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August 16th 2024

A sharp round-up of the most important political news

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The US in brief

A sharp round-up of the most important political news

The two presidential candidates struck very different tones at events on Thursday. Kamala Harris appeared with Joe Biden in Maryland, where they put on a display of unity and confidence. They boasted that the Biden administration had negotiated lower prices for ten prescription drugs, which will take effect from 2026. If they had been in effect last year they would have saved Medicare, the public health-care system for the elderly, $6bn and patients $1.5bn in out-of-pocket costs, claimed the White House. On Friday in North Carolina Ms Harris is expected to add some detail to her vague policies for the economy, including a plan to fight “price gouging” for staples.

Donald Trump, by contrast, accentuated the negative at a press conference in New Jersey. Flanked by a table covered with groceries, Mr Trump blamed Ms Harris for rising household costs, labelled her (as yet unannounced) plan for dealing with price gouging “communist” and promised that he would “immediately bring prices down”. He told reporters that he was “entitled to [make] personal attacks” on Ms Harris because her campaign calls him and J.D. Vance “weird”.

Mr Vance and Tim Walz agreed to a debate on CBS on October 1st. Mr Vance asked for multiple debates against his Democratic opponent, though it is rare for vice-presidential candidates to face off more than once. The Harris campaign said that it agreed to one vice-presidential showdown, adding that “the debate about debates is over.”

Phil Murphy, New Jersey’s Democratic governor, will reportedly appoint George Helmy, a former aide, to serve the remainder of Robert Menendez’s Senate term. Mr Menendez resigned last month after he was convicted of corruption. New Jersey will elect his replacement in November. In choosing Mr Helmy, Mr Murphy passed over the Democratic Senate nominee, Andy Kim, who defeated the governor’s wife in a primary.

False equivalence

Parallels have been drawn between this year’s Democratic National Convention and the one in 1968—and not just because both are in Chicago. Back then, Lyndon Johnson decided not to run for president again, leaving party bigwigs to nominate Vice-President Hubert Humphrey. Kamala Harris became the Democrats’ nominee in similar fashion. But, as our Lexington columnist argues, 2024 is not 1968 and Gaza is not Ms Harris’s Vietnam.

A view from elsewhere
Mr Biden and Ms Harris represent two different approaches to Trumpism, wrote Sergio Fabrini in Il Sole 24 Ore, an Italian newspaper. To Ms Harris the Republican ticket is “bizarre or strange”; to Mr Biden it is “dangerous to American democracy”. Yet Mr Trump is both “weird” and “dangerous”. It is “liberating to trivialise him as an electoral tactic”, but “the enemies of liberal democracy shouldn’t be underestimated.”

We want to hear from you
Readers are sending us lots of thoughtful emails so we’ve decided to publish some. If you have views on what is happening in America drop us a line at usib@economist.com. And, of course, we still welcome your feedback on this newsletter.

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Play the archive

Dateline: The Economist history quiz

Can you guess when these extracts were published?

Today’s poll

Every week YouGov polls Americans on behalf of The Economist. This week we asked what Democrats thought about the approaches that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have taken towards Israel’s war in Gaza. Fewer respondents were critical of Ms Harris, but that is partly because almost 40% weren’t sure what they thought about her policy. In this case, ambiguity may be helping her.

Daily quiz

From Monday to Thursday we’ll quiz you on all things America. This week’s winner is Trent McGee in Orange, California. The answers were:

Monday: This year will be the 12th time Chicago has hosted the Democratic National Convention.

Tuesday: The 1924 DNC was the longest ever, lasting 16 days and taking 103 ballots to select a presidential candidate.

Wednesday: Franklin Roosevelt was the first presidential candidate to accept the nomination in person at the DNC in 1932.

Thursday: In 1968 some Democrats argued for moving their convention from Chicago to Miami, but the party decided against it.

See how to take part in the quiz at the bottom of this page.

If you enjoyed this week’s quiz, play Dateline, The Economist’s new history game.

Figure of the day

52%, Ms Harris’s chances of winning November’s election, according to our forecast model, which was relaunched on Thursday. Read our leader about how the race is now wide open.

Seen on X

I have no plans to endorse Kamala Harris for president. I do have a plan to defeat her.

—Robert F. Kennedy junior, who is running an independent campaign for president, denies reports that he offered to back Ms Harris in exchange for a cabinet position.

Read all of our recent coverage of the 2024 election. Confused about a term? Check out our A-Z of American politics.

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