Plus, why Trump is cosying up to tech bros. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| | | | | Anthony Zurcher | | North America correspondent | | | | Hello from Washington. It’s week two of the Kamala Harris v Donald Trump campaign, and there are now 97 days until the US presidential election.
That doesn’t quite capture how close we’re getting to the home stretch in some states, however.
Virginia, Minnesota and Pennsylvania - perhaps the most pivotal battleground state of them all - actually begin accepting ballots in September.
In the next few days, Harris will reveal her vice-presidential running mate (more on that below). Last night, she was at a rally in Georgia, a state that was trending away from Democrats before Joe Biden dropped out.
Donald Trump will be there on Saturday – at the very same Atlanta arena – but today he’s making his first trip to Pennsylvania since the attempt to assassinate him at his rally on 13 July.
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| | Why Harris is looking for a moderate, male VP | |  | | Donald Trump has defended his running mate’s past comments. Credit: Getty | | Was it just three weeks ago we were talking about Trump’s vice-presidential options? He went with JD Vance – a bestselling author and up-and-coming Republican politician with views that closely match those of the former president.
He hasn’t exactly been a smash hit so far, though. His popularity figures are sagging, and he’s been forced to defend past comments about childless women – “cat ladies”, in his words – having a corrosive influence on American politics.
Trump risks violating the first rule of vice-presidential selection - pick someone who doesn’t hurt your ticket. Now it’s Harris’s turn to choose a partner and I can recommend my colleague Jude Sheerin's highly entertaining report on the exhaustive process that involves.
Harris reportedly has a shortlist that tilts heavily towards centrist white men from battleground regions. That includes Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. |  | | In January last year, Mark Kelly was sworn into office by Harris. Credit: Getty | | There’s mixed evidence about exactly how much a running mate helps in winning their home state, but locking down Pennsylvania or Arizona would be extremely helpful for the Democrats.
The VP pick can often tell us more about a candidate’s campaign strategy and decision making process. Trump chose Mike Pence eight years ago to woo evangelical conservatives. Bill Clinton opted for Al Gore in 1992 to double down on the idea of a new generation of political leaders bringing in change.
The takeaway: Unless Harris throws a curveball, she seems to be leaning towards someone who signals that she will campaign – and govern – from the middle. She will no doubt hope her pick will also help rebuff Republican attacks that she’s an “ultra-liberal”. | | | |
| | | From charismatic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro to battle-tested Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, find out more about Harris's options. | | | | | | |
| | | | | “Donald … if you’ve got something to say, say it to my face.” | | Vice-President Kamala Harris challenged Republican rival Donald Trump to meet her on the debate stage at a campaign rally in Atlanta. | | | | | |
| | | Some 190,000 supporters raised £3.1m on a Zoom call. They were urged not to let Trump speak for “all white men”. | | | | | | | | Brandon Livesay examines how Trump is framing tech regulation as a partisan issue - and appealing to new voters. | | | | | | | | What the shooter did in the days before his attack, and how opportunities to protect the former president were missed. | | | | | | |
| | | | | How are things looking in the polling? Is Kamala Harris benefitting from a “new manager bounce”, to use a football analogy? - Andrew Kirby | | A lot of you are asking about polls, but I promised myself I wouldn’t consider them until at least two weeks after Biden abandoned his re-election campaign. Things needed to settle a bit.
OK, we’re a week and a half in, so maybe I’ll just peek a little. And the top line looks… pretty much the same as it did before Biden’s devastating late June debate performance.
Harris and Trump are essentially tied, with most polls suggesting a race well within the margin of error.
A recent spate of swing state surveys have similarly close findings.
Concerns among Democrats that the bottom might fall out for Harris have, so far, been unfounded. But the “new manager bounce”, as you put it, hasn’t rocketed Harris into a meaningful lead, either.
One bit of good news for Democrats is that public perceptions of Harris personally have improved since she became the presumptive nominee. In some surveys, she actually has a net favourability rating, which is a dramatic change for her and somewhat rare for any national politician these days.
Expect the Trump campaign to flood the airwaves with negative attacks on Harris in the days ahead to bring those numbers down.
In fact, they’ve already started.
Do you have a question for Anthony? Send us your queries here. | | | | | |
| | | | | Along with Justin Webb and Marianna Spring, I look into the role money plays in presidential campaigns. | | | | | | |
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| | | A year after being diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, which makes it difficult to speak, Virginia Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton has addressed the House with a little help from artificial intelligence.
An AI programme cloned her voice, using old recordings of her appearances in Congress. The speech – which you can watch here – offered the chance for some rare cross-party unity. Barbara Comstock, the Republican she unseated in 2018, posted on X that the sight “uplifts us all”. |  | | Wexton says she hopes to be a reminder of the "courage, resilience and spirit" of Americans with differing abilities. Credit: Getty | | | |
| | | Is there anything you want to know about the election campaign? You can email me to let me know what you think are the big issues. And why not forward the newsletter to friends? They can sign up here.
Thanks for reading!
- Anthony | | | |
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