Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Vice Presidential running mate Tim Walz in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, August 29, 2024

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UPDATE, AUG 31:

In a 13-minute discussion, polling expert John Zogby and I joined RTE Radio 1’s Claire Byrne on Friday to evaluate the significance of the Harris-Walz interview, the momentum of their campaign, and the flailing of Donald Trump.

The idea of “values” is to contrast with Donald Trump. As Harris put it, “You don’t become President to tear people down. You do it to lift people up.”

That will be one of the key lines the Democrats want to take into November.

ORIGINAL ENTRY, AUG 30: I joined BBC Ulster on Friday to analyze the CNN interview of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, the Democratic Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees.

I began with two words for Vice President Harris’s first sit-down interview since taking over as the nominee with the withdrawal of President Joe Biden on July 21: 1) “solid” for her handling of questions about issues and her record; and 2) “values” for the distinction between her and Donald Trump.

Listen from 46:13

I don’t think they dramatically shifted the needle on what is a toss-up election, but I think they consolidated their position….

Hitting the key point on “values”, Harris emphasized that she and Walz are not there to “tear people down” but to “lift people up, not to attack and insult but to bring Americans together.

I knock back Trump’s latest insults, noting how he and his outlets like Fox TV are scrambling to find a flaw in the Harris campaign. And I look forward to the tactics in the first — and possibly only — Presidential debate on September 10.

I think this campaign comes down to whether Americans want competence and responsibility v. lies and an attack on the US system.

Can Donald Trump bully his way to victory, as he did in 2016, or has he finally met his match in Kamala Harris?