An overly anticipated interview
Watching Kamala Harris and Tim Walz first big interview on CNN was a fascinating experience. After five weeks of avoiding sitdowns with MSM journalists, the anticipation from both the public and the press had built up significantly and the interview probably took on greater importance than it would have otherwise.
Our takeaways:
- Harris was smart to swat away the question about when she identified as Black. “Same old, tired playbook – next question please.” This is exactly what polling says that Americans (particularly swing voters) want to hear. They are put off by Trump’s repeated accusations on racial issues and want to focus on issues that affect their lives.
- She’s a better salesperson for the Biden policies than Biden. Some of this clearly had to do with his age and abilities, but she’s a more natural salesperson.
- Harris announcing she would name a Republican to her cabinet was smart. Many presidents have (Ray LaHood, Robert Gates, William Cohen, Norm Mineta etc.) However, BOTH Biden and Trump did not. Today Vance tried to claim “we’d do that too” but hard to be persuasive when he didn’t the first time.
- She struggles when she’s off the cuff and has a tendency to ramble. Will be interesting to see how that translates in the debate.
- Walz is excellent at sitting on his ass and smiling.
- Dana Bash did a good job as she did in the Biden / Trump debate. She is clearly a top-tier political journalist and is not to be underestimated. The Harris campaign clearly tried to defuse things by having it in a coffee shop in Savannah but Bash didn’t let the casual setting deter her. She could have done a better job following up on the fracking question, but a minor quibble in the otherwise excellent interview.