memeorandum: Inside the fast-moving launch of Kamala Harris for president (Edward-Isaac Dovere/CNN)

6:55 PM ET, August 18, 2024

Top Items:

Harris holds slight national lead over Trump, Post-ABC-Ipsos poll finds — The result is a notable improvement for Democrats in a contest that a little more than a month ago showed Biden and Trump in a dead heat. — Vice President Kamala Harris holds a narrow lead over former president Donald Trump …

Discussion: Rolling Stone, The Hill, HuffPost, The Gateway Pundit, Townhall, New Jersey Online, New York Post, Washington Examiner, Semafor and PoliticusUSA

Avery Lotz / Axios:

“Fake polls”: Vance downplays Harris rise … - Among likely voters, Harris holds a 6-point lead, 51% to 45%. — Independents swung from Trump +4 against President Biden in July to Harris +11 over Trump in August. … - CBS/YouGov polling also released on Sunday shows Harris leading Trump by a 3-point margin nationally.

Discussion: The Hill, Business Insider, Fox News, PoliticusUSA, The Gateway Pundit, Bloomberg, Raw Story, Mediaite, The Daily Beast and Breitbart

Flynn Nicholls / Newsweek:

Kamala Harris Erases Donald Trump's Significant Lead On Mental Sharpness — 's former significant lead in two attributes on which President Joe Biden was seriously lagging before he dropped out of the presidential race, according to a new poll. — The survey, conducted between August 9 and 13 by Langer Research Associates for

Discussion: Al Jazeera, CBS News, Washington Post, ABC News and CNN

CBS News:
CBS News poll: Gender gap, enthusiasm, economy make for tight Harris-Trump race on Democratic convention eve

Discussion: Vanity Fair, New York Post, The Hill and New Jersey Online

Avery Lotz / Axios:
Sunday Snapshot: Republicans admit Trump the “provocateur” could lose

Discussion: Raw Story

Bloomberg:
Trump to Visit Border in Bid to Counter Harris Convention Speech

Discussion: RTÉ

Alexandra Marquez / NBC News:
Sen. Lindsey Graham: ‘Trump the provocateur, the showman may not win this election’

Discussion: New York Post, Fox News, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Raw Story, The Guardian, HuffPost, Mediaite, USA Today, Rolling Stone and Breitbart

David A. Graham / The Atlantic: Trump Has Turned Over an Old Leaf

Gary Langer / ABC News:
Harris leads Trump overall but not on handling of the economy: POLL

Discussion: Forbes, PoliticusUSA, IJR and The i Paper

Joey Garrison / USA Today:
Kamala Harris heads to DNC in Chicago with momentum and a big opportunity

Discussion: NPR, New York Post, ABC News, The Post Millennial, Fox News, The Hill and Business Insider

Politico:

Trump's ‘nuclear explosion’ on Kemp was months in the making. He could pay a price in November. — Republicans in the state had tried to ease tensions before Trump's blow-up at a rally. — Donald Trump was privately stewing over Brian Kemp earlier this year — long before he unloaded …

Discussion: Raw Story

Edward Luce / Financial Times:

Pennsylvania is slipping from Donald Trump's grasp — Kamala Harris gains ground with crucial Hispanic voters in swing state that could decide 2024 US election — Asked why he had robbed a bank, William Sutton, one of the FBI's most wanted postwar criminals, replied, “because that's where the money is”.

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite

Darlene Superville / Associated Press:
Harris and Walz will campaign by bus in Pennsylvania before the Democratic convention in Chicago

Discussion: The Hill, Bloomberg, Washington Post, New York Times, NPR, UPI, Associated Press, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News and NBC News

ABC News:
Harris and Walz launch their 1st bus tour through western Pennsylvania

Discussion: Raw Story, New York Times, NBC News and Reuters

Carole Cadwalladr / The Guardian:

Inciting rioters in Britain was a test run for Elon Musk. Just see what he plans for America — The presidential election is three months away. What if the billionaire contests the result? What if he decides democracy is over-rated? — Just over four years ago …

Sarah Fortinsky / The Hill:

Whitmer says people ‘reading too much’ into price-gouging plan specifics — Video Player is loading. — Play Video — Unmute — Current Time 0:00 — Loaded: 0% — Stream Type LIVE — Seek to live, currently behind liveLIVE — Playback Rate — Chapters — Chapters

Discussion: RedState, IJR, Fox News and Washington Examiner

Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Trump to counter Democratic convention with swing-state blitz

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Lauren Sforza / The Hill: Beshear says Harris's economic plan to ensure ‘capitalism stays within the guardrails’

Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Trump continues personal attacks against Harris: 'I'm a better looking person'

Discussion: Raw Story, CBS News, The Guardian, Politico and Bloomberg

Shia Kapos / Politico:

Protesters paused to reconsider opposing Harris at the DNC. They decided on full steam ahead. — There are at least six major protests planned during the DNC in Chicago. — CHICAGO — There was a moment after Vice President Kamala Harris was tapped to run for president …

Discussion: ABC News, The Hill, Forbes, Twitchy, The Post Millennial, Washington Examiner, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Times and WisPolitics

Corbin Bolies / The Daily Beast:
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker Promises to Arrest ‘Troublemaker’ DNC Protesters

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CNN, Rolling Stone and New York Times

Molly Hennessy-Fiske / Washington Post:
Protests planned for Democrats' convention spark safety, speech worries

Discussion: New York Times, Townhall and IJR

Washington Post:

Secret Service finds protecting Trump is extraordinarily challenging — Trump's team has complained in the wake of an assassination attempt that earlier requests for additional resources had been denied, while agency officials say he receives a heavier level of security than any other former president.

David Cohen / Politico:

Tammy Duckworth rips Trump over remarks about medal-winning soldiers — “Donald Trump is despicable,” the Illinois senator said of the GOP candidate. — Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who lost both her legs fighting in the Iraq War, on Sunday called Republican nominee Donald Trump “despicable” …

Discussion: The Hill, Rolling Stone and Blue Virginia

Daniel Kreps / Rolling Stone: VFW Condemns Donald Trump's ‘Asinine’ Comments About Medal of Honor

Doug Bock Clark / ProPublica:

Election Deniers Secretly Pushed Rule That Would Make It Easier to Delay Certification of Georgia's Election Results — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week.

Discussion: Salon

NewsHound Ellen / Crooks and Liars:

MAGA Pastor Hates Democracy Because It Allows Women To Vote — He called it the ‘Christian position’ to repeal the 19th Amendment. — Can you help us out? — For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies.

Drew Harwell / Washington Post:

Far-right influencers turn against Trump campaign — Hard-right provocateurs take aim at how the former president's aides are positioning him for the November vote — though not at the Republican candidate himself. — Some of the internet's most influential far-right figures are turning …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Progress Pond and Raw Story

Julia Azari / MSNBC:

JD Vance isn't helping Trump's ticket. Removing him would be even worse. — A main purpose of the vice presidential candidate, beyond avoiding harm or generating negative news cycles, is to highlight the presidential candidate's judgment and values. — Experts often debate about the best approach …

Discussion: Raw Story

David Martin / CBS News:

Former aide H.R. McMaster on how Trump enjoys “pitting people against each other” — Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster had been a soldier for three decades when Donald Trump named him his national security adviser just one month into his administration. “Lots of people told me not to do it,” McMaster said.

Axios:

Michelle Obama to address Democratic Convention on Tuesday … - NBC News was first to report the Tuesday speaking slot. … - The DNC will kickoff on Monday, with President Biden headlining opening night and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also speaking.

Discussion: The Hill