Welcome to the online version From the political tablenightly newsletter that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the NBC News Politics team on the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.
In today’s edition, we explore how Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s impending withdrawal from the presidential race could give Donald Trump a boost. In addition, national political reporter Ben Kamisar tells how Kamala Harris opened the fundraising floodgates.
Programming Note: Tune in to a special edition of From the Politics Desk every night after the Democrats National Convention this week for the latest news and analysis from our Chicago team.
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How Harris had boosted Democratic fundraising
Author: Ben Kamisar
The latest campaign finance reports highlight how much the exchange between Joe Biden and Kamala Harris has boosted Democratic enthusiasm and fundraising.
The party’s presidential election campaign said it collected an eye-watering 204 million dollars in July. Biden was at the top of the ticket until July 21, when he dropped out and endorsed his running mate. By comparison, Donald Trump’s campaign raised $47.5 million in July.
A dive into digital fundraising numbers from ActBlue — a platform that effectively acts as a Democratic credit card processor for online donations — shows how Harris opened the floodgates.
In the first 20 days of July, when Biden faced a steady drumbeat of calls from Democrats to drop out of the race after his shaky debate performance, his campaign raised about $30 million through ActBlue, an average of about $1.5 million a day.
But since ending his candidacy at the end of the month, Harris has raised more than $183 million — including $39.5 million the day Biden resigned and nearly $43 million the day after — an average of about $16.7 million a day.
The trend is clear. While the campaign never topped $3 million in daily ActBlue fundraising during Biden’s last 20 days as a candidate, it never brought in less than $7 million daily during the last 11 days of July when Harris was the Democratic standard-bearer.
What to Expect on Night 3 of the Democratic Convention
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will deliver tonight’s keynote speech, presenting his biggest opportunity since being tapped by Harris to introduce himself to the nation.
Other notable speakers include: former President Bill Clinton; former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro; Maryland Governor Wes Moore; House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries; and Sens. Cory Booker from New Jersey, Catherine Cortez Masto from Nevada, Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota and Chris Murphy from Connecticut.
Follow the evening’s speeches on our live blog →
RFK Jr. Plans to Drop Out of 2024 Presidential Race and Endorse Trump
According to Vaughn Hillyard, Dasha Burns, Katherine Koretski and Alec Hernández, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to end his independent presidential campaign and endorse Trump.
Sources warned that negotiations are ongoing, but there will be clarity by the end of the week. One of the sources said the campaigns are aiming for a joint appearance.
The elimination decision will decide the most visible third-party nomination for the 2024 competition. Kennedy announced on Wednesday that he would give a campaign speech on “his path forward,” days after his running mate said the campaign faced a choice between staying in the 2024 election or backing away from Trump.
Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, told NBC News in an interview Wednesday that there has been a lot of communication back and forth between Kennedy and his campaign. Vance also said Trump would not promise a cabinet seat because of Kennedy’s endorsement.
Possible deposition: As Mark Murray points out, polls show that Kennedy’s withdrawal would likely help Trump more than hurt him.
National NBC News polls show that Republicans like Kennedy more than Democrats. In January, Kennedy had a net positive rating among Republicans (+18) and independents (+4), while Democrats viewed him mostly negatively (-25).
Since then, the spread has only intensified. Fast forward to a July NBC News poll — conducted before Biden resigned — when Kennedy was in positive territory with only Republican voters (+11), while he was negative among independents (-18) and Democrats (-38).
The July poll also shows that in a multi-candidate field, Trump had 87 percent of voters backing him in a head-to-head race with Biden, while 10 percent of his voters went to Kennedy, 1 percent to Jill Stein and 1 percent to Cornel West.
By contrast, Biden held 85% of his bipartisan support, while 6% went to Kennedy, 3% to Stein, 2% to Chase Oliver, and 1% to West.
And since Biden left the race, the overall share of voters supporting Kennedy and third-party candidates has fallen, according to national and battleground polls. More and more voters have chosen Harris or Trump instead.
Although the potential share of Kennedy supporters is smaller than before, those voters can still be decisive in a close election.
🗞️ Today’s top stories
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🗓️ 60 years later: Harris’ speech on Thursday will mark the 60th anniversary of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, in which she called on her party to refuse to support the right to vote for black Americans. does not plant its integrated delegation. Read more →
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🪧 Outside the arena: There have been far more protests outside the Democratic convention than last month’s Republican convention, thanks to Democrats’ disagreement over the war in Gaza. Read more →
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💲 The price is right: Trump has decried Harris’ proposal to ban price gouging, but 37 states and D.C. already have proposals to prevent companies from quickly raising prices on certain goods and services. Read more →
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⭐ A fading star? Gov. Ron DeSantis took a political hit in Florida’s primary on Tuesday when several of the candidates he supported lost in school board races. Read more →
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🗳️ Count the ballot: With the most important Senate matchups now officially decided, both sides are gearing up for a close battle for control of the chamber. Read more →
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💸 Steep fine: A telecommunications company has agreed to pay a $1 million fine for its role in a deep fake robocall that mimicked Biden’s voice ahead of the New Hampshire Democratic primary. Read more →
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📰 As a reminder: LongtimeRep. Bill Pascrell, DN.J., died Wednesday at the age of 87. Read more →
That’s all from the Politics Desk for now. If you have any feedback – like it or not – send us an email at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com
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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
