Odd

Doing an interview on Fox Trump told Brian Kilmeade it’s a little known fact that the press doesn’t want to talk about, but Biden ‘sent comrade Kamala to see Putin in Russia three days before the attack’ on Ukraine, added Putin ‘laughed at her – he thought she was a joke.’ After the interview Ainsley…

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 Policy, Schmolicy

The media says Kamala Harris has to answer their questions about policy. No, she doesn’t. Harris has said more about policy in the last month than Trump has in nine years. She talked about policy in her economic speech in Raleigh and her acceptance speech at the Chicago convention. She spoke to every issue: cost…

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Obama Cutting his Eyes…

Watching Obama speak last Wednesday night I had a flashback – back in 1984 when Senator Jesse Helms trailed Governor Jim Hunt by 25 points we attacked Hunt and attacked Hunt and got nowhere. Hunt ran his first TV ad: Standing in a field talking to farmers, oozing empathy, at the end of the ad…

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Flag, Family, Freedom and Football

Democrats have seized the symbols of American patriotism this election. Flags filled the hall the night Kamala Harris accepted the nomination (photo). She told the story of her family – and how she’ll fight for our families. She vowed to fight for freedom: “(W)hen Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, as president of…

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Kamala Harris, For the People

Kamala Harris accomplished three goals in her forceful acceptance speech. She told us who she is. She eviscerated Trump. She proposed a new way forward. All in just 38 minutes, one of the shortest acceptance speeches ever. Trump’s was 90 minutes – a tired, repetitious litany of gripes, grievances and whining. It’s striking what Harris…

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“That’s My Dad”

Gus Walz gave us the most moving moment I’ve ever seen in politics. Tim Walz had just described “the hell that is infertility” that he and his wife Gwen experienced for years before fertility treatments led to the birth of their daughter, now 23. “We named her Hope,” Walz said. “Hope, Gus and Gwen, you…

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More Silly Politics

Just before the election in October of 2008, sitting in my office pollster John McLaughlin opened a poll, said Obama was leading John McCain in North Carolina. No Democrat had won a presidential election in North Carolina in decades. No black man had ever won a statewide race for senator or governor. I shook my…

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Which Road is Worse?

Sitting at a wide round table in a restaurant a local politician on a tear ended by saying Kamala Harris ‘is dumb as a rock.’ A tall thin man with a rectangular face sitting beside him, glanced at a lady sitting across the table lips pursed, curious, smiled. “Madeline?” Short thick dark hair with wisps…

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Kamala’s Joy and Hope

I’ve been in and around political campaigns for 50 years, and I’m impressed by Kamala Harris’ operation. (Note to punctuation purists: AP uses Harris’ as the possessive, not Harris’s.) She smoothly took over the ship when President Biden stepped aside. She united our fractious party. She picked an all-star running mate in Coach Tim Walz.…

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The Unexpected Strikes

For a year, from the night Trump announced he was running again, Biden’s unpopularity was the bedrock beneath Trump’s feet. He led in poll after poll. Until an unseen hand moved – and Biden got out. The ground shifted beneath Trump’s feet. Now poll after poll shows Trump trailing Kamala Harris. Last week, holding another…

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