Amidst the changing electoral winds as our Republic inches closer to Election Day, President John Pudner took some time off the on-leave campaign trail to call into St. Louis, Missouri, and update on the latest developments in the heated 2024 Presidential election.
Namely, Punder highlighted how the latest polling showcases not only how the honeymoon phase for Vice President Kamala Harris' Presidential campaign has come to a swift close, but how it also reflects an electorate whose priorities are becoming more clear - substance over style. This includes results from a bombshell NBC News national poll released just this last Sunday, which showcased both Harris and former President Trump in a 48%-48% deadlock nationally, with the top issue on the minds of voters remaining the economy by a large margin as Harris' popularity has taken a steep decline since her candidacy announcement. Accordingly, Harris has begun to pivot her campaign strategy, focusing less on personalities in recent speeches and is now taking on a media blitz, including several black media outlets and her first ever interview on Fox News, in stark contrast to the singular interview she conducted during the first month of her candidacy.
As Pudner and host Marc Cox both point out, recent trends suggest a shift in voter sentiment that could favor Trump, especially in key swing states with razor-thin vote margins, and how the stakes couldn't be higher, as the next few weeks will be crucial in shaping the coming battle that will define the next four years of our Republic.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Harris, strategy, Trump, specifics, win, trends, razor-thin, Independents, issues, polls
SPEAKERS
Marc Cox and TBOR Action President John Pudner
Former President Donald Trump 00:00
47 days from now, we're going to defeat Kamala Harris. You have to defeat Kamala Harris. More than any other people on Earth, Israel, I believe, has to defeat her. You know that? And I've never said this before, I'm thinking, Miriam, more than any people on earth, Israel has to defeat her, I really believe that. It's a disaster for Israel.
Marc Cox 00:27
President Trump last night addressing a group that supports Israel here in the United States, lamenting the fact that he lost the Jewish vote bigly last time around, and he's kind of baffled by that, and I would probably have to agree with him on that. I do not know how you could look at the policy of this Administration toward Iran, and many of Israel's enemies, and think that anything they're doing is in your best interest. But, one of his points he's trying to make, and boy, these races are razor tight if you believe the polls in some of the swing states. Let me get to my guest right now. We got John Pudner on the phone, President of Take Back Our Republic Action, and John, great to have you back! How are you good?
John Pudner 01:11
Good. Thanks for having me!
Marc Cox 01:12
Absolutely! What's your take on what's going on in Pennsylvania, for example? I know that's one of the states where the margins appear to be razor thin here.
John Pudner 01:25
I always look at trends, and that's how we saw the Trump win coming in 2016 and lost in 2020, and Pennsylvania has kind of moved in the wrong direction a little bit, so has Nevada and Michigan if you just follow the trends, that just means tracking where the polls keep moving the way they have in the last month. Those two would be one point wins for Harris, but surprisingly, Trump would win without any three of them, because North Carolina, Georgia, and now Wisconsin, are all trending toward narrow wins by less than a point. The quick math is that get you to 272 for Trump, so it's razor thin, he can't lose any of those three, North Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin, but Wisconsin's actually improved two points just in the last month. So, by that logic, he makes up that last point plus, and pulls that off, as one of the big three.
Marc Cox 02:14
You know, I watch this as an observer, as somebody who worked in local journalism for many years here in the Greater St. Louis area and other TV markets, and when it comes to the mainstream media's coverage of this race, I call out the bias all the time, and I've been making particular points on the lack of difficult questions to Kamala Harris when they do have the opportunity to do it. Yesterday, I heard Abby Phillip commenting on CNN, basically admitting Kamala Harris's strategy here. Listen...
Abby Phillip 02:50
Abortion will be centered to this election, part of a strategy that the Harris campaign is putting out there, which is to largely avoid doing interviews. They're not necessarily settings where she shines, so they're doing this instead, and this was very different for her...Might it work?
Marc Cox 03:12
I mean, even CNN is questioning why nobody seems to be able to nail down Kamala Harris with serious questions?
John Pudner 03:21
And I do think that's sticking somewhat. One of the recent polls had her really dropped with Independents. Of course, they've gone for the all-out just going to turn out Democrats and not go to the middle. This is like the old basketball, four corners strategy from years ago. When you think you're winning, you stay away from the press, you limit debates, you had to do one. I think they overestimated the surge they had from the honeymoon phase and thought maybe they could just hide her. I think, in the end, that's going to hurt them.
Marc Cox 03:53
Well, you're right. They do have to go after those Independents. Did you see any of the highlights, or lowlights, from the Oprah Winfrey extravaganza last night?
John Pudner 04:02
Sorry to say I didn't.
Marc Cox 04:03
Well, you wouldn't be surprised, but she gave the same answers to everything, "I grew up in a middle class family, I used to be a prosecutor," but no specifics on anything. And, I'm thinking to myself, "I wonder if Oprah Winfrey, because she used to be a journalist and she obviously did talk shows for many years, was sitting there thinking in the back of her head, silently, asking what has she done by endorsing this woman? She won't be specific on any of her plans!"
John Pudner 04:32
I think if your campaign is focused on your food's going to cost less, taxes are lower, and everything else with no specifics, that sounds popular, but do people believe you have any plan to get there? This is where being a sitting VP hurts. I mean, sometimes you can throw out something that sounds like a new plan, but I think for Trump and his supporters to keep hammering on why haven't they done it yet makes that tough. It really makes it tough to pull up her strategy long term.
Marc Cox 05:02
What is Take Back Our Republic Action working on right now?,
John Pudner 05:06
We talk about these different election integrity issues, so we've talked about the way money is moved through ActBlue, we think illicit foreign funds to help liberal causes, so we hit these kind of issues, the rules of the game. We really need a group on the right focused on the rules of the game, so that's what's on takebackaction.org.
Marc Cox 05:26
John Pudner, I appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.
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