Trump and Vance’s Divide and Conquer Strategy on the Campaign Trail: From the Politics Desk

Victor Boolen

Trump and Vance’s Divide and Conquer Strategy on the Campaign Trail: From the Politics Desk

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 talk with JD Vance about how he’s tried to broaden the appeal of the Republican ticket and explore why Democrats feel renewed in the critical battleground state of Georgia. Plus, leading political analyst Chuck Todd explains why Harris is overthinking his media strategy.

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In a new interview, Vance opens up about running with Trump

Henry J. Gomez, Alec Hernández, and Jillian Frankel

A week ago, the rift between Donald Trump and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp appeared irreparable, and relentless mockery from Republicans in the former president’s popularity battleground state posed a potentially mortal threat to his campaign.

Then JD Vance got Kemp on the line.

Within hours of their call last week, Kemp, who along with his wife had been the target of Trump’s vicious attacks, was on Fox News publicly announcing his support for the GOP ticket. Shortly after, Trump thanked the governor for his kind words.

Vance, in an interview with NBC News on his campaign plane Tuesday night, downplayed his role in brokering the truce, insisting he was one of many important voices in Kemp’s ear. But Vance also described a strategy blessed by Trump that takes advantage of the fact that he can reason with people or appeal to them in ways that Trump can’t.

After their first few campaign appearances together, Vance recalled, Trump “basically said, ‘I trust you. We should both be in different places unless it’s a really big event … divide and conquer.’

“We’re each trying to speak to different people in different ways and we’re each trying to run the race as well as we can,” Vance added. “And he obviously sets the tone and the policy, and I’m just trying to help.”

Reconciling Abortion Differences: In the interview, Vance also discussed how he has reconciled political positions with Trump, particularly on abortion. Vance campaigned last year against a constitutional amendment that passed overwhelmingly in Ohio to codify the state’s abortion rights. He also previously expressed support for federal abortion restrictions.

But by joining the GOP ticket, Vance has deferred to Trump, who has said he wants to leave it up to the states.

“I don’t think it’s because of my own values,” Vance said. “I’m pro-life and I care. I want to save as many babies as possible. I also remember here that the voters get to make these decisions, and I was very strongly in favor of the voters voting no [in Ohio]and we got our ass in our hands. And so I think all of us who are pro-life have to kind of step back and say, ‘How can we do better for the American people here?'”

RFK effect: Vance also laughed off memes suggesting that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who interrupted and endorsed Trump last week, is the Republican vice presidential nominee.

Regarding Kennedy’s known vaccine skepticism, Vance said that his three children have received “normal vaccines” but that he likes Kennedy’s “general skepticism” toward the public health bureaucracy.

“That doesn’t mean I agree with him on every point, but I think we should be a little more willing to challenge public health officials post-Covid,” Vance said.

Read more from the interview, including Vance’s response to an awkward visit to a bakery in Georgia last week →


Harris gives Democrats new hope in Georgia

By Sahil Kapur, Alex Seitz-Wald, Jonathan Allen and Nnamdi Egwuonwu

Georgia is front and center on the presidential campaign trail this week as Kamala Harris and Tim Walz embark on a bus tour today that is set to end Thursday in the Savannah area with a solo rally for Harris.

Joe Biden won Georgia by less than 12,000 votes over Trump in 2020, becoming the first Democrat to hold a longtime GOP stronghold in nearly three decades. Now it’s up to Harris to prove it wasn’t a fluke by keeping the state in the blue column.

Harris is a better fit demographically than Biden in Georgia, which has the most black voters of any presidential battleground state. Its voters are also younger than those in most other presidential battlegrounds, and while Biden struggled with young voters this season, they seem more receptive to Harris so far. The state also has a rapidly growing Asian-American population, which is Democratic and has helped the party in a close race.

To win Georgia, Harris will need to replicate the formula of Biden and Sen. Raphael Warnock: increase voter turnout and mobilize Democrats in deep-blue Atlanta; putting big points on the board in the city’s wealthy suburbs, full of well-educated voters skeptical of Trump; and limit his margin of defeat in vast and solidly red rural areas where losing by fewer could give him the state’s 16 electoral votes.

Gwinnett County Republican Party Chairman Sammy Baker acknowledged that replacing Biden with Harris has improved the fortunes of Democrats in Georgia.

“I was very, very comfortable that it would be — not an easy win, but it would be a 4 or 5 point win. I think it’s going to be a little tighter now because I think he’s energized a few Democrats who weren’t energized before , and they seem to be a little more active,” Baker said.

Read more about the situation in Georgia →

2008 redux? Democrats believe the new energy extends beyond Georgia. Natasha Korecki reports that some in the party are going so far as to say that Harris will reignite the magic of Barack Obama’s historic 2008 run. Read more →


How Harris overthinks his media strategy

Author: Chuck Todd

Among the crazier news rounds, each campaign is a “conversation of the conversations” and a debate about media visibility and access. It’s a debate that the media and politicians care about far more than the general public. Of course, these internal debates matter because they affect what the rest of the nation’s voters ultimately see of the presidential candidates, either on the debate stage or through the media filter.

I’ll start with the first major mistake of the Harris campaign since he became the Democratic nominee. They’ve now upped the ante for his first sit-down interview. More words and phrases are researched simply because the campaign and the candidate act as if doing these interviews is as interesting to them as going to the dentist.

I know many Democrats are allergic to all things Trump, but one thing I thought many candidates learned from his initial campaign in 2016 was that he used all the media to benefit himself, whether he thought the interviewer was friendly, neutral. or opponent. When he said something outrageous or controversial in one session, he would do something completely newsworthy (and equally remarkable) in another, which would essentially dilute the impact of all his interviews.

The Harris campaign should set aside one day a week for media interviews and saturate the landscape. As we all know, there is no where near 100% media saturation anymore.

If he did five or six tours one day a week and distributed all types of media, no single interview would likely overshadow a single news round, and he would likely have the opportunity to reach more diverse audiences. according to a regular schedule.

By the way, these interviews would also help him in the preparation of the debate. Trump should use the same strategy. Like it or not, we live in a fragmented media environment, and that requires the fragmentation of candidate contacts. It should be all of the above strategy.

Read more from Chuck →


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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

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