cover of episode Harris Shifts Tactics As Momentum Shifts Toward Trump

Harris Shifts Tactics As Momentum Shifts Toward Trump

2024/10/25
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The Fox News Rundown

Key Insights

Why is the Harris campaign shifting its message away from 'joy'?

Momentum is shifting toward Trump, prompting a focus on framing Trump as 'dangerous'.

Why are investors closely watching the 2024 election?

Market moves will depend on the winner, impacting the US economy based on campaign promises.

Why is VP Harris struggling to articulate her policy differences from the Biden administration?

Voters perceive her as offering four more years of the same, lacking clear policy articulation.

Why is Trump's economic record being revisited by voters?

Voters recall feeling better economically under Trump, despite other criticisms.

Why is VP Harris giving her closing argument at the Ellipse in Washington D.C.?

To remind voters of Trump's January 6th speech and frame him as a threat to democracy.

Why are Trump supporters less confident in vote accuracy compared to Harris supporters?

Trump's arguments about election fraud resonate more with his supporters.

Why are investors unsure about positioning themselves before the election?

The race is too close to call, making it difficult to predict policy impacts.

Why does Kevin O'Leary prefer Trump's economic policies over Harris's?

Trump's policies are more market-friendly and less interventionist.

Why is VP Harris losing support in Pennsylvania?

Voters find her policies unclear and lack a distinct identity from Biden's administration.

Chapters

As the momentum shifts towards Trump, Harris changes her campaign strategy, focusing more on Trump's perceived dangers and less on messages of joy.
  • Harris moves away from 'joy' messages to framing Trump as 'dangerous'.
  • Trump's recent polling shows a more positive view of his presidency.
  • Harris's tactical change aims to warn voters about perceived threats from Trump.

Shownotes Transcript

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I'm Maria Bartiromo. I'm Greg Gutfeld. I'm Tammy Bruce. And this is the Fox News Rundown.

Friday, October 25th, 2024. I'm Chris Foster. There's been less talk about joy from Vice President Harris and more talk about former President Trump being dangerous. Down the stretch, if you feel like your policy prescriptions, which again, you haven't really articulated how they're going to be wildly different and better for people, then you've got to warn them about what you think is the threat or, you know, remind them of the things they didn't like about President Trump. Speaking with Fox News Sunday host Shannon Bream.

I'm Lisa Brady. He wants the new U.S. president to have success, no matter who wins. People think, well, what's the number one export of America? Is it energy? Is it technology? Is it consumer good or service? No, none of those. For 200 years, the number one export of America is the American dream. We speak with Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary. And I'm David Marcus. I've got the final word on the Fox News Rundown. ♪

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump both campaign in Texas today. They're trying to seal the deal with undecided or persuadable voters and give a reason for people who may not vote at all to go to the trouble. Trump in Georgia. With your vote in this election, I will end inflation. I will stop the invasion of criminals into our country.

And I will bring back the American dream. I'm going to bring it back very quickly. Harris is asked by CNN's Anderson Cooper during a live town hall in Pennsylvania Wednesday about why her plans of elected president haven't happened yet during the Biden administration. Why wasn't any of that done in the last four years?

Well, there was a lot that was done, but there's more to do, Anderson. And I'm pointing out things that need to be done. Democratic strategist David Axelrod later on CNN. The things that would concern me is when she doesn't want to answer a question, her habit is to kind of go to word salad city. And she did that on a couple of answers. There's still a lot of Americans who don't know much about Vice President Harris or her agenda.

for the vice president, she's been pushed on this question she struggled with. How will you be different than a Biden administration? She's really had trouble with that. And so that leaves voters assuming they're going to get four more years of the same. Fox News Sunday and Living the Bream podcast host.

Shannon Breen. She has said, look, here are some of my initial ideas. I am a different person. I have different experiences. I think even her supporters will say we need more. There's more. We just don't understand tax policy and education and all these different things where she's going to get things done.

Now, President Trump, you had four years of him as president. You either loved it or hated it. Maybe you were somewhere on the spectrum, but you know what he's going to do because you had four years of it. And I thought it was interesting. The Wall Street Journal polling, the new stuff that's out is saying people are now having, as we've seen in our polling, to a more positive.

positive remembrance and view of what he did for them or what their lives were like under those four years with him. And that seems to be giving him a bit of an edge and a bit of a trend in his favor as we're getting to actual Election Day, though people have been voting, millions of them for weeks. Yeah. And so much of it, again, is just about prices. People pay more for stuff than they paid in

2018, 2019, and that, to a lot of people, really is the defining issue of what they want out of their president, whether they have anything to do with it or not. Exactly, because while people will hear the headlines, inflation is slowing, I think

I don't know that that computes to what they see at the grocery bill, because, yes, prices are still growing at a slower rate, but they are still growing. You're not going to go back to absence of miracle, which you had four years ago. And so people are very well aware their real wages have not kept up.

with inflation. So you're paying higher prices. Your paycheck is not matching that. And they're very aware of that. And I think that people are able to say, okay, the mean tweets, the nicknames, the calling people out, the personality that, you know, maybe they don't love about President Trump, but they loved what was going on with their checking accounts at that point and how their grocery bills and their gas bills felt. So

It seems to be in some of this polling what's showing up now is that people are a bit nostalgic for when they felt like things were better for them economically. Well, and the stuff about, you know, putting personality or whatever aside. Now, this talk from former Trump officials about him saying Hitler did some good things and had better generals and he's a fascist.

You know, maybe meant to be some sort of October surprise. And now the vice president is really leaning into this. Right. Which she kind of hadn't. This was always Joe Biden's thing that Trump is a danger to democracy inflection point, stuff like that. And Harris seemed to move away from that to be, you know, the joy person. And now she and now she's kind of jumping on what Joe Biden used to talk about.

Yeah. And I think that, listen, down the stretch, if you feel like your policy prescriptions, which, again, you haven't really articulated how they're going to be wildly different and better for people, then you've got to warn them about what you think is the threat or, you know, remind them things of the things they didn't like about President Trump. Now, I think if we hadn't heard from former Trump officials before saying negative things,

things about him and how they didn't think that he should be the president again. We've heard this from former defense officials, the military and cabinet officials. I think if we were just hearing it for the first time this week, it would have more impact potentially, but it does create a lot of headlines that are not good for the Trump fans ticket and that they, uh,

will then spend time batting down. And as the former president addresses it, it stays in the headlines. So it's certainly going to remind people of the things if they were kind of on the fence that they didn't feel comfortable about with President Trump. But I think if, you know, these new John Kelly comments and others were new and first time, they might have more of that October surprise feel to them than they might otherwise.

Vice President Harris is giving what she's calling her, I think, closing argument or something like that at the Ellipse in Washington next week and a place chosen very intentionally. That's where Donald Trump gave his speech on January 6th, 2021. So obviously that's going to be a big theme.

Yeah. And I think the optics of that are lost on no one. Obviously, you know, spending this time with Liz Cheney on the campaign trail with her, who was the lead Republican on that January 6th committee. I think they clearly want to signal back to that as much as possible and remind people of what happened that day. And I got to say, I mean, I.

I don't know how you felt about it, but I really felt in that day as we were covering January 6th and the aftermath of that, like, OK, this has put an end to any future that President Trump would rethink about running again in the future. I mean, he had top Republicans on down saying, like, this was a terrible day. We can't ever have this happen again, that kind of thing.

And listen, over four years, a lot of people have changed their tunes, including voters. And I think that she very much wants to bring people back to that day and remind them of her biggest argument against him, that he's a threat to this country. Another symbolic appearance as we wrap up this campaign. Former president is at Madison Square Garden in New York City Sunday night, saying,

You know, I'm sure it's going to be a very special thing to him to have this event at the most famous arena, if not the United States, certainly in his hometown. And it's going to be a big made for TV spectacle, I assume. Yeah. I mean, from what we're hearing, they're going to be, you know, bold name, bold name, a listers, you know, all kinds of elected officials, celebrities. How you define that, you know, is up to you. But they're going to it's going to be a big, huge rallying cry and celebration for the Trump fans ticket. And.

And, you know, there have been those who've said, and we've talked about this, like, why is he rallying in states that he probably has no chance of winning? But I think he is, if nothing else, he is a great promoter and producer and showman. And so he knows putting this thing on, as you said, in one of the most storied venues in the country, if not in the world, it's going to get tons of headlines and attention that will go far

beyond that audience there, that local audience in New York City. And I think the optics of it, he's very good at producing those things. So it'll be interesting to see exactly what we get on Sunday night, but it's going to be a spectacle. We have this new Fox poll saying that most voters backing Vice President Harris, 83 percent, are extremely or very confident the votes will be counted accurately nationwide compared to just over a third of Trump supporters.

So two thirds of Trump supporters are not confident that the votes will be accurate. So his arguments about election fraud are really are still sticking with his supporters, at least. Does this give you any sort of concern about what happens after Election Day? Well, I mean, I think all of us want such a convincing victory on Election Day that whoever the losing party is will say, OK, that was fair. That was legit. I lost by seven points or whatever, something that's not going to happen.

Just so the country can move on, we're already tracking hundreds of lawsuits that have been filed all over the country. And both of these teams and campaigns and the national parties have got, I mean, dozens, if not hundreds of lawyers that are lined up and ready to go for anything new that bubbles on Election Day. We've already got states warning us that it's going to take them several days to count the relevant votes in swing states like Arizona and Pennsylvania.

So I will not be surprised if we get wrapped up in some litigation and this thing is not over November 5th or 6th. What would surprise me is if we are wrapped up by November 5th or 6th. Yeah. And what happens if it really does come down to one state and-

that's going to tip it either way. And can you imagine how long that legal fight is going to get dragged out, whatever's going on in that state? Yeah, because if you have like, say, for example, Arizona or Pennsylvania, that's saying things like it can take five days, 10 days, 13 days to count all these votes. Well, if the entire, you know, getting to 270 electoral votes is hanging on one of those states and it's dragging on for days, I don't think that's good for the country. I think this country is so

divided and people are so passionate and tense about this thing that anything that drags us beyond that is going to only add fuel to the fire. And the problem is, listen, I don't think this is a problem that we recognize the Constitution gives states, every one of them to be their own laboratories of democracies and figure out how they want to calculate. So we can't say all states have to use

the same protocols. But it is frustrating, I think, for every American out there, regardless of how you're voting, when you hear that a state is going to be collecting absentee ballots and early votes, but not start counting them until 8 p.m. the night of the election. We know because we talk about all the time and we try to be really good about reminding our viewers there will be vote shifts.

We know that early voting tends to favor Democrats. Day of voting tends to favor Republicans. So when you see major shifts by hundreds of thousands of votes or tens of thousands of votes overnight on election night or in the days that follow,

We have to remind people that is part of the process. We expect those things are going to happen. It's just part of the process. And every state does this differently. So I think it's good to remind people up front, you're going to see some of this shifts are going to happen. Be prepared for it.

Speaking of, this is going to be more of a problem as we move on, as more and more people vote early and we're seeing record early voting. Is there anything do you think to be gleaned from who's voting early and where? Or do we just not know because it's a relatively new thing this commonly?

It does seem like, listen, we are hitting record numbers this time around, which is always interesting. I mean, you want as many people voting. I'm always disappointed more Americans don't vote. So anything that enables them to get out there and do it and use this amazing privilege we have, I'm like, let's get that done. Get out there and vote in whatever way that is legal and works for you.

But I think that it's interesting. We are seeing a bit more Republican early vote this time around. And I think that's been a very concerted effort the last couple of years to say from President Trump on down, who in the past has harangued some of these methods to say, bank that vote, get out there, don't save it for election day. What if you get sick? What if you get a flat tire? What if your poll has a problem? So I do think Republicans have definitely become more open to that idea, but still Democrats overwhelmingly much more favor the early voting options. Yeah, I guess, I mean, the

the former president and a lot more Republicans are saying we may or may not like it, but the rules are the rules. So we might as well, you know, play by them and take advantage of them too. If the other side is going to take advantage, then the other side should take advantage. You know, both of them should maximize what their opportunities are. Shannon, thanks. Shannon Bream, host of Fox News Sunday and the Living the Bream podcast. Talk soon. Good to talk with you, Chris. Thank you.

Ryan Reynolds here for, I guess, my 100th Mint commercial. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I mean, honestly, when I started this, I thought I'd only have to do like four of these. I mean, it's unlimited premium wireless for $15 a month. How are there still people paying two or three times that much? I'm sorry, I shouldn't be victim blaming here. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash save whenever you're ready. For

Forty five dollars up from payment equivalent to fifteen dollars per month. New customers on first three month plan only taxes and fees extra speeds lower above 40 gigabytes. See details. I'm Dana Perino. And this week on Perino on Politics, I'm joined by head of Ari Fleischer Communications, Ari Fleischer himself, as we approach the two week mark before Election Day. Available now on Fox News podcast dot com or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. This is David Marcus with your Fox News commentary coming up.

Two very different economic agendas are on the ballot in November. We will quickly become energy independent and we will frack, frack, frack and drill, baby, drill. At an Arizona rally last night, former President Trump repeating his plan to use ramped up energy production to lower prices, along with tax cuts he says will help spur a manufacturing renaissance.

Vice President Harris says Trump will help the rich and that her plans are focused on a middle class that she acknowledges needs help. One piece of my opportunity economy is we've got to deal with the reality of where we are right now. The American dream for previous generations was something that people could kind of count on, not so much anymore.

in terms of homeownership. As voters make up their minds, investors are weighing the pros and cons too, trying to best position themselves for a new administration. What's unique about this race is how close it is because a lot of investors that are institutional buy data. They buy poll results. They sometimes sponsor their own panels to try and figure out. Kevin O'Leary, chairman of O'Leary Ventures and star of ABC's Shark Tank. Because we have a real difference in policy between these two candidates.

The thing about investors, they don't really get that emotionally involved who wins. They care more about the policy. And I'll give you an example. If you thought Harris was going to win, that's going to be sort of a top-down government that chooses sectors, decides which sectors to fund. If you look at something like the Chips and Science Act, that is a very sectoral act.

It's a lot of money, a lot of taxpayers' dollars for one sector or the Inflation Acceleration Act or whatever. That's what I call it because, boy, that caused inflation like crazy. That is government handing out money. In the case of that act, none of it went to small business. It's just the S&P 500.

And then to pay for that, they raise taxes by 30, 40% up to 28. So the government is taking money from everybody else and they're deciding where to deploy it, which is kind of a European model. You're talking about the corporate tax rate. Corporate tax rate, which makes, that's very concerning because last time we raised corporate tax rates to 28 and ad stayed on top of that, we had many headquarters moving to Ireland and that will start again pretty quickly.

That's the unintended consequence of a policy like that. So I'm not a big fan of that idea, but I have to deal with it if it happens. In the case of a Trump mandate, taxes probably stay where they are. He extends his tax cuts. He lets it be jump ball. He doesn't support one sector or another. So in the case, if you thought he was going to win, you would be going long energy. It's the lowest P of all the sectors here.

in the economy. So I'd be investing in energy stocks, exploration stocks, fracking stocks, oil pipelines, that kind of thing. Anwar would be probably back on the table again with him. But you don't know that because the data coming, there's 43 counties in seven states and the panels are sometimes less than a thousand people. So the margin for error is 4.7% and the spread is 4% or, you know, less. And so you just don't know.

I have no idea who's going to win, but I don't show for politicians. I show for policy because I know with certainty, when I wake up in the morning, who's ever president, I have to work with them. And so my counterparts in institutional capital, we've never seen a race this tight.

the former president is, as you kind of alluded to, backing more energy production as a way, he argues, you know, if you lower energy costs, then you're helping to lower prices on many things. He's also talking about more tariffs, though, which critics argue could raise prices on things. So, it

Well, let's discuss the tariffs for a minute because I have been extremely vocal in the last couple of weeks about tariff policy. And there's been a lot of confusion about what Trump is doing. Not that I'm an advocate for Trump, but I am an advocate for using – let's just take China. Let's get focused for a second here.

I don't like tariffs with trading partners. I would prefer to have a non-tariff level playing field with every country we do business in. But when India throws on a 10% tariff on something, we have to reciprocate. And so within our own trading partners that are not adversaries and European partners and allies in NATO or whatever, we do have tariffs back and forth. But China's different now.

China came into the WTO in 1999. World Trade Organization. Yes, World Trade Organization. And the promise was basically imputed in that entry, because they had been held back for decades, was you're going to play fair. You're going to have reciprocal rights on property, on IP rights, on litigation, ownership, all of these issues.

That is not what happened at all. They became worse. In fact, they steal our U.S. intellectual property, right? Yeah, I love it when people get, yeah, you're right, but it's worse than that. I mean, I actually do business there. I invest there in molds, manufacturing, distribution. They cheat, they steal, they lie, and they laugh about it. They think it's so much fun.

Because we look like idiots to the leadership there, not the Chinese people. You know, I deal with people in China that run factories and all the rest of that. There's nothing wrong with those people. The government policy there by the supreme leader is all about how much can I steal IP?

They do this all the time. All the time. Countless examples of this. The one that everybody in America understands that they should focus on, because it's coming up to a theater near you quite soon, is TikTok. So Congress, who represents the people, made a bipartisan decision to ban TikTok, which everybody knows is Chinese spyware. It's going to be shut off midnight, January 19th. Unless it's

The parent company divests. To an American or approved syndicate of buyers. I'm one of those syndicates. I'm trying to buy TikToks. I'm very familiar with this situation. Trump routinely calls Harris a socialist. She called herself a pragmatic capitalist this week. How do you see her?

You know, I'm in a really precarious position because I don't chill for politicians. If she becomes president, I want her to be successful. And I'm going to have to work with her because I do a lot of government private projects, some data center building right now, for example. You have to work with both local and federal government on this stuff. And so my problem with her right now is I don't know what her policies are. I really don't know.

All of the celebrity interviews and the Kumbaya stuff with Oprah, that's all worthless to me. I mean, there's no information in that. You know, the politics of joy and all that. That's just, I need answers, for example, because I'm in real estate. Specifically, how are you going to build 3 million new homes when zoning is at the state level?

Or are you going to allow us as developers to actually build on federal land and license it or let us buy it specifically? Those are important details. Well, I need to interview her because no one seems to be willing to ask her that question. Secondly, price gouging on grocery. A business that I invest in, 3.5% gross margins, the thinnest margins of any sector in our economy.

Specifically, how would you put price controls into that sector? Because can you imagine the Ministry of Price Gouging being an additional regulatory force on a small corner grocer? That's basically un-American. And we've tried it. They tried it in Soviet Union. They tried it in Venezuela. They tried it in Cuba. I need to know that. I need to specifically ask her, is that for real? Why would you do that? Do you understand the impact that would have?

Well, and in the meantime, there's still a big disconnect between, you know, the various reports that show the economy kind of, you know, chugging along and proving in certain ways, like with cooling and inflation. That's not what people are feeling in poll after poll still. No, because what they're feeling is inflation in three specific areas, energy costs, housing, mortgage or rent.

and protein food. And those have not, they're still trading at 18 to 22% above where they were pre-pandemic. And there is no question we printed too much money. The Inflation Acceleration Act was brutal because if you look at American job creation, 62% of jobs are created in companies between five and 500 employees. And none of that went to them.

It all went to the S&P 500, which many jobs are offshore. So that makes no sense whatsoever. And part of what I do now on the Hill, because I'm very fortunate to be known as a bipartisan guy, I'm an advocate for entrepreneurship. Even Elizabeth Warren wants jobs in Massachusetts. But, you know, I was able to go and talk to the legislature in Mass where my family grew up, where my kids were born and raised.

And I left there when they put on all the punitive taxes and I moved to Florida. When most of my neighbors from my neighborhood and my school's friends, they're all in Florida too. So that state is no longer competitive. And I went and saw the legislature and said, you know who I am? I'm a neighbor of you people and we've got to fix this.

One quick thing about the retail and grocery chains that are slashing prices lately, Target, Walmart, Aldi, is that an ominous sign ahead of the holiday season? It depends what category you look at. You know, they have multiple categories. They're very, very good at managing these categories, but they have to forecast demand in a 90-day cycle.

And so they're also in flux trying to figure out what's next after the election. There's a lot of volatility pre-election in any four or eight year cycle. And so if you really thought we were going to hit a recession, which we haven't had yet, you would be pulling back on expensive consumer electronics, not necessarily food, because that's something that's an essential.

But sometimes they get it right, sometimes they get it wrong. Sometimes it's specific to one large retailer. My concern that I voice, you know, about leadership, any leadership, including Harris versus Trump, there's only one job a president has. And hear me on this. People think, well, what's the number one export of America? Is it energy? Is it technology? Is it consumer good or service? No, none of those.

For 200 years, the number one export of America is the American dream. That's the reason most capital comes to this country. That's the reason people drown in rivers under barbed wire trying to get in here. That's why I'm here. I'm half Irish, half Lebanese. This is the most successful economy on earth and has been for 200 years. And so I want success in the White House because I know it's a fleeting position.

But what never dies is the American dream. And I'm part of that. I'm an ambassador for the American dream. That's what I do. Kevin O'Leary, always a pleasure. Thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it. Thanks. And now, some good news with Tanya J. Powers.

Steve McKinney has a long history of helping people. For decades, he's worked as a flight paramedic in Orlando, Florida, coming to the rescue over and over again in his patient's hour of need. I'm getting ready to start my 25th year with air care, but I started EMS back in 1980 as a firefighter EMT. He's helped countless people during that time, and recently one of them came back for a surprise reunion.

In 2016, Claremont Police Sergeant Chris Cruz was at a Super Bowl party bonfire with friends when he moved a gas can and it burst into flames, engulfing him from head to toe. McKinney arrived in his Orlando health care helicopter and airlifted Cruz to Orlando Regional Medical Center for emergency treatment.

He told me Cruz was in bad shape, but they were able to speak before Cruz had to have a breathing tube. We talked for just a few seconds. I asked him if he had any family. He told me that he had his mom and dad. He wasn't married at the time. And the last thing he said was,

A few months after the incident, McKinney made a shocking discovery thanks to a Facebook post by Cruz's dad. He posted a photo of Cruz as a little boy, about five years old, at a community event where law enforcement had brought their equipment and McKinney had taken his chopper. And his dad had a picture of him sitting up in the helicopter as a little boy. And it was the exact same helicopter, the BK-117, that he was in.

that he was sitting in that actually came out and picked him up the night of the accident. Cruz and McKinney recently reunited. How are you doing? After the hugs, they went for a ride in the helicopter that saved his life. For the last 45 years, I would not change anything of what I've been able to do and see and experience. Tonya J. Powers, Fox News.

Oh, it's such a clutch off-season pickup, Dave. I was worried we'd bring back the same team. I meant those blackout motorized shades. Blinds.com made it crazy affordable to replace our old blinds. Hard to install? No, it's easy. I installed these and then got some from my mom. She talked to a design consultant for free and scheduled a professional measure and install. Hall of Fame son. They're the number one online retailer of custom window coverings in the world. Blinds.com is the GOAT. Shop Blinds.com right now and get up to 45% off select styles.

Rules and restrictions may apply. Pull up a chair and join me, Rachel Campos Duffy. And me, former U.S. Congressman Sean Duffy, as we share our perspective on the discussions happening at kitchen tables across America. Download From the Kitchen Table, The Duffys, at foxnewspodcasts.com or wherever you download podcasts. Subscribe to this podcast at foxnewspodcasts.com. It's time for your Fox News commentary. David Marcus.

What's on your mind? Harry is a hell of a nice guy from North Carolina who I met in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He's in his 30s and is a consultant. He's walked the Appalachian Trail, and he thinks Vice President Kamala Harris is losing. I wish she'd just be clearer about who she is, he told me, and he likes her. He even likes her better than he liked President Biden. But he's not an idiot, and he sees the wheels are falling off her campaign.

I appreciated Perry talking to me because honestly, it's been harder and harder to get Democrats to talk of late. Like sad New York Mets fans, they're licking their wounds and not in a particularly chatty mood. Two months ago, this was not the case. High off of the dispatching of Biden and the anointing of Harris as the nominee, Democrats were on a sugar high and eager to chat. But Perry was willing to tell me with his charming southern twang that the Democrats are just closer to my values.

He has friends voting for President Trump and thankfully has not had many relationships broken up over it. I pressed Perry a bit because he really was such a nice guy and I said, "Why? What is it about Harris that inspires you?" What followed was a familiar faraway look in the eyes like an eager hand grasping for something that doesn't exist.

"She gives me hope," he said. And honestly, it was the best pitch for Harris that I've heard in three months on the road. Later in the evening, I met Ryan, ex-military in his early 40s and all in for Trump. Ryan didn't hit a lot of the talking points or make a stump speech. He just thinks Trump is solid and has no idea who Harris is.

It turns out he went to West Point with my much more impressive cousin, Joey. Texts ensued, and I realized just how small Pennsylvania really is for all its vast forests and mountains of autumnal awe and grace. We all kind of know each other. And what I know is that no matter what polls tell you, Trump is winning in Pennsylvania. I'm not saying it's over, but this is more than momentum. It's starting to feel like destiny.

Nicole, who's a housekeeper at my hotel and a Harris supporter, told me over a morning cigarette that she likes the vice president. I said, if I gave you a hundred bucks right now and you had to put it on one or the other, what do you do? Trump, she says, gesturing to a sign across the ancient Carlisle Road. There just wasn't much doubt in her voice.

It brought to mind a guy I spoke to the previous evening. His family's owned Pennsylvania coal mines for a century. And I said, so you guys go in those little tunnels. I don't think I could. He said, it's not so bad. I'll take you sometime. I might take him up on that once the unpleasantness is all over. We sell our coal to China. He told me we'd like to sell it in the U.S., but we can't. You think that changes if Trump gets elected? I asked him. I hope so, he said. And there was that word again, hope.

Harris needs Perry and the housekeeper, and she has them. Well, that's not quite right. The Democratic Party has them, not Harris. And that is the problem. Love him, hate him, or ignore him. Trump is who he is, and the voters know what they would be getting. Harris remains an enigma, a vague promise full of high and haughty words, almost a ghost's.

Ghosts don't win elections, and that is exactly why Kamala Harris is losing in Pennsylvania and poised to fall to Trump. Harris or the party or Nancy Pelosi, former President Barack Obama or whoever is in charge needs to decide who she really is right now, today. Perry wants something and someone to vote for. I heard it in his voice, and he deserves that. Whether or not he gets it, well, that remains to be seen.

I'm David Marcus, author of Charade, The COVID Lies That Crushed a Nation. You've been listening to the Fox News Rundown. And now, stay up to date by subscribing to this podcast at foxnewspodcasts.com. Listen ad-free on Fox News Podcasts Plus on Apple Podcasts. And Prime members can listen to the show ad-free on Amazon Music. And for up-to-the-minute news, go to foxnews.com.

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