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Kamala Makes Her Case
Plus, uniforms for change.
Good morning and Happy Monday! Here are the Flag’s Top Five stories that should be on your radar to start the day:
US: Secret Service places multiple agents on leave in Trump assassination attempt probe (CBS News)
World: Israel and Hezbollah trade their most intense fire in months and then pull back (AP) + Baby contracts Gaza's first case of polio in 25 years (BBC)
Business: ‘The time has come’: The Fed just sent a crucial message about its next move (CNN)
Technology: Apple Intelligence is coming. Here’s what it means for your iPhone (The Guardian)
Sports: Ravens offensive line coach Joe D'Alessandris dies at age 70 (ESPN)
And of course, some good news: In Togo, these school uniforms are at the center of a movement offering girls and women a chance to build better lives.
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TRENDING
Right: Childless Cat Lady Vibes vs. A Man’s Man’s World, Charles Hurt, Washington Times
Right: Who Is 'Destroying Democracy in Darkness'? Victor Davis Hanson, American Greatness
Right: Harris Gave Us No Idea What She'd Do as President, Michael Goodwin, New York Post
Left: Why It Matters That Harris Has 2 White Guys in Her Corner, Kali Holloway, MSNBC
Left: Dems Are Finally Hitting Trump Where It Hurts, Robert Reich, The Guardian
Left: Harris' DNC Was a Master Class in Coalition Building E.J. Dionne, The Washington Post
DNC
Kamala Makes Her Case
Today’s Top Story: Last Thursday, on the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, in her first major speech as the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris blended a personal narrative of her middle-class background with a forceful critique of the prospect of former President Donald Trump serving another term.
Reporting from the Left: Harris prosecutes case against Trump and pitches herself as a middle-class champion (NPR)
Reporting from the Right: Kamala Harris prosecutes case against Donald Trump as she accepts nomination ‘for the people’ (Washington Examiner)
RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT
Platitudes and Cliches
The Top Argument From The Right: Kamala Harris Offers a ‘New Way Forward’ of Platitudes, The Editorial Board, The Wall Street Journal: “The Vice President spoke with authority and admirable brevity at 37 minutes. She opened with a lengthy account of her own biography, relying heavily on the story of her mother’s lessons and resilience as a divorced single parent. … But she then turned to the main business at hand, which was to make the case that the real risk is re-electing Donald Trump. Her attack was a mix of truth and falsehoods—truth about his effort to overturn the 2020 election, but falsehoods that he intends to cut Medicare and Social Security and that Project 2025 is his agenda. … Ms. Harris attempted to lay out a vision for her Presidency, but it was mostly empty platitudes. She will provide ‘opportunity,’ though she didn’t say how. She will solve the housing crisis, without saying how or explaining why there is a crisis on her watch. And she will reduce prices, without a repeat of her recent proposal to impose price controls. … The lack of specificity is part of a strategy to separate herself from the Biden-Harris years by calling for a vague ‘new way forward.’ The idea seems to be that the less specific she is, the less chance she will be associated with the unpopular parts of the Biden tax-regulate-and-spend agenda that produced a decline in real American incomes. Until she disavows this agenda, voters can assume they are also her proposals.”
Honorable Mention #1: Harris’s Collection of Clichés, The Editors, National Review.
Honorable Mention #2: Kamala Harris’s DNC speech was surprisingly good, Freddy Gray, The Spectator.
LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT
Mostly Surface
The Top Argument From The Left: Kamala Harris Defines Herself—But Not Too Much, Jerusalem Demsas, The Atlantic: “ Over the four days I spent among the Democrats in Chicago this week, I didn’t hear the words ‘white paper’ or ‘study’ one time. In fact I probably heard more about Trump’s policy agenda than Harris’s. Democrats have repeatedly brandished Project 2025 on stage, calling attention to the 900-page presidential transition blueprint produced by the Heritage Foundation. Harris mentioned it tonight, too. But Harris has no Project 2025 equivalent. And Democrats seem at peace with that. … At any rate, vagueness is politically useful. Hints at economic populism buoy the progressives while whispers of moderation let centrists feel nothing major is afoot. Win-win-win. But how long can it last? As she campaigns for the presidency, Harris is getting to be everything to everyone, the generic Democrat that does so well in surveys. But once she starts laying out specific policy proposals, some Democrats are going to have their hopes dashed. They’re going to remember the divisions that had wracked the party so thoroughly during the Biden administration and the infighting will be cutthroat. But, as Colorado governor Jared Polis told me this morning, those debates are for “after the election.”
Honorable Mention #1: Harris makes forceful speech – and skewers the menace from Mar-a-Lago, David Smith, The Guardian.
Honorable Mention #2: Kamala Harris wasn’t taking any chances in her DNC speech — but that’s why it worked, Anthony L. Fisher, MSNBC.
FLAG THIS
Harris Pulling Ahead
Harris leads Trump by 8 points in a new Bullfinch poll, with 47% of the vote to Trump’s 39%. This marks only the second time Harris has held such a lead, following a Marquette poll on July 31 where she led Trump 50% to 42 (Newsweek).
Harris's favorability and job approval ratings have also improved, with her favorability rising 13 points since June to 47%, buoyed by 93% of Democrats, 41% of independents, and 5% of Republicans. Her job approval rating also reached 47%, a 7-point increase from December 2023 (Gallup).
As the upcoming presidential debate grows closer, which campaign do you believe is likely to fare better from the event? |
WATERCOOLER
Baseball Televised, Making Friends, Water in Water
On This Day in 1939, the first televised Major League baseball game is broadcast on station W2XBS, the station that was to become WNBC-TV. Announcer Red Barber called the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York.
HuffPost: I'm An Introvert Who Spent Years Trying To Make Friends. With 1 Change, I Suddenly Had Dozens.
Condè Nast Traveler: 8 things you should never wear on a flight, plus what to wear instead
Today I learned oceans have lakes and rivers.
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Express Employment Professionals has put more than 10 million people to work in the last 40 years. Express has a wide variety of jobs available, in all industries. With flexible schedules, competitive pay, and access to a variety of benefits, what are you waiting for? Let ExpressPros help you land your next great job today. And the best part? They don’t charge any fees to help you find one.
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