The pros and cons of a condensed campaign for Harris: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.

In today’s edition, “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker examines whether a shortened campaign calendar will help or hurt Vice President Kamala Harris. Plus, we dive into Robert F. Kennedy’s decision to suspend his third-party bid and back former President Donald Trump.

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How the condensed campaign could help — or hurt — Harris

By Kristen Welker

There are just 74 days left in the 2024 presidential race.

That’s right. After a tumultuous and jam-packed last six weeks — the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden’s exit from the contest, two running mate picks, two conventions and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspending his third-party bid — there are just a little more than 10 weeks left in this campaign.

And for Vice President Kamala Harris, that shortened calendar could be a benefit, especially after a Democratic convention that was heavy on celebrity power, enthusiasm and vibes hearkening back to 2008. 

Harris emerges from her party’s four-day confab with a slight lead in most national and battleground polls — though importantly the results are in the margin of error and reflect a close race. 

Among the remaining challenges for her campaign: at least one debate with Trump, scheduled for Sept. 10, and a Tim Walz-JD Vance VP showdown on Oct. 1.

And unlike Harris’ unsuccessful 2020 presidential bid, which contained peaks (her launch in Oakland and the first primary debate) and valleys (her “Medicare for All” walk-back and eventual exit before Iowa) spread over the course of a year, she now finds herself in a sprint after grabbing the political baton from Biden just a month ago.

But this condensed timeline also presents a risk for Harris. What if she winds up in one of those valleys in the final weeks? Or what happens if she stumbles in the debate?

The 2020 election — which featured reduced campaigning and less interaction with voters due to the Covid pandemic — turned out to be tailor-made for Biden. The 2024 campaign could be similarly tailor-made for Harris. 

Then again, even successful presidential candidates face plenty of bad days and weeks. And Harris has yet to face a bad day or week as the Democratic standard-bearer. 

Harris has the momentum. The question now is if she can translate that into victory.

• Down the middle: Chuck Todd writes that a Democratic convention that was focused on reassuring skeptical moderates about the party’s direction has helped Harris win the summer. Read more →
• Show, don’t tell: Eight years after Hillary Clinton made “I’m with her” her slogan and framed her campaign around “shattering the highest, hardest glass ceiling,” Harris has let the history-making potential of her candidacy speak for itself, Alex Seitz-Wald notes. Read more →
• ‘Sugar high’: Matt Dixon and Henry J. Gomez report that Trump’s campaign is expecting Harris will get a “bump” coming out of the convention, but generally does not see the week-long event changing the overall trajectory of the race. Read more →

RFK Jr. endorses Trump after weeks of back-channel courtship

By Katherine Koretski, Ben Kamisar, Henry J. Gomez, Garrett Haake and Dasha Burns

PHOENIX — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed Donald Trump on Friday afternoon in a lengthy speech putting to bed his tumultuous independent presidential campaign.

Kennedy’s campaign first confirmed the endorsement in a court filing in Pennsylvania before he took the stage for the speech in battleground Arizona. 

“Many months ago I promised the American people I would withdraw from the race if I became a spoiler,” he said. “In my heart, I no longer believe I have a realistic path to electoral victory.”

Framing both Trump and himself as victims of “continual legal warfare” by Democrats, Kennedy criticized Kamala Harris for not having won “a single delegate” during her 2020 race and accused her of ignoring the press and scuttling a policy platform for what he called a campaign focused exclusively on opposing Trump.

By contrast, Kennedy made clear that in Trump he sees a partner — and a fellow victim.

“These are the principled causes that persuaded me to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent, and now to throw my support to President Trump. The causes were free speech, the war in Ukraine and the war on our children,” he said.  

“One of the two candidates has adopted these issues as his own to the point where he has asked to enlist me in his administration. I’m speaking, of course, of Donald Trump,” Kennedy added.

In a statement, Democratic National Committee senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill said, “Donald Trump isn’t earning an endorsement that’s going to help build support, he’s inheriting the baggage of a failed fringe candidate. Good riddance.” 

Multiple members of the Kennedy family also denounced RFK Jr.’s decision to endorse Trump, calling the move a “betrayal.”

Inside the negotiations: Kennedy’s decision to back Trump comes after weeks of back-channel courtship. One person familiar with the discussions said that Donald Trump Jr. had been looking to engineer a Kennedy endorsement of his father for six months, with another source noting that the younger Trump had long felt Kennedy’s presence in the race was hurting the GOP campaign.

For a time, polling was unclear about that question. But it changed dramatically after Harris took over as the Democratic presidential candidate and the polling landscape shifted. It’s a reality the Trump campaign acknowledged in a memo from pollster Tony Fabrizio sent to reporters after Kennedy’s announcement, which argues its polling shows that Kennedy’s vote “breaks for President Trump” in every key state. 

Still, the initial conservations started earlier, about a week before the Republican convention, with right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson connecting Trump Jr. with Kennedy.

From there, Trump Jr. and donor Omeed Malik served as go-betweens to help close the deal. The two sources familiar with the talks said Kennedy is expected to play a role on the campaign trail going forward.

Read more on RFK Jr.’s move →

That’s all from the Politics Desk for now. If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com

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