Kamala is Moderate: Weekly Digest

'Mala Moderate Mentionables Aug. 11-17

Hi, friends. We’re back with the second installment of the Kamala is Moderate weekly digest. 

After having another week to think about how to structure this (additional recommendations welcome, btw), I’ve decided to add even more flavor to the mix: things we want to see or hear from the Harris-Walz ticket.

Now, on to this week’s round-up!

THE ECONOMY: KAMALA’S VERSION

Harris gave remarks centered on the economy on Friday to a crowd in Raleigh, NC. You can read her full remarks here.

Her focus was on how, as President, she would lower the cost of living for Americans. To achieve that, she noted plans to:

• Lower the cost of food by passing the first-ever federal ban on price gouging, supporting small food business, and encouraging competition in the food industry.

• Address the cost of healthcare by lowering the cost of insulin and prescription drugs by demanding transparency in the negotiations between Big Pharma and the insurance companies, and canceling medical debt.

• Fix the housing crisis by building 3 million units by the end of her first term for both buyers and renters, address landlord greed inflating the cost of housing with a new law, and provide first-time homebuyers with $25,000
  in down payment assistance.

• Help Americans keep more of their money by restoring the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit.

Additional notable moments in her remarks included:

• Mainstream language that doesn’t sound like a Democratic handout and hits on the restoration of human dignity in America: “What we will do to bring down costs,
  increase the security and stability financially of your family, and expand opportunity for working- and middle-class Americans. 

• Contrasting with Trump on who he protects: “If you want to know who someone cares about, look who they fight for…Donald Trump fights for billionaires and large corporations. I will fight to give money back to working- and middle-class Americans.”

As a bonus, I must have missed this before, but she also mentioned that she worked at McDonald’s in high school. Supersize!

Slow Boring’s Matt Yglesias got jazzed at one point in her remarks in particular.

GETTING FOX-Y

The Harris campaign announced yesterday its $370 million ad buy in swing states this fall, with $200 million of that to be spent on digital ads.

Notably, the ad reservation will target moderate voters viewing FOX News programming. The New York Times reported:

The Harris campaign also said it would place ads on Fox News during the day, when the network has a “more moderate audience,” according to the memo, describing this as a strategy to reach supporters of former Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, who was the runner-up in the Republican primary race, and “other conservative-leaning independents.”

HARRIS PRACTICING DEMOCRACY IN 2019

Welcome retweeted a video from 2019 of a then-Democratic presidential primary candidate Kamala Harris’ (non-combative) exchange with a young Republican in Iowa. In the video, Harris responds to his remarks saying,

“I want to thank you for being here… for having an open mind. Part of the beauty of our democracy is that we debate, we discuss, we often will disagree, but we have the same motivation. I know you’re here ‘cause you love our country, and I’m here for the same reason. And we may have other different ideas about how we go about expressing that love and strengthening our country, but I know we’re on the same page in terms of where we’re coming from. And I know that about you ‘cause you’re here right now, and you had the courage to stand up and say what you said. And that means a lot to me. So thank you, thank you.”

SLIGHT LEAD IN PENNSYLVANIA

In Quinnipiac’s first survey of likely voters in the 2024 presidential election race in the new era of a Harris-Walz ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris has a slight lead over former President Donald Trump 48 - 45% among likely voters. We The People Party candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is at 4% support, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver receive less than one percent support each.

Additionally:

• Democrats support Harris 91 - 6%; Republicans support Trump 88 - 9%; Independents support Harris over Trump 46-42%.

• Women support Harris 54 - 41%, Men back Trump 49 - 42%.

LOVE FROM DOUBLE HATERS

A new poll from Monmouth found the number of double haters (voters who held an unfavorable view of both candidates) for the current nominees has been cut in half since Harris became Democratic nominee for President. They note:

When favorability ratings for Harris and Trump are combined, just 8% do not have a favorable opinion of either candidate. Monmouth’s June poll found that 54% of the double haters were not supporting either candidate, with 28% backing Biden and 19% backing Trump. In the current poll, Harris actually holds majority support (53%) among these Biden-Trump double haters, with just 11% voting for Trump and 35% backing neither candidate.

Taking Biden out of the mix and replacing him with Harris has significantly altered a key metric in this race. As we reported last month, Trump-Biden double haters want to shake things up, but they are wary of change that is too authoritarian. Harris appears to provide most of this group with the fresh outlook they desire,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.

Additionally, enthusiasm among Democrats has “skyrocketed.” According to Monmouth:

 A huge shift in enthusiasm is the most vivid finding in the poll. While the number of voters who were at least somewhat enthusiastic about the Trump versus Biden rematch had been increasing throughout the year, it never topped 50%. Now that the contest is Trump versus Harris, voter enthusiasm has risen to 68%. The biggest jump has been among Democrats (from 46% in June to 85% now), but there has also been a notable increase in enthusiasm among independents (from 34% to 53%). Among Republicans, enthusiasm for the Trump-Harris contest (71%) is identical to what it was for the Trump-Biden rematch in June (71%).

Monmouth also asked specifically about enthusiasm for each party’s choice of nominee. The national electorate’s enthusiasm for Trump as the Republican nominee (41%) is basically unchanged from February (40%). However, enthusiasm for Harris as the Democratic standard-bearer (47%) is significantly higher than it was for Biden earlier this year (32%). Currently, Democratic voters are slightly more enthusiastic about having Harris as their nominee (92%) than Republicans are about having Trump at the top of their ticket (84%). Back in February, Republican enthusiasm for Trump was similarly high (80%), but Democratic enthusiasm about the prospect of Biden being their nominee was significantly lower (62%).

“This is clearly a different ballgame. The nominee change has raised the ceiling for potential Democratic support in the presidential contest by a small but crucial amount, at least for now,” said Murray.

NEW MEMOS FROM THIRD WAY

Our friends at Third Way have new memos out fact-checking lies from Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans painting “Vice President Harris as a radical on the border, public safety, health care, and energy — A perception that could hurt Harris if it is allowed to set in. Voters are sure to be inundated with these messages leading up to the election, but the facts offer ample opportunity to push back.”

READ: Rebutting Border Attacks on VP Harris and Myths & Facts: Rebutting Trump’s False Attacks on Harris’s Record

MODERATE ‘MINISTRATION

Also from Third Way, big news came last week: Their new Moderate Talent Pipeline is active. As we’ve noted in the past, one of the biggest weaknesses of the Biden Administration was in the the human infrastructure — they hired scores of progressive Warren staffers who pushed policy and messaging to the left of where he himself — and most of America — was on many issues. The Moderate Talent Pipeline will work to fix that problem by being a “a long-term, strategic initiative to amplify moderate views, voices, and political power. The Talent Pipeline will be identifying, recruiting, and helping place moderate staff throughout government: political appointees in the White House and federal agencies, staff in congressional offices and committees, and within prominent Democratic campaigns.”

BONUS: 20 Qs for KAMALA HARRIS

We liked this piece from Semafor’s Benjy Sarlin on things he would like to Harris to answer in her campaigning for the presidency.

Welcome’s Wishlist

1. Harris has really caught her groove as a presidential candidate. We’d love to see her be more aggressive on the Team Normal front — she mentioned her parents didn’t buy a home until she and her sister were teenagers, and she worked at McDonald’s in high school. More of this, please!

2. Moderation at the national level helps in swing districts. Our Welcome candidates note that Harris-Walz’s moderate messaging is helpful to them as they run in some of the most competitive congressional districts in the country. The Harris-Walz Team Normal backgrounds are things candidates can not only evoke but relate to with biographical elements that align with rural candidates with Walz, particularly. Messaging from Harris and Walz that can align with what candidates are saying in swing districts is a huge help to them and their campaigns.