Good morning. The Democrats head to Chicago in a wildly jubilant mood – more on that below, along with troubled times for TD and summer camp for tweens. But first:
Today’s headlines
- On freedom of information requests, cities outperform larger governments – but not all are equally prompt, a Globe audit finds
- Couche-Tard is in talks to acquire the Japanese operator of the 7-Eleven chain
- U.S. Secretary of State Blinken urges Israel and Hamas to end the Gaza war
Fired up in Arizona.ROBYN BECK/Getty Images
U.S. election
Democrats in high gear
It’s been barely a month since Donald Trump got shot, J.D. Vance got picked, Joe Biden dropped out, Kamala Harris stepped in, and the Democrats’ whole messaging changed, thanks in part to Tim Walz, who was chosen as her new running mate. I’m tired. Globe and Mail contributor David Shribman is also tired, but mostly, he says, he’s exhilarated: “This is a fabulously crowded hour in the history of the United States,” Shribman told me. “As Walz put it when faced with a sprint to the election, we can sleep when we’re dead.”
The Democrats are surfing an enormous wave of momentum into their national convention, which kicks off today in Chicago and will feature a valedictory appearance from Biden tonight. There will be pomp, circumstance, quite a few flags and persistent rumours of a Beyoncé appearance – but what else can we expect out of Illinois and from the days that follow? I spoke to Shribman to find out.
Harris has a truncated, European election–style timeline to make her case. How’s she done so far?
This will be a sprint, not the usual marathon. The American political mind is concentrated wonderfully right now. So far, Harris has done well. No stumbles. No damaging evaluations. No regrettable remarks. All three will come, of course; they always do. She gets top marks for the first few weeks. But it is the weeks that follow that matter most.
What’s the one big thing she needs to accomplish at the DNC? And what should she definitely not do?
Usually, the one big thing that needs to be accomplished at a political convention is to rev up the troops and send them home in a state of unity and delirious commitment. The Democrats are coming into their convention that way. She needs to do nothing to disrupt that.
She also needs to move undecided voters – there aren’t many of them – to her column, or at least nudge them in her direction. If she does that – and the best opportunity will come Thursday night, with her acceptance speech – she will get the convention bump in the polls that all candidates desire. Joe Biden didn’t get one last time. She needs one. Remember: With all the razzmatazz about Kamala Harris, the race is still basically deadlocked. She merely made up the deficit that resulted from Biden being at the top of her party’s ticket. Everyone thinks she has surged ahead. She has simply surged into a tie.
How does Harris distance herself from Biden?
She will want to do so, gingerly, because of Biden’s deep negatives. That’s not so easy. Remember how difficult it was for vice-president Hubert Humphrey to separate himself from the Vietnam policies of the president under whom he served, Lyndon B. Johnson. It was only in the final weeks that he accomplished that – and by then it was too late to defeat Richard Nixon in the 1968 election. So she has to tread lightly. But she has to tread there a bit. Her best bet is on immigration, which is the top Trump issue. That’s not so easy because she was the administration’s point person on immigration. But she can finesse that a bit.
The old guard.Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
The prime-time attractions at the DNC this week are the usual Dem suspects: Biden, Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton. Does this lineup threaten Harris’s pitch to Gen Z and millennial voters?
The problem with the hit parade you mention is that they are all geezers, even Obama, who may seem eternally young but is 63. In short, all those people are eligible for Social Security. Three of the four of them are legally required to be on Social Security. Obama has probably elected to defer his payments.
Harris is surrounding herself with younger people, and with younger music. Bill Clinton may have been nominated to Fleetwood Mac’s lyric “don’t stop thinking about tomorrow,” but that tomorrow has come and gone, and Harris has strained to update the Democratic brand. She needs to keep doing that.
Having dropped out of the 2020 primaries so early, and having dodged an open convention, Harris hasn’t faced much of a test yet. What do you think the effects of that will be, as she heads out of Chicago?
Having a test in the primaries is good. Having a test in the primaries is bad. The good: All of the negative stuff that’s going to be tossed your way is, in fact, pretty much tossed your way. If you survive February, you are likely to survive October. The bad: A nasty primary fight usually weakens a candidate. Ask Jimmy Carter, weakened by Teddy Kennedy in 1980. That may have cost him the election. It certainly cost him party enthusiasm, an important element in a close election. You want every single one of your party members to show up and vote.
Donald Trump has not enjoyed all the attention Harris has been getting. What would you advise him to do this week?
I’m not in the business of giving advice. If my kids won’t take my advice, why would Donald Trump? Don’t answer that! But I think a dispassionate adviser to Trump might urge him to be a calm, thoughtful observer of the Harris style. Heavy lift, I know. But that would help him understand her for the debate next month. Calling her stupid or a phony won’t help. He’s already done that, and nobody is going to depart the Harris camp because The Donald thinks she lacks the intelligence he brings to the contest. Traditionally, candidates haven’t campaigned much during their rivals’ conventions, but one or two campaign events – measured, not menacing – might not be a bad idea, either.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Shot
‘It gives me a sense of peace. A sense of balance.’
Two 13-year-old campers jump in the lake.Sarah Palmer/The Globe and Mail
At a sleepaway camp in Ontario’s Kawartha Lakes, tween girls trade friendship bracelets, blare Taylor Swift and build up their self-confidence through guided meditation and body-positivity workshops. Read more (and see the amazing photos) here.
The Week
What we’re following
Tomorrow: Statistics Canada releases the latest inflation data, setting up another potential Bank of Canada rate cut in September.
Tomorrow: Former South Side resident (and former president) Barack Obama speaks in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention.
Wednesday: Democratic delegates hear from VP nominee Tim Walz, who will almost certainly remind them that there’s a golden rule in small towns: Mind your own damn business.
Thursday: Just 32 days after Biden dropped out of the 2024 race, Kamala Harris formally accepts her party’s nomination for U.S. president.
Thursday: TD releases its earnings, with the rest of the Big Six banks to follow next week. These have been troubled times for the Canadian corporate icon – The Globe’s Tim Kiladze, Rita Trichur, James Bradshaw and Stefanie Marotta take you inside TD’s money-laundering woes and the mess left behind here.