272: Trump Gets Trumped | Politics War Room with James Carville & Al Hunt

hello and welcome to politics war room with James Carville and I'm Al Hunt remember we love taking your questions so write into politics warro gmail.com or send a tweet to ticon for next week's show now I'm going to get to as many as we can but don't forget to tell us where you're from now before we get started get out your calendars we want to tell you again about some exciting news James and I are taking politics war room on tour so come see us live at the 92nd Street Y in New York City on September 19th that's a week from Thursday September 19th at the 92nd Street Y and then in Atlanta on October 12th at the Variety Playhouse and finally at Boston's Schubert theater on November 2 3 days before the election get tickets at pon.com we can't wait to see you there we're going to have some really interesting guests get text updates about what's next politicon and politics for room by signing up at pon.com and tell your friends about us please remind them to subscribe on Apple podcast Spotify or wherever you get your podcast and please check out the links to our sponsors beam Miracle made and express VPN we thank you for supporting these sponsors cuz when you do it helps make this podcast happened hey James Tuesday night's debate Harris V Trump may be a seminal moment in this campaign and that being the case we looked far and wide no holes barred to get the best political expert analyst that we could as a guest to talk about this and we struck gold we found him James Carville so therefore it's going to be you I'm going to briefly make a few points and turn it over turn over the analysis to the incomparable Mr carille uh I thought Harris very effectively did what she had to do on Tuesday night focused enough on the future and brushed aside his tirades she was especially effective on abortion an issue that makes him just visibly squirm trunk became increasingly unhinged you know we talked last week I was a little worried he might bait her instead she baited him and he went Bonkers so talking about migrants eating cats and dogs and calling her a Marxist uh I don't know if it's going to move the needle the needle much but it was a good night for kamla Harris don't you agree I I I agree and uh but equally important it was a bad night for him right and you know I you can conflate the two I don't know what of of the two is more important but you know one thing I I felt pretty good about and you felt the same way so I could disclose this to our viewers or listeners we both thought she'd do well it were pretty upfront about it uh if Fox ran a big story about me saying that I thought Trump was walking into a trap and he he he walked right into a trap he really did well you had said you thought he might cancel uh and uh and perhaps he should have he should have yeah it would have been a good idea you know Al there were a couple of things I don't want to clearly by the public stuff we see the Dow groups of inst theole which affects coverage a lot which 60 6337 for her a direct reversal of what it was on June 27th right in 37 of just di hard party regulars but the question is will it drive voting behavior so when when you know do po it we' say such and such said this do you agree or disagree with that that's not the right question the question is having heard this does this make you more or less likely to vote for someone so we know know that people voted that she wased the debate it it's very preliminary it's not overly scientific but I suspect that will hold up I have heard that they have there were a couple of questions that were asked by some people that that voting behavior and that it did change in her Direction some this is way preliminary but what I would say is what we want to look at was today is uh when probably over the weekend po or early next week see if this has had if if this is driven anything in the vote I I'm I'm pretty confident that she w a debate he lost it and it it matters some it matters a little bit is to did she win more than he lose more and uh uh I I I I thought it was eventful I mean I felt very good about it obviously uh and I I was asking a lot of Democrats you included you know what did you see wrong with it because Democrats are always going find something that that they can criticize but boy there was very little that you could criticize in this thing that I from the standpoint of being a Democrat I think yeah one leading indicator James was that immediately afterwards Brian Fallon her Communications person said let let's have another debate uh I'm not sure that they really want to have another debate but Trump wants to have three on Fox I think that's a nonstarter um but oh no he get out he won the debate you didn't you don't understand that thank God you're here to tell me that because I didn't have any idea well he he was very bullish on his performance I I I believe that he talked about 91% or something and and she's already said she'll do another debate and he said he doesn't think he right right of course it doesn't matter what he says but my my favorite little thing about it is CNN that guy Daniel de he was Toronto and they hired him as a fact Checker he lied 33 times and Harris lied once okay 33 to1 baseball game we didn't do too good yeah Nick Nick Sabin would love that record uh James you know here's a point that uh we picked up on in recent weeks the Nikki Haley's the world said he needs to talk about policy uh you know not just a familiar well we saw last night why he can't talk much about policy other than railing about undocumented workers he's going to deport 10 million of them be a social and economic disaster and his false claims about Paris he he uh about tariffs he didn't have anything to say doesn't have a health care policy has after nine years has no idea what it is when they move to his tax policy he immediately shifted to immigration uh he says on on on Obamacare he said it sucks but I don't know what I would do if I got rid of it uh and on foreign policy his hero his hero is Victor Orban the most autocratic government leader in Europe so uh I'm sorry um Governor Haley and Lindsey Graham or squiggly tea biscuit as Chris Buckley calls him he can't talk about policy because he doesn't have any so Paul mcalla text me he says if immigrants are eating lap dog shouldn't shouldn't Lindsay Graham be really [Laughter] worried that was a high point there's you know there's no there's no question you know to some extent his performance reminded me of his 2017 inaugural remember uh when he talked about American Carnage and afterwards President George W bush bush said that was some crazy [ __ ] weird no I said that was some weird [ __ ] weird [ __ ] right but so they were talking you I love the issues C see he just talks about the issues look we we don't like the tweets but we like the issues okay and so the big issue was the southern border she more thaned herself last I thought she was pretty good on that and so they go to him and he's she's made him he's talking about crowd size so he's got the number one issue that he should have that the the issue chus is saying talk just talk about the issues okay you had a chance to talk about the issues and you talk about crowd size uh it it was the more I think about it you know I went to bed last night at United Texas back and forth and I was feeling pretty good and then when I thought about it I looked at the clips and looked at some of the coverage andly looked at some of the conservative coverage I mean they will kind of mean to him yeah yeah uh how dare you disappoint us Wall Street Journal editorial page expect something else yeah all right really what did you think was going to happen James I'd make a go ahead no I I thought she was particularly well prepared I I always thought that she would be I I I think when we come out this there's a couple MVPs they all did a good job don't get me wrong but two people of you may heard unless of I know Philipe Reigns was great that's what I heard he was Trump he played Trump he played Trump and and he dressed in like Trump clothes I he might have put a wig on right it but but he really really took his role very seriously and I'm pretty sure that Michael Shen was in there and you could see Michael at work and I mean the one of the killer lines was when she said I'm not Joe Biden right and and and they you know they rehears that seven times but I'm not I'm not you either you know thinking of Michael Sheen I I I agree with you totally on him well I have to verify Michael kill kill us for saying Mission his name but if and I suspect he was in that prep and I suspected he made a a huge difference but uh you know theyve spent four days that's great who cares spent a week doing PR practice every line James the other point about if I think Michael Sheen was there and if he was his signature was over her cutaways where what she was doing while he was going and she was looking serious she she didn't um she didn't Grimace or anything at one point she put her hand on her chin in amusement and looked at him and I was with George Stevens The Great Movie producer who said his father the great director said that cutaways if you cut away to Jimmy Stewart you know you have a great scene because he's just that good her cutaways last night while he was speaking were really good Michael teaches that minute after minute you never off C right right okay never SC never you know F your brow or whatever you know what do you do when you're under attack you take a pencil you act like you're writing you look down you look up you might smile you might not there's a whole protocol I I I'd love to do a I don't know 15minute special or behind the scenes at debate prep oh wow yeah yeah what H how do you do it maybe at a point we can get somebody who was instrumental in this debate prep on the show to just talk about it probably better than well Michael doesn't like to go public very often but he is terrific and I talk to him as you do periodically so let me uh let me check with him let me make a one final point you may have more observations that's one the moderators my initial Instinct was to be critical for one reason I'm I'm less so now the right-wing is all over them I mean the apologist from bootlickers like Lindsey Graham to the Fallen from Grace supposed journalist Megan Kelly are saying it was three on one it was that's total complete [ __ ] they did fact check Trump a few times two or three as you say the guy Daniel Dale found 33 lies so you know they fact checked five or 10% uh they were things like when he said that spring in in Springfield Ohio the migrants were eating cats and dogs and the people in Springfield Ohio the leader said this is not true there's no incident of that at all and when he said the on the other occasion the democrats favor abortion up to nine months and even after birth just simply not true it's illegal so I think those were were actually appropriate fact checks on the other side I thought that he did let Trump David M let Trump run over him a few times he went on when he wasn't supposed to he spoke for five more minutes than Harris did in fact Maybe that was a break for Harris the worse Trump spoke the worse it got and so I you know I I would give them at least a B minus and the factchecking they did The Selective factchecking was what CNN should have done last J June and didn't so I I I guess this is something that we could discuss it at a little more length at a different time how how involved should moderators be should they just be Empires but well you know if he's going to do the fact checking he said well we should note that Donald Trump went 5 minutes over agre to Liv I mean could should you do that kind of stuff you should just let people draw their own conclusions I I didn't you know a moderator should I guess should kind of be unremarkable if you go to the baseball game and you didn't notice the umpires then that's the highest compliment you can pay to the Umpire yeah James I think I use the term selectively and that's what I think I mean I don't think that you know when Trump said I created the greatest economy in the history of the world you don't fact check that I mean that's an opinion uh but when he does say that basically Democrats are for killing babies after they're born I mean that's just so blatantly untrue that I think it's it's justifiable but very do at that point is say vice president Harris you're lifelong Democrat is that true what he just said that may be yeah yeah I I don't know I but but I think it's you I don't I'm not saying that you're wrong or you're right all right but you know maybe somebody should do a a handbook for debate moderators and you know I could get people to agree on everything yeah yeah understand but but I think for the most part it was a fa a fair game was played last night you might argue with one call here and there was a you know it was an interference call it was something like that but for the most part to the extent that you could I think you got a pretty good idea of who both were and how well they were pred and but what they did and that that's success it was the best actually in many ways it was the best presidential debate in a long time now the competition hasn't been that tough but uh it really was and uh you did the important point is you got a much you got a better feel for kamla Harris and if you were if you thought there was a new Trump last night would have dissuaded you um oh it's never GNA be now the question is going to be we we'll have the answer short far about Friday the latest who who is fol with us who's he going to blame and I can tell you right now Chris lovita Corey leowski Susie Wild Bon if if he's out of jail he's in jail huh he's in jail still I think he's getting close to getting out but whatever Roger I mean there is a big there fur flying in barago or bedm orever they are because we know one person that's not at fult and that's strong MH and and some faction is going to get you know the the leaks are coming uh you know Fox and Newsmax the whole thing is going to be coming and I I love the delicious aftermath of the finger pointing and you know you're going to have it you you want a behind the scenes video of debate prep I want to behind the scenes video of maril Lago or Bedminster the next couple days both of them are GNA be fascinating but I I think that we're in fascinating times and again is he going to decide that he wants to do another debate what do you think and what should she do well she said she'd do one yeah but but which one and where and you know who but if I'm her why wouldn't I would you do a would you do a fox debate but what she has now is a gift she has confidence and uh I I if I were her if I were her people I'd say uh you know go meet him 52% of the way I mean you don't you don't need it like you need it the the subtle thing about this thing Alice race is given the sort of polls that came out three or four days ago right it kind of shifted a little bit to like he was in charge all right today she's more in charge and that's that's you know can't I can't argue how how big the the bump if there's going to be a bump or the change is but there has been a subtle shiting dynamic in this race I'm pretty confident about that would if if the choice is a fox debate would you do it if you were her I would MH it and because Fox would be limited I mean first of all she would have and Brent Bayer is not the same thing as Laur ankor right I mean there this this whole thing where Fox becomes a a a whole word that means everything to everybody it e even in Fox there are distinctions and if she agreed to Fox she would have a lot more input on the moderator the format anything else and if she agreed to CNN or Ms MSNBC something like that right I mean you you got to assess what advantages would I have and I think she has confidence now I I think she feels like I got this guy's number I can do this and uh I would I I I mean I would certainly say I would do it I because it's the easiest thing in the world is to get out of a debate and say well it was just unreasonable and a demand we couldn't go along with it but I got a feeling that fox would give her most anything she asked for to get this debate this is a ratings Bonanza this is a money ABC's they were scared to death this debate wouldn't go on it was a real coup for that and she's got a the dynamic in this race is shifted I don't know how much the PO are shifted but I think the dynamic is clearly shifted well saying that we look forward to it and you know the one thing we did say she was going to do well and you know what James this is one of those times we were right she did do well not always yeah I don't want to go I don't want to say that we're always right but in this one I I can feel it coming I think the the question you asked about the next one is is important and it it but I do think there has been a a appreciable shift in the power Dynamic here yeah yeah I agree you know it's not a reach to say the fate of the country could come down to the Battleground state of Georgia so James and I are going there to do our part we're marching to Georgia we're taking politics war room to Atlanta for a live show on October 12th at the Variety Playhouse it's going to be a great time well I I I I can promise them that they're going to have a good time and I can promise him that we're going to have a very Lively conversation about what's going on the centrality of charges everything by the way I point was a place in my heart it's the state of my birth it was the state of one of my most satisfying political victories I guess guess to if you count the re-election of of of Governor zel Miller uh it's a state where uh the first president of LSU had a sort of impact on the state of Georgia if you will uh you talked about marching through Georgia he was the guy that marched through Georgia and you can go at least you could in 90s IP you still can go to Underground Atlanta and still see scares of where Atlanta will burn I don't think Sherman intentionally meant to burn Atlanta they meant to burn certain ammunition stocks and stuff but I don't think they gave them they were not overly concerned that the fire got out of control we both have a lot of family connections to Georgia and a lot of friends there yeah I look forward to it it's a great and by the way it could it's easy to get to it has a lot of flights Atlanta right it's going to be an incredible show and you'll never forget that you helped us bring the Vibes to Atlanta that put kamla Harris in the oval office all you have to do is go to pon.com that's pon.com tour and get your tickets for October 12th at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta Georgia now don't wait they're going fast and we want to see as many of you there as we can so head to politicon docomo now to get your tickets the road to the White House is starting we'll see you there okay James finally finally uh uh what should Harris do uh looking ahead well I'm a big believer that in the way that like for Civil War in general look at the terrain and it was very important High Ground way the terrain goes I think our campaign strategist need to look at the calendar now I want to say something that has not been mentioned you've seen very little about what is the day today that we're doing this we're doing it on the 11th of September remember that day yep okay it it it it it's receded it it I'm not saying it's a good thing a bad thing but it's amazing that we were so defined by the 11th of September and now we badly remember it it it's just it's not a a knock on us it's just a knock on the way that human history the human my works I think going forward there's two dates that the Harris campaign needs to be aware of and and it it I think offers them opportunity to be heard one is 18 September right so well what is 18 September okay that's the date that the FED meets so to people that we know like us this is already priced in in in the market okay you you would not go on CNBC or what one of these busy shows it it mentioned that because everybody quote knows unquote they got a cut rates actually they if some suspense as to whether they cut rates a quar of a point of I don't know 25 basis points I have't been talking they go or half and they'll issue a statement about future guidance but when people see this there's actually some decent economic news out there and people see this and that this is the first time that they're going to hear that interest rates may be coming down and the point I want to make is is the question is not is do do you is this a good economy or bad economy choose one I think it's pretty clear that even right now we would have more people saying it's a bad economy and not very good economy but there's going to be a point and I'm hope that we reached it where people feel like they have something to lose right and and I thought she did a good job talking about Trump's terce last night 18 no lawence in one sense who gives a [ __ ] with 18 no law think in another sense people do because they feel like hey in Wall Street Journal this morning headline in a journal first time since p mmic incomes are up 4% and they're just for inflation all right so if if if if this thing shifts to the point where you're not going to get people to say the economy is good but you're going to get people say that that say we have something at risk here that's a pretty big event and you're going to have people say that before they're going to admit that it's good the second big date is the 7th of October which is going to be the oneyear anniversary of the hamash intrusions whatever you want to call it and that gives her it's going to be a lot of attention paid to that you know she can give a a big kind of speech on her kind of views in the Middle East and it could be qu ey generic but she's going to get she's going to get credit she's going to get coverage uh you know there's a lot of we know there's a thousand foreign policy types that can you know give her advice and how she say I remember we did the foreign policy stuff at uh at Georgetown maybe she needs to schedule event who cares it's not the most crazy thing go to the Detroit economic club and open it for questions they're not going to your good chance to be elected president of the United States they got to be respectful but you got two events that you can play off of and that that's why I say that good campaigns look at the calendar the way that good generals look at to terrain and she has an opportunity in both but I do think it's significant and it doesn't mean M mean much say much about us but the the basically September 11th has receded and I'm sure the terrorists will come back and people said we should have remembered understand that but it's just the calendar is really an important thing in political campaign okay September 18th and October 7th remember that out [Music] there Drift Off to Dreamland would be look this stuff we talk about it a lot this stuff is a it tastes good it's soothing and it it helps you get a better night's sleep it's just for fact and we talk about this a lot and we bleed this and I'm until we write is for otherwise relatively healthy person a good night's sleep is the biggest DET ternative of how you feel the next day I I know that's true of me I know you've said it before it's true of you I know from anotal massive antidotal evidence is true for a lot of people and b a difference between 7 hours and 15 minutes sleep and 4 hours and 15 minutes sleep is quadruple you know sleep is the foundation of your mental and physical health now when you sleep well you perform it your best mentally and physically proper sleep can also increase focus it boosts energy and improves your mood introducing beams dream powder a science back healthy hot Coco for Sleep dream has 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the numbers don't lie in a clinical study 93% of participants reported dream helped them get better sleep now how great are those odds James 93 is a that that's a high number and you know to be tested and and and verified like that that that you can have a lot of confidence 93% is a huge number yeah it sure is because beam dream is easy to add to your nighttime routine you just mix dream into hot water milk froth and enjoy before bed you'll find out why Forbes and the New York Times are all talking about beam and why it's trusted by the world's top athletes and business professional so if you want to try beam's bestselling dream powder and get up to 40% off for a limited time when you go to shop beam.com room and use the code war room at checkout that's shop be.com war room and use code war room for up to 40% off also can find the link in our show [Music] notes now for the outrage of the week House Republicans have thrown in the tow on their witch hunts against President Biden and his troubl son Hunter but in the closing weeks these pitiful imitators of Sherlock Holmes are trying to dig up dirt on kamla Harris and Tim Walls they want to haul walls in about a federal food program in Minnesota oh boy they go after Big Stuff the always predictable and usually wrong least stefanic is demanding an inquire into a Harris Stafford's connection to any Iranian intelligence you know that's really rich stonic had declared that President Biden was involved in I quote the biggest political corruption scandal in my lifetime but I would say even the last 100 years end quote I guess poor Elise never took a history course at Harvard of course as they tried to impeach Biden they came up no evidence whatsoever none but there were two supposedly critical sources that stefanic Comer and Jim Jordan James you remember Jim Jordan the one accused by at least six Ohio State wrestlers of covering up sexual abuse uh when he worked there anyway they had two bombshell Witnesses both were indicted one was tied to Russian intelligence the other to Chinese intelligence you can't make this stuff up these House Republicans are the most incompetent clowns I have ever seen in more than 50 years of covering and observing Congressional investigations you know I I guess my outrageous kind of Dove Tales at yours people say well we need a healthy two-party system and you know it's we should have a a kind a center left party and a center right party and probably some truth to that but but I think what we have more than a ideological disaster of the Republican party which you know Dick Cheney is said I'm voting for a Democrat stop really that but what you really have is a massively incompetent political party you saw that demonstrated time and time and time again and he's Congressional here I mean James comr or Jim GM Jordan or Matt gates are these people they're not just political ideological clowns that they're competence clowns and and you see this time and time again what you saw on the part of trump last night was not that he was just crazy and not grounded and whatever there was no confidence there was no preparation all right I will give my wife a shout out when she was Chinese Communications person counsel to the vice president you know when he did a debate he was confident I mean we debated John Edwards in 2004 you every we all kind of thought Edward was going to win he was an experienced trial lawyers me people say that well Harris doesn't do long form interviews Cheney was famous for sitting there 40 minutes with Tim Russ and they disagree but he was confident you didn't look at dick chainy just that maybe I don't like him I don't like his Wars I think he's Orthodox I I don't think he has a great sense of humor I think but you never look at Cheney and said he was Ill prepare and if you were a republican particularly a Conservative Republican you didn't look at him and say oh my God the sky is a cloud I can't believe that they would sit down Sunday morning and be totally unprepared and stupid and I of course I think there's was that ideology of trump it's just criminology and they have a problem they really really have a competence problem they're incompetent people and they're very tolerant of incompetence and and that's just a fact of American life that the Republican look at these Congressional people I I you will not tell me that that okay we're both not very secret about we about our general world view tend to to Trend Center left but if there were people in a Democratic party that were this massively incompetent that were buffoons of this level we would get mad about it and they don't seem to care this this seems to be the Jim Jordans and Jim kers and and Elise stefanics they just blend in with the wallpaper and I I don't want to sound like I'm being a great you know chin scratching American but I I don't expect that can have two parties I agree with but is it too much to expect just rudimentary Confidence from one party I don't think it is well they sure don't have it in the house they don't they don't seem to give a [ __ ] right no they don't seem to give a [ __ ] they seem to be fine with that and also look at the look at the Lemmings who went along with them I mean it wasn't just those three and four and five but the leming who went along with all these in I mean the fake impeachment of Alejandro mayorcas uh it just you know there ought to be some accountability for that yeah the other thing is I I I can say something not ni SP dick CH he said I'm voting for Harris period end member I don't want to call anybody out by name but let me give you two initials that I want to call out Rex Tillerson and Jim mtis if I hear one more story about how they think Trump is a buffoon or or is an idiot why don't you say something what are you scared somebody's not going play Jen Ry with you at the Dallas country club or or some retired fourstar is is not going to sit out and have dinner with you and your wife at the Officers Club I me come on people the countryes at risk you you know something say something do what Cheney did you don't have to do what Liz did and endorse Colin Howard but just it's your a statement I'm voting for Harris you don't have to say anymore why are you just sitting there watching this goddamn idiot have a chance to be elected well I do think they have to say that but they have to say more they have to say that Trump they know is a existential danger to Americans uh National interest I think you know that's part of the endorsement because that's what they know that's the reason they're endorsing know they just said that's important if they just said I'm voting for haris and then they could leak and you know they could talk to Jeffrey Gober but godamn it I don't well I think they got to go further but anyway moving whatever they done they had even done the minimum yet well that's right and they do the minimum maybe we can build but they got to get there first the week of the election is going to be electric and James and I want to share one of those moments with you we're taking politics War Room live to Boston what better venue than the Schubert theater on November the second three days before the election we're going to rally the troops hear from a special guest and celebrate kamla's upcoming win with our listeners in person the energy is going to be crazy what what about it James do you think we can get Massachusetts so fired up that camela wins the state by I don't know 40 points BR you know presumably we will win Massachusetts what a great City to go to I I love Boston we got a lot of friends there I hope people show up uh it'll be exciting I think it it'll be a lot of fun uh it'll be Lively you know the one thing about one thing about Boston in the v Bost area they got one of every kind you can imagine United States and I hope they all show up but it's just everything is manageable ass not very far from the airport and the streets are a little confusing because they were laid out for you know col but but you know you get a good sense of direction I I love B I want to go to I like to go to uh I guess it called to eastan or something where the great Italian rest all by way I've never forget and let's just mention the great James ARL Jones and how can you ever forget the Field of Dreams when Kevin kler shows up there y I kept thinking in ' 92 you know I don't know CNN uh but that he used to have that this it was in 92 was like the start cable TV was just getting started and we had it all all the time and I just know forget this is CNN got to bring that back I met James uh I met him one time with my son I took Benjamin when he was 10 years old uh his mother wasn't happy uh because we went down to Wake Forest to watch Tim Duncan's final basketball game uh and it was incredible he was there James J was there uh and uh what connection he had to Duncan I don't know but uh it was a real real thrill we want everyone listening to join us on the tour during the election's final stretch now all you have to do is go to pon.com tour and get your ticket for November 2nd at the Schubert theater in Boston Massachusetts don't wait they're going fast and we want to see as many of you there as we can so head to politicon .c to get your tickets for November 2 we can't wait to see you [Music] there beat the heat with miracal made sheets oh man would think I'm familiar with his heat you have it big time down in New Orleans and we have a big time in Washington you know what you know we are preschoolers compared to Phoenix Arizona you know 20 straight days it's been over 100 degrees at night in Phoenix it has not Fallen below the high not fall Bel 100° since May 27th well I hope everybody out there gets Miracle M cuz sleeping at the right temperature is a critical way to feel rest of the next day so if you wake up too hot or too cold we highly recommend you check out Miracle made bed sheets Miracle made sheets are inspired by NASA they use 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presidential election Chris in West Chicago Illinois says with each passing day it'll be harder to change the numbers what are the one or two things the campaign I'm sure that Chris is referring to the Harris campaign can do that might yield a noticeable gain James I don't I I I appreciate the question it's a good question I not know if you have there's one thing you can do but you can do series of things and I think a big thing happened during the debate and I think if you try if you try one single thing it it generally doesn't work but but we talked about on the show that they could use the calendar to the advantage I think that they're going to have more kind of uh I think the Cheney endorsement or the Cheney thing that he voted for I I think is going to get us some votes in some key places like the wow counties around Milwaukee I think that she's going to run three or four points ahead of democratic performance there uh I think that Maricopa and Arizona I think that like Scottdale she run a little bit ahead of of democratic performance I think when you grew up on Main Line and in in mgy and Delaware and Chester those kind of places I think she can run even Parts alany a couple three points ahead of democratic performance and that can make a difference but if she does that James she wins Wisconsin Arizona and Pennsylvania I agree and I think that and that's why I'm so adamant that that Tillerson and Mattis quit telling other people what the hell they think and tell the country what the hell they think Ross in Portland Maine says uh I think we could go a long way to helping keeping keep Social Security solvent by eliminating the income limit is my idea to simplistic or realistic no it's not Ross uh let me just say as an aside the worst idea in the world is Donald Trump's to uh remove all taxes from Social Security benefits first of all it would primarily go uh to Upper income uh people who are barely subsisting on Social Security they hardly pay any taxes anyway on that secondly according to the trust fund by 2033 it'll be insolvent which then mandates a 21% across the board cut that's not going to happen uh but the way to prevent it the best way is to raise that income limit I think it's now about 100 you pay social security taxes on about the first 150,000 if you removed it all together and you raised it you doubled it up to 300,000 that' bring in a bunch of Revenue and I think it's the best way to deal with Social Security you know I I I I I'll just register a concern here I I I think that always every time I turn around Social Security is going to be insolvent by some year and so I said when I insolvent it's just not going to take as much in as it took in or something like that I I don't believe I believe Social Security is genius is that it applies to everybody if you want to raise the income if it's 150 I think what you're alluding to after you reach a certain amount as you pay in you don't have to pay in more and by the way it's a lot it's a lot for employees I think like there used to be 7.85 individuals 6 yeah 7.65 but only I think 5.5 or something of that is social security you start raising it for employers and individuals you're going to have a huge push back I me that would be a really big tax increase of people and I I don't I'm not for look if you if if you can certainly we've done we've had income tax Supply Social Security benefits of people certain over certain income I'm totally for that I'm not I'm very reluctant about changing the basic structure of Social Security it's worked really well it's really popular we don't want to turn these billionaires against it have a big lobbying program I I I great well I'm not I'm not for changing the structure I mean theyve they've raised that limit probably a dozen times over the years happens all the time ra it to Infinity okay that's what I'm saying I'd raise it B you want to raise another $50,000 that keepu it's better it's better than cutting benefits I don't think I think you could do you know that there's a thousand things you can do and why does it have to be solid maybe you have to take somebody out to general fund but I don't know I'm just reluctant to to to mess with the basic way that it works well raising the income limit doesn't mess with the basic you can raise it but you can't I don't think you should raise it to Infinity I agree I agree I said maybe double it maybe go up a 100,000 a it's whatever it's whatever the numbers show Tony and I this is a question because it's from a great place which I've never heard of Tony in hoen Hallen Germany let me repeat that again Tony is from huchin Hallen Germany Tony it's great to have you listening to us Tony says we obviously need a large cohort of undecided voters to win can we safely assume that if a voter is undecided at this point they're just not well read if so shouldn't we keep the messages simple instead of having mainstream media's wonkish fundance I don't think he means us James debate the nuances of comm's policy not a bad question coming from I want to repeat it again Hoin Hallen Germany yeah it's a good question and what we don't know and there's this whole idea of what happens to undecided voters and there's been a lot of research there's been a lot of callbacks and I I think more the way to look at it is they Loosely aligned voters kind of undecided true undecided if you see a poll that's anything much above seven or 8% that's not a very it's not going to be a very reliable poll they're actually the probably is less than 78 there 78 true Independence uh I see some of these po say it's 5149 I guess they allocate undecided some kind of way right I can't tell you the number hours that I've spent discussing with people what happens UND decided that where do they go in the E of the electric uh but but there are the big figure but icag me about last night is there were 28% of people said they'd like to know more about Harris only 9% would like to know about Trump I think what they found out last night was mostly favorable about her and mostly unfavorable about him yeah yeah I I agree where side vter ends and a a Luci line voter begins but it's not a clear dividing [Music] line protect yourself online would Express VPN well I all you got to do is look at the stories in the in on online in the paper every day somebody is getting active you think the Russian and the North Koreans and the Chinese and the Iranians are not looking to hack you to try to influence you you live in another world and they can use this manipulate this information to do anything they want if if you're like most people I know your online life is just part of your life why wouldn't you give yourself this kind of protection I mean it wouldn't make sense I don't think it's at some level and it's a very well tested well regarded well reviewed product if this is not some Fly by Night group these are people that know what they're doing well the problem with these huge tech 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big thing we haven't mentioned yet is after the debate Taylor Swift uh endorsed U kamla Harris and uh Taylor we hope you bring your significant other uh Travis Kelce with you uh and I think that would help I think athletes help a little bit uh not much I mean LeBron James has been very active in campaigns as has some others I tell you one thing to look for with all the money that Harris people have and Obama people aren't poor I think there's G to be a lot of ads on Sunday night and Monday Night Football uh but uh you know you rais a good point uh Mike there's no magic Panacea but they ought to do a little bit more so this is the question so the Tes scrip based on you know the momentum of the night where Paris clearly had a better debating Trump she comes out if if so what what would you have done if you would have granded poopa a whole thing I and it was this whole kind of speculation boy Taylor Swift comes out Taylor swi and door going to be L I think it kind of got lost in the after debate coverage i i i crize for I know about perfectly well raised massively talented everything I know about her boyfriend and the family is massively positive it's not going to you can't unring the V but a good question is would it have been better on a Sunday before an NFL game J James that's the world you and I live in the world that she lives in let me tell you there wasn't a Swifty alive last night today or tomorrow who's not aware of that and it's all over social media we need to ask our friend William Woodson what effect can have I mean I just leave the question open if yeah if you can redo it there's a big question that's gonna get answered in this campaign because Trump doesn't you know so was always this big thing and you would cover campaigns I would work on campaigns and people would sit at nauseum and say how much of fi matters how much television matters how much earned media you know used to have names like that well we get ready to find out because Trump doesn't have any field operation it's not it it har his field operation is trying to stifle the vote and trying to get local you have a county headquarters walk list and phone list and right you got sort of this and you got County chairman and you got the sort of people and we spent a lot of Our Lives working these people covering them and you know who can I talk to I'm going to Western Pennsylvania you know hey give a talk to these people they don't have any of that [ __ ] right right and Harris has a lot and you you know how many conversations that you've had in your professional life if well how much is you know of every dollar how much you should allocate for this or that all right that's not a conversation we haven't even that and it it it doesn't matter I I I I and you said well a good ground game is worth a point and a half I I you know we would say stuff like that I don't think we're wrong or right but it forced you to think about it look no one is talking about a good ground game because he has no ground game it's just been a real shift in the way people look at politics are cover it but we don't we don't think about the C and you know now it's the best stuff of these postcard list that people right out there we're gonna see if this matters any here's another one from James of campaigns of what matters James in Oakland California uh where she's from Harris is from says in 2020 Trump constantly ranted about early voting and how it's rigged why in 2024 is he not doing that has he suddenly had a change of heart about early voting yeah somebody explained to it that a lot of people at early voting will vote for you right I mean yeah it it I don't know that's what I don't know the answer to maybe a good political scientist has done this is this early voting you know we used to have this big absentee voting was a big thing and if it was easy does that help but do the people vote early but they voted on Election Day anyway is it a turnout enhancer does it help one party or the other I think a lot of maybe they answered but I don't know the answerers it seems to me to be pretty inconclusive yeah yeah uh Paul in San Antonio Texas said uh listening to our show the last couple weeks he said like you all I am not a fan of the current prime minister of Israel uh in your podcast you pinned the lack of progress on the hostage negotiations on Netanyahu do you think Hamas is negotiating in good faith not really but what I do think is If U Netanyahu gives them an excuse to also um negotiate the way they want to uh negotiate if he would take a credible position and try to negotiate I think there would be a lot of pressure on Hamas not from us because they don't care about us but from other Arab countries including those that support them but BB doesn't want to negotiate in good faith because BB has one Mission and that's to stay in office and if he negotiates in good faith as our guest David Ignatius told us and they come up with a plan he likely uh will lose his Coalition and if he loses that Coalition and he's out of office you know you know where BB's goingon to end up James did CH in The Slammer so so I do blame BB a lot but unfortunately he's not up until 2026 so uh it makes me a pessimist about what's going on over there the good faith in BB Netanyahu that that's four words that should never be used in the same paragraph the last question comes from Frankie and Troy Ohio and Frankie asked are campaign signs a reliable predictor for posters and everything and are Dems the second two-part question seconds are Dem sending any resources to Ohio this year Well I got an interesting text from a friend of mine who's working in South Carolina which is hard swing state and he says I got I got it two hours ago it said I don't know what the hell this means but we've had a 300 percent increase in yard sign requests since the debate in South Carolina that's for Harris yes for harage I I remember when I was did working in Kansas on the referendum the PO uh dos referendum and I think I I I pointed it out to you that I talked to the sign people and they said we're getting signs in Western Kansas that people would have never put up the sign for Biden to Hillary and I took that as a kind of POS positive thing that you know if you're the accountant of a pharmacist at a you know Garden City Kansas you might be a Democrat but you're not going you're the optometrist you're not going to put a sign up because you think it's going to cost your business but apparently I took great solos in the fact that they were willing to put up which was there a vote no sign so I I don't I I'd certainly like for the sign people to call me and say man we got a spike in request I don't know I I know it's good news I just don't know how good but it's a good question it's it is and and and and Frankie's question on Ohio yes National Dems will be sending resources to Ohio uh because they have a critical Senate race and probably two competitive house races uh my guess is that Harrison walls are not going to spend much time or resources in Ohio uh unless they think they're going to be winning this thing by seven or eight points which unfortunately is unlikely I I keep I keep coming back Florida Florida Florida yeah okay uh keep those letters coming in and emails coming in to politicon they're great questions we didn't get to them this week we'll try next week but thank you hey thanks for listening to politics war room with James Carville and I'm Al Hunt now remember to get your ti tickets for the politics War Room Tour James and I are bringing the podcast live on stage at the 92nd Street Y in New York City on September 19th special guests include Bill Bradley and then the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta on October 12th and Boston schuber theater on November 2 3 days before the big election now you get your tickets at pon.com tour and we really can't wait to see you there as always send your questions for us by email to politics War Room gmail.com or tweet them for next week's show at politicon now following this episode we'd really appreciate it if you check out the links through our sponsors beam Miracle made and express VPN in our episode show notes we thank you for supporting them because when you do it helps make this podcast happen now to keep up with us subscribe to politics war room on Apple podcast Spotify or wherever you listen and check out our substack at politics warro room.com James and I are constantly adding new content so go take a look you also can find other shows you might enjoy on the politicon YouTube channel or when you search politicon on your favorite podcast sites remember please rate the show with a five-star review we'll be back next week with another show as we continue our war room planning [Music]