BECAUSE WE'RE THROWING IT BACK TO THE STAGE FOR A LITTLE MORE POLITICS!!

>> BRIAN BAKST HERE AGAIN AND, YES, MORE POLITICS.

HERE TO TALK ABOUT THE NATIONAL CONVENTIONS, PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS AND MORE, A DUO OF POLITICAL SCIENCE REPORTERS.

KATHRYN PEARSON IS A POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA.

HERE, TOO, IS LARRY JACOBS.

HE HEADS THE CENTER FOR POLITICS AND GOVERNANCE, PART OF THE HUMPHREY SCHOOL AT U OF M. HUMPHREY, NOW ONE OF THE THREE POTENTIAL -- HE WAS ONE BUT NOW TIM WALZ.

WHAT DID YOU MAKE OF HIS BIG DEBUT?

>> IT WAS FANTASTIC.

I MEAN, LET'S BE HONEST, TIM WALZ IS SOMEONE WE KNOW BUT HE'S PRETTY MUCH UNKNOWN AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL AND WITHIN LITERALLY A FEW WEEKS, HE'S BEEN INTRODUCED, HE'S IMPRESSING, AND HE'S GOING TO PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE.

BUT, YOU KNOW, I THINK THE KEY THING HERE IS TO KEEP AN EYE ON HIS MOST DISTINCTIVE INFLUENCE WILL BE IF THEY'RE ELECTED, BECAUSE WALTER MONDALE REINVENTED THE VICE PRESIDENCY, AND EVER SINCE, THE VICE PRESIDENT IS A KEY PLAYER IN HOW THE WHITE HOUSE OPERATES.

THAT'S WHERE I THINK HE'LL HAVE HIS BIGGEST IMPACT.

>> Cathy: PROFESSOR PEARSON?

>> ABSOLUTELY AGREE.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES CHOOSE THEIR RUNNING MADE TO CHOOSE A PARTNER IN GOVERNING BUT RIGHT NOW HE'S A PARTNER IN CAMPAIGNING AND HE'S PROVEN TO BE AN EXCELLENT ONE.

WITH THE CAMPAIGN SPEECH, THE FIRST TIME HE EVER USED A TELEPROMPTER, WHICH WAS SORT OF FUN, HE DIDN'T GIVE HIS STATE OF THE STATES WITH A PROMPTER SO IT WAS A SIMILAR MESSAGE THAT MINNESOTANS HAVE HEARD BUT MORE POLISHED, A BIGGER STAGE AND PROBABLY WITH A BIGGER IMPACT, SO PEOPLE DIDN'T KNOW HIM VERY WELL BEFORE THE VEEP STAKES AND PEOPLE TUNING IN THIS WEEK LEARNED A LOT ABOUT HIM, AND IT WAS A MIX OF HIS BIOGRAPHY AS A TEACHER, ARMY NATIONAL GUARD, SORT OF THE NEIGHBOR NEXT DOOR WHO HELPS YOU, AND SOME REAL SORT OF POLICY IMPACT, THE BILLS THAT HE SIGNED INTO LAW AS A GOVERNOR.

>> A LOT OF ENERGY COMING OUT OF THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION BUT LOOKING AHEAD, WHO'S GOT THE -- KIND OF THE MORE EASY PATH, IS IT DONALD TRUMP OR KAMALA HARRIS?

>> IT'S GOING TO BE A VERY CLOSE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION THAT WILL BE DECIDED BY A SMALL NUMBER OF SWING STATES.

IT THE CASE THAT HARRIS HAS OPENED UP POSSIBILITIES IN SWING STATES THAT BIDEN WOULD NOT HAVE, SUCH AS THE SUNBELT, GEORGIA, NORTH CAROLINA ARIZONA.

YOU KNOW, WISCONSIN, MICHIGAN, PENNSYLVANIA, ALWAYS KEY SWING STATES AND SO, YOU KNOW, A SMALL NUMBER OF VOTERS IN THOSE STATES WILL DECIDE THE ELECTION BECAUSE OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE.

>> Cathy: GO AHEAD.

>> I WAS JUST GOING TO SAY, I MEAN, GO BACK EIGHT WEEKS AGO.

YOU KNOW, DEMOCRATS WERE IN A DEEP FUNK AND THEY HAD EVERY REASON TO BE.

THEY WERE FALLING BEHIND IN THE POLLS, MONEY WASN'T COMING IN FOR JOE BIDEN.

THE RANKS OF DEMOCRATIC FATEFUL WERE DISSPIRITTED.

SHOOT AHEAD TO THIS WEEK AND ALL THAT HAS BEEN REVERSED.

THE SUPPORT IS UP, THE MOTIVATION IS UP, MONEY IS COMING IN, AND THE COALITION THAT THE DEMOCRATS NEED IS NOW COMING BACK TOGETHER, SO THIS HAS BEEN, REALLY, AN UNHEARD OF FLIP, AND YOU CAN SEE IT WITH DONALD TRUMP AND REPUBLICANS.

THEY'RE -- THEY FEEL LIKE THEY HAD IT WRAPPED UP AND NOW IT'S GOING TO BE A REAL FIGHT.

>> Cathy: LET'S TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SO MUCH EXCITEMENT AND THE ENTHUSIASM ON THE DEMOCRATIC SIDE.

WHEN DO WE START PUTTING FLESH ON THE BONE WHEN IT COMES TO SOME OF THE POLICY STANCES AND WHEN MIGHT WE HEAR SOME OF THAT COMING OUT OF THE HARRIS CAMPAIGN?

>> I KNOW THIS IS A BIG THING ABOUT -- PARTICULARLY COMING FROM THE MEDIA, THE "NEW YORK TIMES" IS INSISTENT THAT HARRIS FLESH IT OUT.

THERE REALLY ISN'T ANY STRATEGIC NEED FOR THAT -- >> Cathy: YOU DON'T THINK VOTERS CARE?

>> NOT THE VOTERS WHO ARE UP FOR GRABS.

THE VOTERS WHO ARE UP FOR GRABS, IT'S LIKE 5 TO 10%.

WE KNOW A BIT ABOUT THEM, THEY'RE NOT WELL-INFORMED, THEY'RE NOT THAT INTERESTED, AND THE STRATEGY OF A LOT OF CANDIDATES ENTERING INTO A PRIMARY IS TO TRY TO EMERGE WITH AS FEW CLEAR POSITIONS SO THAT THEY HAVE MORE FLEXIBILITY IN A GENERAL ELECTION.

IF YOU'RE WONDERING WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, LOOK AT THE MESS THAT KAMALA HARRIS MADE WHEN SHE RAN IN 2019.

SHE TOOK THESE VERY SPECIFIC POSITIONS AND NOW SHE'S DOING HER BEST TO TRY TO RUN AWAY FROM THEM BECAUSE IT'S HURTING HER SO, NO, I THINK KAMALA HARRIS HAS GOT, LIKE, ALMOST A DREAM POSITION IN TERMS OF THE ISSUES.

I THINK SHE'S GOT A WHOLE LOT OF OTHER ISSUES OR CHALLENGES THAT MAY WELL LEAD TO HER DEFEAT.

>> Cathy: FOR INSTANCE?

>> WELL, WE COULD DESCRIBE THIS ERA AS ANTI-INCUMBENT.

THE ECONOMY AND INFLATION ARE THE TOP ISSUES FOR VOTERS.

WE KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, THOSE ARE BREAKING TOWARDS DONALD TRUMP AND IF YOU GO BACK TO 2019 AND 20 -- THE BEGINNING PART OF 2020, THE ECONOMY WAS REALLY GROWING AND A LOT OF VOTERS REMEMBER THAT.

THEY THINK DONALD TRUMP CAN BE A BETTER LEADER ON THAT SO IN A VERY CLOSE RACE, IN 2020, IT WAS DECIDED BY 21,000 VOTES OUT OF 155 MILLION IN THREE STATES.

SO IN A VERY CLOSE RACE, THAT IS GOING TO BE VERY DIFFICULT FOR KAMALA HARRIS TO OVERCOME.

>> PROFESSOR PEARSON, THIS MESSAGE WE HEARD LAST NIGHT FROM KAMALA HARRIS AND THROUGHOUT THE CONVENTION, HER MIDDLE CLASS UPBRINGING VERSUS HIS WEALTHY UPBRINGING.

SHE SAID THE ONLY CLIENT SHE EVER HAD WAS THE PEOPLE AND TRUMP ONLY HAD HIMSELF.

WAS THAT AN EFFECTIVE LINE?

>> I THINK IT IS AN EFFECTIVE LINE.

SHE DID HER STORY, GROWING UP IN OAKLAND, WHAT SHE WOULD DO AND HOW SHE WOULD SERVE THE PEOPLE, AND WHAT WAS ALWAYS STRIKING WITH THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION WAS HOW MANY TIMES, ALL OF THE SPEAKER, ESPECIALLY HARRIS AND WALZ SAID WE LOVE AMERICA, IT WAS VERY PATRIOTIC AND TALKED ABOUT FREEDOM.

SHE WILL HAVE TO KEEP TALKING ABOUT IT, LIKE THE ECONOMY, LIKE IMMIGRATION BECAUSE VOTERS CARE ABOUT THEM BUT AS LARRY SAID, IT WON'T BE WITH A LOT OF SPECIFICITY BUT SHE DID TALK ABOUT THOSE ISSUES AND HOUSING AND SOCIAL SECURITY AND, OF COURSE, ABORTION.

THAT IS SOMETHING SHE'S BEEN TALKING ABOUT A LOT EVER SINCE THE DOBBS DECISION AND THAT WAS CERTAINLY AN ISSUE THAT HELPED DEMOCRATS IN 2022, SO WE'LL HEAR MORE OF THAT, AS WELL.

>> Cathy: NARROW NEEDLE TO THREAD WITH GAZA-HAMAS, AND THE HAMAS-ISRAEL WAR AND THERE WERE A NUMBER OF THOSE NONCOMMITTED DELEGATES NOT HAPPY WITH WHAT THEY DIDN'T HEAR AT THE DNC.

>> THERE'S ALWAYS GOING TO BE DIVISION WITHIN THE PARTY.

LOOK AT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, THERE'S PLENTY OF DIVISION AND FRUSTRATED VOTERS THAT THEIR ISSUE WASN'T ADDRESSED.

I THINK THE KEY THING IS THAT HARRIS IS SENDING ENOUGH OF A MESSAGE THAT SHE IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE HUMANITARIAN DISASTER IN GAZA, WHILE ALSO MAKING IT CLEAR THAT WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT ISRAEL, THAT THAT MAY BE JUST ENOUGH TO THREAD THIS NEEDLE.

I DON'T THINK SHE NEEDS TO COME OUT AND, YOU KNOW, DENOUNCE ISRAEL, CHANGE POLICY, ALL THAT WOULD BE A BIG MISTAKE.

>> Cathy: SAY, BEFORE WE GO, WE SHOULD PROBABLY SAY, REMEMBER GEORGE LATIMER.

St. PAUL'S LONGEST SERVING MAYOR DIED RECENTLY.

[Applause] >> Cathy: HIS FUNERAL IS MONDAY.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SAY ABOUT HIM?

>> YOU KNOW, I HAD THE HONOR WHEN I CAME FROM POLITICAL SCIENCE TO THE HUMPHREY SCHOOL TO SPEND TIME WITH GEORGE LATIMER AND HE WAS JUST A REMARKABLE PERSON, SMART.

HE DIDN'T SEEM TO CARE THAT MUCH ABOUT IDEOLOGY OR PARTY, HE WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR IDEAS AND HE HAD JUST A TERRIFIC KIND OF WINSOME PERSONALITY.

HE WAS QUICK WITH A SMILE, QUICK WITH PRAISE AND HE WAS ALWAYS WANTED TO ASK THE QUESTIONS.

>> Cathy: HE WAS REALLY QUITE REMARKABLE.

>> THAT'S RIGHT, AND I THINK IT'S A NICE REMINDER THAT IN THIS VERY POLARIZED ERA, IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE LIKE THAT.

TO BE SUCCESSFUL.

>> Cathy: THE POLITICAL SCIENTISTS ARE ALWAYS THE MOST POPULAR SEGMENT ON "ALMANAC."

THANK YOU TWO, IT WAS GREAT.

LARRY JACOB COMES FROM THE U OF M AND KATHRYN PEARSON FROM THE U OF M. THANKS, PROFESSORS.

SPECIAL SHOUT-OUT, BY THE WAY, TO AN AMAZING GUY HIMSELF, MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO'S POLITICS EDITOR, BRIAN BAKST FOR BEING MY CO-PILOT HERE ON THE SHOW.

THANK YOU, BRIAN.

>> BRIAN: THANKS FOR HELPING THIS ROOKIE ALONG AND TO THIS FAIR CROWD, WOW, GIVE YOURSELVES A HAND.

[Loud Cheers & Applause] >> Cathy: NICELY DONE, FAIR CROWD.

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