A week of swinging taught me a lot about parenting and gave me faith in Kamala Harris | Henry Porter

DAttending a Trump rally in rural America raises concerns about the future of humanity. After six hours in the sun watching over 60,000 Trump supporters blurt out his lies, I'm here to tell you that modern politics still has some lows.

But we don't have that, and there is a positive nature to report from the United States, one of the encouraging interventions from Barack Obama last week is the fact that Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, is running a very good campaign. With just three months to choose his running mate, coordinate strategy and core messaging, and confront a badly divided nation, he is acting with grace and determination while the campaign unites in building a coalition with disaffected Republicans and conscientious conservatives. Congress or the Trump administration.

For the first time since July, when Harris became the Democratic nominee, Mr The New York Times/Siena College Poll leads Trump by three points, 49-46. On average maintained by the mountain The website is in 3.4 presence. Of course, both are within the margin of error and the race is very tight in seven swing states, but the trends are in his favor. He has made progress on the key issues of the economy and immigration and is emerging as a candidate for change.

A recurring Maga line of attack in recent months has been that he was too afraid, ignorant or dumb to be interviewed. She answered it by sitting down with Alex Cooper Call Her father podcast, giving a fascinating interview on Howard Stern's radio show, having a beer with Stephen Colbert on his late-night show, and announcing Whoopi Goldberg. vision If she wins, Medicare will pay for home care. Finally, she confronts an unrepentant Bill Whittaker 60 minutes The interview, the October test for presidential candidates over the past 50 years. She carries herself well and is never relaxed. As I wrote in this paper I once spent a few hours with her at a social event and liked her very much, but after watching those five shows I feel obliged to note that she is unusually slippery when it comes to answering questions.

Yet he is playing by all the rules of the democratic game, and unlike Donald Trump, he refuses to engage in the process, tours his own rallies, blusters, lies, and is somehow angrier and angrier than ever. Naturally, he was pulled out 60 minutes At the start of the interview he said he didn't want to fact-check, and then had to apologize to his previous interviewer, Leslie Stahl, for something he didn't do. There was an uproar over an edit of the Harris show, which Maga said showed the vice president in a favorable light — which it didn't — but before that the news moved on with two newspaper articles.

The The New York Times A story ran after Trump's mental breakdown, and to prove his point, Trump took himself to the swing state of Michigan last Thursday. Trashing Detroit Yes, in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club. The The Washington Post Excerpts from Bob Woodward's new book have been released War revealed that Trump had sent Putin Covid tests and had spoken to him from the Mar-a-Lago country club where he allegedly had stolen classified documents in a bathroom. The most delightful expression is a quote from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. “Going to Mar-a-Lago is like being in North Korea. Everyone stands up and applauds every time Trump comes in. One more positive note. Harris has received $1bn in campaign donations and has outspent Trump on social media, which is smart because 16 million young people have joined the electorate since 2020. Recent figures show Trump spent $6 million with Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, and $31.5 million with Google, the owner of YouTube, compared to Trump's $9.3 million.

I spent a week in the heart of the race, Pennsylvania, because it has 19 Electoral College votes – the most of any swing state. If a candidate wins by a few individual votes, he or she receives all 19 of the state's Electoral College votes and wins the White House.

The contest is effectively even and both candidates are making a big effort in the state. Trump appeared there twice last week, at a large rally in Butler, a town 35 miles west of Pittsburgh where he was gunned down by an assassin three months ago. It was a triumphant return with much fanfare and many turns and speakers, including JT Vance and a goofy-looking Elon Musk in a “dark” Maga hat. Halfway between a revival meeting and a country festival, the event told me a lot about Maga worship, but nothing about politics or Trump's plans (Plan 2025 was not mentioned). However, I have established the truth of the rumors that hundreds of people walk out of his rally as soon as he starts speaking.

Last Wednesday, Liz Cheney, the wonderfully principled conservative politician, made a brief appearance with Harris 60 minutes After endorsing him, the Trump White House in Glenside, Pennsylvania held a session with three female former staffers who offered insights into Trump's character and the chaos he brought to every issue and situation. It was a major campaign extravaganza but the coherent and respectful impact Republicans spoke out against Trump could bring critical votes to Harris. Every vote counts. “Don't be surprised,” Obama routinely says, “Vote!”

Obama made his first appearance for Harris in Pittsburgh last Thursday, reclaiming territory in western Pennsylvania from a Trump rally five days earlier. His pleas to the American people during the 2008 presidential campaign and one of the best acceptance speeches I've ever seen in Chicago. He mercilessly poked fun at Trump, mocking his lies, obsession with money, power and status and his “ideas of the agenda”. He imagined Trump doing something as mundane as changing a tire or a diaper. “His,” shouted one of the spectators. Obama laughed and said he thought of the joke but resisted the temptation. This drives Trump and Maga to distraction because, like everyone with fascist leanings, they can't stand people making fun of them. Humor will be an important weapon over the next 23 days, as Democrats must get under his skin and prod him to show his true toxic, bullying nature.

Obama's speech is important for its moral outrage, and it may be the start of a national rejection of Trump's lies, a kind of moment of indignity that recalls a time in 1954 when a lawyer named Joseph Welch stood up to Joe McCarthy and ended his communist witch hunt. Trump and Maga may have outdone themselves with their lies about emergency funding as Hurricane Helen tore through the Southwest causing destruction and hundreds of deaths; In one case a family of 11 perished in a mudslide.

According to Obama: “Donald Trump started making up stories about the Biden administration withholding aid from Republican areas and giving aid to immigrants. I want to ask the Republicans, when did it get better? Why should we go with it? “

Obama is the only person in America with the moral authority to deliver this speech. He and his wife Michelle are still the most popular and trusted public figures in the country. Republicans will listen to him because, nine years on, the ideas of dignity and service still have a powerful appeal here.

What do I think will happen? I agree with what the Democratic activist I met in Philadelphia said: “We're winning, but we're not winning yet.” Democrats need a genuine and tireless candidate who will do the best job he can in the White House to play for Harris.

But even if he wins on November 5, I warn that Trump will not accept defeat. There is evidence that Republicans are building a case to challenge the result, turning the late vote in their favor to make any Democratic victory appear stolen. There will be months of wrangling, agonizing waiting, and, I fear, unbearable anxiety for all of us. But, as Obama says, “We must remain hopeful.”