus for Harris and the new message for Harris? Now? Well,
the vice president is trying to fine tune her economic pinch. What you heard there from that ad is affordability. And that has been the theme of her messaging on this issue, which, again, as you mentioned, she pulls behind former President Donald Trump on. Now, that ad is part of a broader $370 million buy from Labor Day to Election Day. So they are going aggressive on the airwaves. But she's also hitting the campaign trail to also woo those working class voters. And those labor groups that boosted President Joe Biden in 2020. Now, yesterday we saw her in Pennsylvania alongside President Joe Biden. It was the first campaign event that they have done together. And, of course, in a place where he only beat the former president by less than two percentage points in 2020. So clearly an important place for them to appeal to those voters. You see the images there now, the president will be hitting the campaign trail to help her as he shifts from candidate to surrogate. Take a listen. Made a lot of progress and kind of like going to build on that progress. And she's going to build on it. I'll be on the sidelines. I'll do everything I can to help wherever. Now he is expected to go to Wisconsin and Michigan over the next few days. Again, as he hits those blue wall states, areas where the campaign sees that he can be helpful, he and the West Wing and the campaign, the vice president's office all trying to strategize where they can utilize him over the next few weeks. Now, of course, the vice president also hitting the trail this week ahead of her debate preparations, some of which is already ongoing. She will be going to New Hampshire tomorrow, where she will unveil more of her economic proposals, especially focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship. Remember last week she previewed that one of the things that she wants to propose is tax credits for small business startups. So more on that tomorrow. But certainly she is hitting the trail trying to get ahead on this issue ahead of that critical debate. Next week, where she and the campaign knows it will bring in large audiences and allow them to hear from her directly. More about her policies against former president Donald Trump and Priscilla this morning. The Harris Walls campaign is also kicking off another bus tour. This focus on reproductive rights. What are you learning about it? Sources I've spoken with in the campaign all say repro rights, is where they see that they can really capitalize against former President Donald Trump. And it's an issue that the vice president was set up from the beginning of the year to be the voice on. She had kicked off her own reproductive rights tour earlier in the year. It was during that time that she actually coined the term Trump abortion ban, something that we'll be hearing about a lot on this tour. Now, this tour starts today in Florida. Of course, that is a place where abortion is on the ballot and where former president Donald Trump said that he would vote no on overturning their current six week ban. Now, the vice president, despite all of this, has been maintaining that she is the underdog in the race. So she is certainly trying to capitalize on these issues to appeal to voters. But hear from her directly here. It's going to be a tight race to the very end. So let's not pay too much attention to those polls because as unions and labor knows best, we know what it's like to be the underdog. And we are the underdog in this race, and we have some hard work done ahead of us. But here's the beauty of us in this room. We like our work hard work is good. Work. Now, a lot of folks will be hitting the trail for her. This stop in particular on reproductive rights. It's one of at least 50 over the next few weeks that's going to include surrogates, elected officials and celebrities.