The two most memorable moments from Harris’s CNN town hall
Plus: Why Democrats should avoid the F-word trap.
👋🏾 Hi, hey, hello! Welcome back to Once Upon a Hill. It’s Thursday, Oct. 24. The election is in 12 days. Vice President Kamala Harris took questions from journalist Anderson Cooper and several undecided voters during a CNN town hall last night.
She leaned on her talking points to answer questions on how she would unify the country, bring down the cost of groceries, persuade Congress to pass her legislative agenda and how her administration would be different from President Joe Biden’s. She also fielded questions about immigration, tax fairness, the war in Gaza and the rise in antisemitism since the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel last year. Voters asked her about her policy shifts since she ran for the Democratic nomination in 2019 and the proudest moment of her political career as well.
But the moments that stood out to me were Harris in response to questions from Cooper on the conversation she had with her pastor three months ago when Biden ended his candidacy and passed the torch to her and about her grief journey 15 years after she lost her mother to cancer.
“I just called him. I needed that spiritual kind of connection. I needed that advice,” she told Cooper. “And there’s a part of the scripture that talks about Esther and a time such as this. That’s what we talked about and it was very comforting for me.”
Harris described grief as two sides to a coin. On one is the blessing of a close, important relationship with someone; on the other is the deep sorrow that occurs when you lose them. She told Cooper that it’s important to remember her mom, who died of cancer, how she lived—not just how she passed away.
These two human moments took voters beyond the heavily scripted and managed politician we’ve come to know.
The presidential debate in September between Harris and Trump remains one of the standout moments for the vice president during her compressed campaign. She demonstrated a command of the international crises in Ukraine and the Middle East that she would inherit on day one of her administration, weaved in personal details from her previous public service for voters unaware of her biography and trumpeted the various economic proposals her campaign previously rolled out to address the high costs of housing, child and elder care, groceries and starting and running a small business. On the other hand, Trump spiraled into rants about his rally crowd sizes, lied about Haitian migrants in Ohio eating their neighbors’ pets and missed clear opportunities to exploit Harris’s policy and political opportunities.
So it was no surprise that Harris’s aides immediately called for a second debate this month before accepting an invitation from CNN to participate in a debate in Atlanta that would have occurred last night. (Fox News also invited both candidates to participate in a debate to be hosted tonight or on Sunday.)
Earlier this month, CNN wrote to both campaigns with an Oct. 10 deadline for a formal response, which was really just directed at Trump’s team since Harris had already agreed. The deadline passed without a response. As a plan B, CNN proposed back-to-back town halls for each candidate. Again, Harris accepted while Trump ignored the invitation altogether.
The audience included 32 people—some Democrats, Republicans and independents. They confirmed to the network they are registered and intend to vote in November and remain undecided or persuadable on the presidential candidate for whom they will cast a ballot. Some cast votes for Joe Biden in 2020, others for former President Donald Trump, some didn’t vote, and for some, the upcoming election will be the first. Many said they were leaning toward one candidate or another but had yet to make their final choice.
Ahead of the town hall, Harris attended a campaign volunteer appreciation event in Philadelphia at the Famous 4th St Delicatessen, where she ordered a pastrami on rye bread and a slice of German chocolate cake after addressing the room.
Tonight, she’ll join former President Barack Obama in Atlanta for a joint Get Out the Vote rally to drive up enthusiasm during the early period. Then Saturday, former First Lady Michelle Obama will join Harris for another joint GOTV rally in Michigan. (The rallies are the first time Harris has hit the campaign trail alongside Obama. And the Michigan event will be the former first lady’s first on the trail for the Harris-Walz ticket.)
Sandwiched between the two Obama events for Harris is a stop tomorrow in Houston, which the campaign describes as “ground zero” for the abortion bans that sprung up after the fall of Roe v. Wade. The vice president is expected to speak about the consequences of these bans on women’s lives and will be joined by women who have faced the direct impacts of the laws. Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX)—who is challenging Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), an anti-abortion incumbent fighting for a third term—will also campaign with Harris in the Lone Star State.
Thursday at a glance
The House and Senate are out.
President Biden will receive his daily intelligence briefing this morning before traveling to Phoenix this afternoon.
Vice President Harris will travel to Georgia this afternoon for a Get Out the Vote rally this evening with former President Obama and Bruce Springsteen. She will travel to Houston after the rally.
Gov. Tim Walz will visit Central and Eastern North Carolina and make stops in Durham, Greenville, and Wilmington this afternoon to encourage supporters to vote early. Walz will speak at a campaign rally this evening in Wilmington before traveling to Philadelphia.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will speak at campaign block parties in Milwaukee and Kenosha, WI, this afternoon and evening to encourage supporters to vote early for the Harris-Walz ticket and Wisconsin Democrats. Gov. Wes Moore, Tony West, Milwaukee Bucks Head Coach Doc Rivers, and former Bucks Head Coach Terry Porter will join the Emhoff in Milwaukee. Moore and West will join the second gentleman in Kenosha.
Mrs. Gwen Walz will do local media interviews with WISC-TV in Madison, WI, and Native Roots Radio in WI and MN. She will also participate in a New Hampshire reproductive freedom press call with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Joyce Craig.
The trouble with Democrats’ obsession with the F-word
Moments into the CNN town hall, Harris was asked if she believed former President Trump was a fascist.
“Yes, I do,” she said, barely missing a beat.
Fascism, which Merriam-Webster defines as “an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization,” has been the topic du jour in Democratic politics lately as questions surrounding Trump’s fitness for a second term and warnings of how he would weaponize public institutions for his personal fulfillment dominate headlines.
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