This week’s White House Report Card is the second-to-last until the presidential election and you can feel the tension in the air.
President Joe Biden, who played the main role in making Vice President Kamala Harris the Democratic nominee, is AWOL in helping her win. Not much happened in his office this week other than a notable flub while giving a speech that included an apology to Native Americans for the country’s scandalous treatment of young schoolchildren.
The election fight between Harris and former President Donald Trump remains even closer than the week before, with several new polls showing a dead heat. There is a sense that Trump has momentum, but pollster John Zogby warned not to bank on that.
Israel has launched its military response to Iran and Kamala is with Beyonce, Biden is headed to Delaware. The vice president and president are dangerously unserious people.
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) October 26, 2024
For his part, Zogby graded the week a “C” and asked of Harris, “Does she really have momentum?”
Conservative analyst Jed Babbin graded his regular “F” and highlighted Biden’s disappearance.
John Zogby
Grade: C
Two new polls out late this week are very suggestive.
The first shows that among those voters who made up their minds a month ago or more, former President Donald Trump leads Vice President Kamala Harris 52%-48%. But among those who have made up their minds just in the last few weeks, Harris is ahead 62%-36%. Given that the latter group is smaller, we can see the closeness of the race. Does she really have momentum, and will it last the next 10 days?
The other poll shows that while the gender gap among all voters is a very high 30 points, it is 60 points among young voters. A stark finding that has many more possible consequences beyond this election.
Harris is getting a lot of criticism for focusing on personal attacks against Trump, but she has the support of an unholy alliance of mainstream Democrats, progressives, and disaffected conservative Republicans. The only glue holding them together is fear of Trump. It will be difficult to project a common vision and statement of policy among these divergent groups.
At this point, this pollster’s balls are made of brass, not crystal.
Jed Babbin
Grade: F
It was a relatively quiet week for the Biden crew and Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign, the difference between the two being nonexistent. There were a few things to liven it up despite Harris taking a day or so off from campaigning.
The interest on our national debt — what we have to pay those the $34 trillion is borrowed from — exceeds $1 trillion. That’s more than the entire defense budget. It’s money down the drain, like rent.
There was no condemnation of the Hezbollah — or Iranian — assassination attempt against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That silence is a condemnation of both Harris and President Joe Biden. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (who?) wouldn’t say whether Netanyahu was a reliable ally.
WATCH – Confused Biden spirals out of control, then blurts “Nothing wrong with me.”
“An to the Hee-la… Indian River Community, errra, rrrrr, the heely, the heel-uh uh… Nothing wrong with me.” pic.twitter.com/KQc80qrjAT
— The First (@TheFirstonTV) October 25, 2024
An inspector general’s report said that military supplies we sent to Taiwan were inoperable, some even so old that they were moldy. Great ally us.
The highlight of the week was Harris comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler and Biden saying we need to lock Trump up. All this smacks of panic in the Harris campaign.
To top it all off, Harris said she would oppose any religious exceptions to a federal abortion law. That’s a huge slap at Catholics. Not that Harris cares. She could still win, but the odds against it are growing by the day.
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John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Survey and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His latest book, Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read Polls and Why We Should, was just released. His podcast with son and managing partner and pollster Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on X @ZogbyStrategies.
Jed Babbin is a Washington Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him on X @jedbabbin.