Kamala Harris’s Momentum at the Convention

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With the Democratic National Convention now behind Kamala Harris, the vice president is officially the Democratic presidential nominee—but now some are asking how her campaign can translate the momentum from recent weeks into winning over voters in key swing states.

The optimism felt among many Democrats at the convention was, in part, the result of forces beyond Harris herself, Mark Leibovich said last night on Washington Week With The Atlantic: Harris has benefited from the release of pent-up unhappiness about Joe Biden leading the presidential ticket and, so far, from the choice of Tim Walz as her running mate. “This week has been a culmination of that,” Leibovich said. But “it can’t be a culmination. It has to continue. And the question is, will this propel her forward?”

Susan Page called the lead-up to the convention some of the “most sure-footed 33 days in modern American political history.” In just over a month, Harris went from being second on “a ticket that was trailing” to bringing “Democrats back to an even-up race.” But despite palpable energy among Democrats at the convention, Harris faces challenges, including a debate, before the election.

Meanwhile, both Harris and Donald Trump are tasked with courting voters in battleground states. Trump has ramped up campaigning efforts and also received an endorsement from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. following the suspension of Kennedy’s presidential bid. Still, the effect of Trump’s campaigning for swing voters has yet to fully materialize, the panelists noted last night. “Where is the Trump growth strategy?” Leibovich asked. “Yes, the base is energized, but is that base tired?”

Joining Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of The Atlantic, to discuss this and more: Eugene Daniels, a White House correspondent for Politico; Susan Page, the Washington bureau chief at USA Today; Mark Leibovich, a staff writer at The Atlantic; and Ali Vitali, a Capitol Hill correspondent for NBC News.

Watch the full episode here.