David Axelrod On Harris-Walz Interview: 'I Don't Think She Moved The Ball That Much Forward'

Posted • August 30, 2024: Forty days after Democrats shoved their elected nominee out of the race, the replacement candidate finally gave an interview, alongside her running mate. It was not an impressive showing. I posted my overall thoughts on social media, starting with an assessment of CNN's Dana Bash: "Mixed marks for Bash, who pushed on some necessary subjects, but missed glaring follow-ups. I get she was pressed for time. The literal set-up was weird. The shots looked strange and not terribly well lit." Harris, situated farthest from the camera, looked small, like she was seated in a low chair -- and appeared hunched. I'm not sure how anyone on her team thought it looked good. That's a superficial observation, but television and the social media clips it produces are visual media. As for the 'substance,' if you can call it that, and various other take-aways, here's the rest of my assessment:

Harris served up a few word-salady struggles, but not the sort of meandering mess we’ve seen before. We gleaned very little in terms of what she actually believes or would do. She offered no actual *explanations* for her litany of changed positions. Weak spin on economy and immigration. Didn’t seem to break from Biden on any substance, but wants to break from the past, including from her own current administration. Thats an awkward needle to thread & her efforts were not terribly coherent or persuasive. (Mostly unresponsive and bad ‘answers’ from Walz to some pointed questions btw). Conservatives calling her performance a total meltdown/disaster are overstating it. Lefties hailing it as some triumph…lol, I mean, even left-leaning CNN commentators didn’t sound too hot on what they’d just watched. It was generally non-elucidating and unimpressive, offered some fodder for the opposition, and (embarrassingly belatedly) checked a box without inflicting major damage.

A low bar was met, but the reasons for the lowness of the bar were re-confirmed. Lots of material for probing follow-ons in subsequent interviews. When will the next one be? The shortcomings of her performance were so glaring that even left-leaning media figures were pointing them out. It's hard for the Harris campaign and their army of acolytes to spin that this was some sort of master class (social media is built for hyperbole on all sides) when CNN's cadre of lefties instantly started debating whether she'd successfully distinguished herself from her own unpopular administration -- or whether she advanced the political ball for herself at all. (…)

• More at: Townhall - The Interview Was Not Good
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2024/08/30/the-interview-was-not-good-n2644140
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https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2024/08/30/kamala-cnn-interview-problems-n2178710
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https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2024/08/30/tim-walz-made-kamalas-first-interview-worse-not-better-n4932117
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https://rumble.com/v5cydkr-walz-said-his-gammar-is-not-always-right.-and-yet-he-went-to-china-to-teach.html
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https://twitchy.com/samj/2024/08/30/megyn-kelly-tears-both-kamala-and-tim-walz-up-interview-n2400318
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https://rumble.com/v5czz8j-tim-walz-made-kamalas-first-interview-worse-not-better.html
Twitchy: Associated Press Shamelessly Sets the Narrative Bar for Spinning CNN's Harris-Walz Interview
https://twitchy.com/dougp/2024/08/30/associated-press-shamelessly-sets-the-narrative-bar-for-spinning-cnns-harris-walz-interview-n2400326
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https://rumble.com/v5czzwb-kamala-is-now-bragging-about-bringing-inflation-down-to-double-what-it-was-.html
Twitchy: Did You WATCH It?! CNN Taking Victory Lap Over Kamala's 'Clearest Yet' Interview Goes HILARIOUSLY Wrong
https://twitchy.com/samj/2024/08/30/cnn-says-kamala-gave-clearest-view-yet-lol-n2400325