Fox News Power Rankings: With VP picks, Harris and Trump miss opportunities to broaden their appeal
Trump still has an edge, but the race is closer than ever. That is the outlook in the first Fox News Power Rankings with Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket and two new running mate picks. When this cycle began, most voters didn’t want President Biden or former President Donald Trump in the race. In a Fox News survey conducted weeks after the midterms, 64% of voters said they wouldn’t like to see Biden run for re-election, and 58% said they weren’t happy about Trump running either. Throughout his campaign, reliably blue voters drifted away from Biden, and he lagged with independents. The top reason was clear and consistent: voters thought he was too old for a second term. Last month, the president acquiesced to his doubters and stepped out of the race. On Monday, Harris became the Democratic nominee. Meanwhile, Republicans have been rallying around Trump. But the former president has proven there is a ceiling in his level of support, particularly with independents. Collectively, the polls suggest that the winner of the 2024 presidential race could be the candidate who reminds voters least of Biden or Trump. In other words, Harris and Trump each have up to 90 days to prove they can be “someone else.” The type of “someone else” matters. VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS NAMES MINNESOTA GOV. TIM WALZ AS HER RUNNING MATE A majority of Americans say Biden is too liberal. In June, 56% of adults said they felt that way, and so did 56% of independent voters. Trump’s “MAGA” movement is also unpopular. In a survey last year, only 24% of Americans said they had a positive view of the movement, and only 12% of independents agreed. That makes both candidates’ vice presidential picks missed opportunities. There is also little time left in the race. Most Americans now cast a ballot before election day and early voting kicks off in 30 days. After a sleepy start, America is sprinting to the finish line. If Harris’ goal is to not remind voters of Joe Biden, she starts with a clear advantage. The vice president is 22 years younger than her boss. That has helped wipe out Biden’s deficit in national polls. After the presidential debate, Biden had support from 42% of registered voters in an average of polls, with Trump at 49% (NYT, WSJ). That is a 7-point gap. In the first polls from the same outlets after Harris became the likely nominee, she improved to 47%, with Trump still at 49% (NYT, WSJ). That is a race within the margin of error. We know age was the driver of this upswing because when these polls were conducted, Harris hadn’t changed anything else. Tuesday, she chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Walz has supported a long list of socially progressive policies. He signed a law that made illegal immigrants eligible for drivers’ licenses, and another that, per a memo circulated by allies, made Minnesota a “Trans Refuge State.” He has also faced criticism for his slow response to rioting, looting, and arson after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. With reporting over the weekend that Harris had narrowed her choices to Walz or moderate Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who had a 61% favorability rating in a must-win swing state, Harris’ decision seems unhelpful to her campaign. Walz is unlikely to hurt the campaign either. His signature policies include expansions of paid family and medical leave, legislation protecting abortion rights, education funding and drug affordability. Those positions are all in line with Biden and Harris’ agenda over the last four years and are popular in battleground states. Democrats are also excited about his “folksy” demeanor, military service, and working-class background. And while there is no polling evidence so far that Walz has outsized appeal with Midwestern voters, he doesn’t underperform with them either. In the midterms, he won re-election by seven points. The problem is more that Walz doesn’t help Harris win over independent voters who already say that Biden is too liberal. Meanwhile, while voters prefer Trump on policy, he must show independents that he is a more honest and temperate man than he was in his first term. Surviving a terrifying assassination attempt gave Trump an opportunity to do this, and surrogates were eager to play up the “changed” Donald Trump throughout the Republican National Convention. An uneven convention speech and an aggressive appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago last week proved Trump is still Trump. His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has been unhelpful so far. Vance earned his spot on the ticket because he was the most aligned to Trump and the “MAGA” movement out of all the leading candidates. The polling shows that “MAGA” has limited appeal outside the Republican base. Vance has also had to defend several comments he made about women. In a 2021 interview, he called some Democratic politicians “childless cat ladies,” and the same year, said rape and incest were possible circumstances of a child’s birth that society views as “inconvenient.” Vance said he meant society sometimes sees babies as inconvenient in a Fox interview last week. Like Walz, Vance brings a Midwestern background to the ticket. Republicans are excited about his ability to empathize with working-class voters who propelled Trump to victory in 2016 and say his military experience will be an asset. He has cosponsored bipartisan legislation to lower the price of insulin and make banks more accountable when they fail. FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: IS KAMALA HARRIS UNBURDENED BY WHAT HAS BEEN? And in the midterms, Vance won his race by about six points against one of the strongest Democratic candidates in decades. Overall, Trump’s combative personality and the Vance pick are not quite the strategic mistakes that some analysts say they are. The “MAGA” movement excites core Republican voters, and firing up the base was a key factor in Trump’s 2016 win. But depressing Democratic turnout was also key to that victory. The polling now shows that Harris
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Harris takes 3-point lead over Trump as she gains on key issues: poll
Vice President Harris has taken a 3-point lead over former President Trump as she gains ground on key issues, according to a new poll. The poll, conducted by NPR, PBS and Marist, found Harris leading Trump 51% to 48%, but clarified that the difference is within the margin of error. Harris has also narrowed Trump’s lead on key issues like the economy. Trump still holds a significant 6-point lead when it comes to illegal immigration, according to the poll. Meanwhile, Harris leads on abortion issues by a massive 15 points. The Marist poll was conducted from August 1-4 and advertised a margin of error of 3.4%. TRUMP QUICKLY MOVES TO DEFINE HARRIS AS ‘MORE LEFT THAN BERNIE SANDERS’ The survey comes days after a Fox News poll found Trump and Harris deadlocked in Pennsylvania, a key swing state for the presidential election. VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS NAMES MINNESOTA GOV. TIM WALZ AS HER RUNNING MATE The state of the race in the Keystone State is similar to where it was in April, when Biden and Trump were tied 48-48%. The survey, released Friday, shows Harris and Trump locked in a tie in Pennsylvania at 49-49% – barely different from what the final election results were in the state in 2020 (49.85% Biden vs. 48.69% Trump). The poll further showed Trump closing the gap with voters under 30 (-27 points in April to -4 points today), voters 65 and over (-5 to -1), suburban women (-32 to -12) and those with a college degree (-18 to -10), and widening it slightly among Independents (+8 to +9).
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Social media explodes with theory Harris snubbed Gov. Shapiro as VP pick to appease anti-Israel wing of Dems
Politicians, pundits, and conservative voices reacted to news of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz being selected as the Democratic vice presidential nominee by claiming it is evidence that Democrats have a problem with antisemitism within the party. “The Walz selection shows just how deep the Dems’ antisemitism problem runs,” Manhattan Institute’s Ilya Shapiro posted on X after Walz was selected by Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday over Gov. Shapiro. Shapiro, who is Jewish, was forced to defend his stance on Israel during the VP selection process after an op-ed he penned more than three decades ago, in which he wrote of being an Israeli army volunteer and disparaged the Palestinian people, resurfaced. Many commentators have made the argument that Shapiro was ultimately not selected because of the wing of the Democratic Party that opposes Israel and its war against Hamas in Gaza. DEMOCRAT CALLS OUT LEFT’S ‘STRONG UNDERCURRENT OF ANTISEMITISM’ IN ATTACKS ON POTENTIAL VP PICK SHAPIRO “It’s amazing that despite America’s right, left, and center agreeing that Josh Shapiro was Harris’ best pick for VP, at the end of the day, Shapiro being Jewish disqualified him,” former GOP Congressman Lee Zeldin posted on X. “It says so much about the state of today’s Democratic Party.” “Let’s be honest,” GOP Sen. Tom Cotton posted on X. “Kamala is the most anti-Israel member of Biden’s team, always siding with Hamas and Iran’s interests. Shapiro and Walz’s views on Israel aren’t that different. But Harris catered to her pro-Hamas, antisemitic base who opposed Shapiro because he’s Jewish.” “Kamala Harris did not pick Josh Shapiro because antisemitic progressives did not like that he is Jewish,” NRSC spokesperson Mike Berg said in a statement. “It was Harris’ first major decision as the nominee and she caved to the pro-Hamas contingency within the Democratic Party.” BBC CHAIR DENIES PLEA FROM 200 JEWISH STAFFERS CALLING FOR FORMAL PROBE INTO ANTISEMITISM AT THE NEWSROOM Despite not being chosen by Harris to be her running mate, Shapiro gave a fiery speech ahead of Harris and Walz speaking at a Philadelphia rally to kick off their swing state tour Tuesday evening, taking shots at former president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his vice presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio. “I lean on my family and I lean on my faith which calls me to serve,” Shapiro said during the speech. “And I am proud of my faith!” “The only reason Josh Shapiro was not selected as VP is because he’s a Pro Israel Jew,” prominent Austin, Texas attorney Adam Loewy posted on X. “The Left would have melted down. There is simply no other reason you pass on the wildly popular Governor of the THE MOST IMPORTANT swing state.” “They just couldn’t stomach a proud Jew,” Foundation for Defense of Democracies Senior Adviser Richard Goldberg posted on X. “There was no amount of apologizing for being Jewish and supporting Israel that Shapiro could ever do to be acceptable. That’s today’s Democratic Party.” “The Left did it to Joe Lieberman,” Fox News contributor Ari Fleischer posted on X. “Now, they did it to Josh Shapiro. The D party is not home for strong supporters of Israel. It’s time for the Jewish community to recognize the power in the D party rests with its anti-Israel progressive base.” “If it’s not Josh Shapiro…they will have not picked Shapiro frankly out of antisemitism in their own caucus and in their own party,” Trump VP candidate JD Vance said on Tuesday morning before the pic was announced. Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment but did not receive a response.
Top House Republican from Walz’s home state says ‘radical’ Harris VP pick is ‘best’ scenario for GOP
EXCLUSIVE: The No. 3 House Republican leader says Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz being chosen as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate is the best-case scenario Republicans could have asked for. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., the highest-ranking congressional Republican from Walz’s home state, spoke with Fox News Digital after Harris announced the Midwestern progressive would join her on the Democratic Party ticket in November. “This could not be a better contrast with Donald Trump, who literally has run a business empire, has been incredibly successful. These two don’t know the first thing about running anything,” Emmer said. “And Tim Walz — I mean, look, he’s, he’s tried to turn Minnesota into Kamala Harris’ California for the last six years. He is a radical progressive.” HARRIS LAPS TRUMP IN CASH DASH THANKS TO FUNDRAISING SURGE Harris met with Walz along with Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro over the weekend to help finalize her decision, just over two weeks after she took over the mantle when President Biden dropped out of the race. Emmer said Walz was “absolutely” the best option for Republicans to run against and said Shapiro was “clearly too fiscally conservative” a choice for Harris. “Tim Walz literally has mismanaged the state from day one. Not only did he pick winners and losers during his mishandling of the pandemic situation, but he allowed Minneapolis to burn to the ground, just not willing to deal with criminals,” Emmer said. Walz has already been accused of waiting too long to send in the National Guard when Black Lives Matter protesters set fire to public property and clashed with police during the summer of 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd. HARRIS LEANS IN ON BORDER SECURITY AND TRUMP RELISHES THE FIGHT Republicans are also likely to attack him for his handling of COVID-19, Emmer suggested. During the pandemic, Walz was criticized by opponents of government COVID mandates for policies on masking indoors and for a hotline set up by the state government to report instances of rule violations. Emmer said Walz’s push for more electric vehicles in the state, including the Clean Cars Minnesota program, would also be another point for Republicans to target. “This guy has embraced the radical left approach towards energy, trying to destroy our efficient, abundant energy supply. He wants Minnesota to be like California sooner than later by eliminating gas-powered vehicles,” Emmer said. Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign and governor’s office for comment. 2024 AD WARS: TRUMP, HARRIS RACE TO DEFINE VICE PRESIDENT Former President Trump seemed similarly fired up over Harris’ decision, writing on Truth Social in all capital letters, “THANK YOU!” shortly after the announcement was made official. Top Democrats, however, have praised her choice of the Midwestern governor. “Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will lead America into a brighter future for everyone. Onward!” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote on X. Ex-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said on MSNBC, “Tim Walz I know very well. He served in the House. To characterize him as left is so unreal. He’s right down the middle. He’s a heartland of America Democrat.”