Harris's acceptance speech was short on substance and long on platitudes (perfectly understandable when core issues don't favor you), but she at least tamped down her criticism of opponent Donald Trump, leaving the savagery to the other DNC speakers. Sure, she still took shots at Trump, but it was measured criticism, the type which resonates with Americans still concerned over the prospects of another Trump presidency.
It has been literally more than a month since President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid and endorsed Harris to succeed him, yet she's agreed to no substantive interviews or held any press conferences in that time frame. If she indeed employs the same basement strategy her boss utilized in the 2020 campaign, will the media allow her to get away with it like they allowed Biden? If so, Trump still has an opportunity to capitalize, given voters favor his handling of the economy, border security and foreign policy. And now that there's a media effort to paint Harris as a "centrist" on issues, Trump can point to her myriad radical leftist positions she espoused on the 2020 campaign trail as well as during her Veep tenure. If Trump employs that tactic, Harris will be left with two choices: a) acquiesce to supporting those leftist positions of b) try to convince voters she's "evolving." She could attempt to gaslight the American public by suggesting she never conveyed those radical stances, but that'd be political suicide. As such, the media will take the mantle on that one.
Naturally, I'm skeptical Trump is able to run a substantive campaign for a prolonged period of time, simply because he hasn't done it before. But I will say that reading this Trump tweet gives me hope:
Thank you to @BrianKempGA for all of your help and support in Georgia, where a win is so important to the success of our Party and, most importantly, our Country.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2024
I look forward to working with you, your team, and all of my friends in Georgia to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
It should be considered a layup that a GOP presidential candidate thank a popular Republican governor of a state the POTUS candidate desperately needs in order to win the general election. But given Trump seemed more focused on his grievances towards Kemp just a couple of weeks ago didn't give me a lot of hope that he could pivot. This is definitely a good start.
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