Democrats confident after Harris tangles with Trump in debate

Trump: Immigrants are eating pet cats and dogs in Ohio

Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for September 11, 2024:

• Speaker faces GOP opposition on stopgap funding bill.

• Trump all but endorses a government shutdown.

• Cuomo attacks Trump in heated COVID hearing.

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DEBATE. This was not a repeat of the Biden-Trump debate from June 27. Vice President Kamala Harris showed she belonged on the debate stage last night in Philadelphia. She got under the skin of former President Donald Trump repeatedly. Her jabs sent Trump off on some tangents that made his supporters cringe. “Harris isn't just winning. Trump is losing,” said GOP polling guru Frank Luntz, who bemoaned Trump’s performance. “This is not the same candidate as we saw in 2016.”

• FOX NEWS. Let’s stay in the conservative media sphere. This was veteran correspondent Brit Hume on Harris: “She was composed. She was prepared. She kept her cool. She saw advantages, she took them. She baited him successfully, which was the story of the debate in my view. She came out ahead in my opinion.”

• TACTICS. About 25 minutes in, the course of the debate changed when Harris needled Trump about the size of his rallies and how people were leaving early because they were bored. "People don't leave my rallies," Trump declared. "We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics."

• IRKED. It was almost like something snapped in his mind at this point as he tried to get some traction in his response. Trump ended up talking about immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. "In Springfield, they're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there."

CATS AND DOGS. Where did that come from? In recent days, social media has buzzed with a story in conservative media circles which said that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio had been caught stealing - and eating - pet cats and dogs. Local police and government officials say they have nothing to back that up. So, of course - Donald Trump brought it up during the debate.

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DEMS. After President Biden’s debate debacle in late June, most Democrats in Congress tried to act like that debate didn't happen, as it set off alarms within the party. After last night’s debate, Democrats were thrilled by the work of Harris. "That was a mauling," said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA). "A dominant performance," added Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA). "I'm so proud of Kamala Harris," said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA). "This was a good night."

• GOP. You could tell what happened on the debate stage as Republicans attacked the ABC News moderators, accusing them of bias. "Nobody is buying the ABC moderators were fair," grumbled Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA). "The American people lost this debate because ABC didn't do their job," added Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA).

• IMPACT. Will this debate change the trajectory of the race? I’m not so sure. But it could have a big impact on undecided voters - and not in the favor of Trump and Republicans.

• AM DRIVE. I did radio news for 37 years. It's not hard to figure out what you're going to hear on radio and see on morning television about this debate. You will repeatedly see and hear the clip of Trump talking about immigrants stealing and eating pet cats and dogs. And there will be a lot of talk about Taylor Swift endorsing Kamala Harris minutes after the debate ended.

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RECAP. What else stuck out to me? Let's run through some bullet points.

• HARRIS. If you believed the people who told you that Kamala Harris could only read from a teleprompter, you were sorely disappointed.

• ABORTION. That segment went on way too long for Trump. It was a very strong messaging point for Harris.

• WHISKER. Last week, Trump admitted he lost in 2020. Last night, he walked that back and again claimed the election was stolen.

• COVID. The Coronavirus response under Trump made an unexpected return in this debate. And that's not a good look for Trump.

• JANUARY 6. Trump blamed Capitol Police, Nancy Pelosi - basically everyone but himself for the violence on Jan. 6, 2021.

• UKRAINE. Trump wouldn't say if he wanted Ukraine to win its war against Russia, as he sidestepped the question.

• DISCIPLINE. Harris was on message. Trump struggled to stay on track. That shouldn't surprise us.

• SAY WHAT. I didn't even get to the part where Trump accuses Harris of supporting 'transgender operations on illegal aliens in prison.'

• SPIN ROOM. The fact that Trump himself went into the spin room in Philadelphia tells me a lot.

HEALTH CARE. I want to finish with one of Trump's frequent promises over the years - to replace the Obama health law. Much like his talk about ‘Infrastructure Week,’ Trump’s promises on health care have become a punch line, as he always talks about being on the verge of unveiling a new health care plan.

• CONCEPTS. In the debate, Trump had no better answer when he was pressed about exactly that. "We're looking at different plans," Trump said. "We have concepts of a plan."

• TWO WEEKS. Trump has been talking about getting rid of the Obama health law for nine years - and he still doesn't have a plan. (Narrator: Neither do Republicans in Congress.)

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STOPGAP. While lawmakers digest what happened in last night’s debate - there is work to do on Capitol Hill today. The House is scheduled to vote this afternoon on a temporary government funding plan from Republicans - but it’s not clear if Speaker Mike Johnson has the votes to get this approved today on the House floor. A loss for the Speaker would be a tactical embarrassment to say the least.

• SPEAKER. “I am in this to win this,” Johnson told reporters after a closed door meeting with GOP lawmakers, as he pressed his plan which combines a 6-month temporary government funding bill with new proof of citizenship requirements for voter registration. “I think it’s something we must do.” But some Republicans are not on board.

• REBELS. "I firmly believe that our approach is flawed," said Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), who has vowed to vote against the GOP plan, mainly because it continues current government funding levels. One Republican, Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL), put out a video which labeled the GOP leadership plan 'chickenshit.'

• TRUMP. Hours before last night's debate, Donald Trump waded into the internal GOP battle, all but demanding that Republicans insist on the election changes - or have a government shutdown. "If Republicans in the House, and Senate, don't get absolute assurances on Election Security," Trump wrote on his Truth Social site, "CLOSE IT DOWN!!!"

HISTORY. We all know that government shutdowns don’t result in policy changes. Trump should know that. Remember, he forced a shutdown in late December 2018 that stretched for 35 days. Trump wanted to force Congress to give him money for his border wall. It didn't work, and he had to cave.

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UNITY. Frankly, this is where I don’t understand some of the conservatives who would vote against the Speaker’s plan. The goal here is to rally the GOP by approving a bill which tries to prevent illegal immigrants from registering to vote. Everyone knows it’s not going to become law. But you vote for it anyway - just because.

• TACTICS. One senior House Republican yesterday told me of course this is all a political ploy. But this lawmaker plans to support it, knowing full well that the GOP will ultimately have to back down and take a ‘clean’ CR.

• SPENDING. One more thing - I fully understand GOP lawmakers who want major spending cuts. But when your party can’t stick together to pass 12 government funding bills, you might need a new approach - and a shutdown is not a new approach.

• DIVISION. The other bad thing for the GOP is that this kind of fight just fosters more internal trouble among Republicans. And getting Donald Trump involved makes it even more difficult.

DEADLINE. Speaker Johnson not only may lose on the voting bill, but on the length of time for this temporary funding measure. He wants March 28 of next year. Many Senators - and key lawmakers in his own party - want to set a new funding deadline before Christmas, not wanting this fight to stretch until Easter.

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ARLINGTON. We've seen Republicans this week using the botched U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan to score some election year points. Now Democrats are returning the favor by going back to Donald Trump's botched visit to Arlington National Cemetery, where he tried to turn that cemetery into a campaign prop - asking the Army to publicly release details of what happened that day.

• STATEMENT. "Former President Trump and his campaign staff clearly violated the rules and regulations prohibiting political activities at Arlington National Cemetery," a group of Democrats said. "The alleged assault of an Arlington staff member by Trump campaign staff requires a strong official response."

• REWIND. If you're just tuning in, Trump tried to use his invite from Gold Star families to make it look like President Biden and Vice President Harris were skipping an official ceremony to honor 13 service members killed in a bombing in Afghanistan. But there was no official event at Arlington. Instead, Trump used it to film a 30-second spot which his campaign posted on TikTok.

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VETERANS. Republicans on a House panel loudly complained at a Tuesday hearing about recent actions by the Veterans Administration. What did the VA do wrong? The VA has been helping veterans register to vote at three locations in Michigan, as Republicans voted to approve a subpoena for the VA to get more answers.

• BOST. "The VA, Department of Justice, the Peace Corps, and every other federal agency has been told to use their resources to partner with states as voter registration agencies," said Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL). His veterans panel then voted along party lines to subpoena the VA about their efforts.

• VOTERS. Under federal law, states can ask federal agencies to designate their sites for voter registration efforts. Michigan has done that - read more here. That’s aggravated Republicans, who have darkly warned about outside third party groups which might be involved.

• REPLY. Democrats were exasperated. "How is registering veterans to vote, no matter where they are, inherently partisan or political?" said Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA). "This is not congressional oversight. This is voter suppression."

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CUOMO. If Republicans in Congress thought they could haul in ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) of New York and successfully browbeat him at a hearing over how his state dealt with the COVID outbreak, I'm not sure what they were thinking. Cuomo demonstrated again on Tuesday why he was so successful in the political arena, as he sparred with GOP lawmakers and defended his Coronavirus work.

• TRUMP. Cuomo started his testimony by immediately taking aim at Donald Trump's handling of the Coronavirus. "From day one, he willfully deceived the American people," Cuomo said, "telling us that it was like the flu, that it would go away by Easter...The federal government was nowhere to be found."

• FOUR YEARS AGO. Democrats were more than happy to join Cuomo in revisiting what Trump did on COVID back in 2020. "He gave quack advice that hydroxychloroquine or disinfectant might be effective treatments," said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD). "Where is Donald Trump to answer the questions about his horrific negligence?"

• STEFANIK. Some of the biggest fireworks came when Cuomo was questioned by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who kept calling him, 'former Governor.' "You will never hold elected office again," Stefanik declared, drawing applause from some in the audience. The two talked over each other for about two minutes, as Cuomo kept asking Stefanik why she let Trump lie about COVID.

BLUF. The most logical way to view this hearing and investigation of Cuomo is through the lens of how the GOP has been trying to make more inroads politically in New York. Republicans have done that mainly by making the case that Democrats are running the state into the ground. They did that with Cuomo and are doing that almost daily with Gov. Kathy Hochul as well.

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NINE ELEVEN. It’s been 23 years since the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., which killed nearly 3,000 people that day. I took my Jamie 3.0 voice and went back into my archives of air traffic control tapes to bring back some of the terrible memories from that day. You can listen at this link.

• SEPTEMBER 11. The day after her debate, Vice President Harris is not doing any campaign stops. Her schedule is all about Nine Eleven. This morning at 8:30 am, she will be at Ground Zero in New York for a 9-11 ceremony. From there, she goes to Shanksville, Pennsylvania for a Flight 93 ceremony. At 5 pm, she will join President Biden at the Pentagon for a wreath laying ceremony.

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TEBOW. There are famous people in the halls of the Capitol just about every week when Congress is in session, lending their voices to certain bills. On Tuesday, it was college football star Tim Tebow, pressing the 'Renewed Hope Act of 2024,' a bill designed to deal with the exploitation of children online.

• GATORS. Being a University of Florida grad, I took the chance to say hello when I ran into Tebow just off the House floor, as he was waiting for Speaker Johnson. We were joined by my college classmate Mitch Miller, who covers Congress for WTOP Radio in D.C. The Speaker even volunteered to take our picture, but we had a staffer do the honors instead.

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FREEDOM. While I saw Tebow, unfortunately, I did not run into Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was recently released by Russia after being jailed for over a year on bogus charges. Gershkovich was on Capitol Hill meeting with lawmakers in both parties on Tuesday, including Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell.

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RAP SHEET. A Texas man has been sentenced to 19 months in prison for assaulting police on Jan. 6. Kyle McMahan pleaded guilty back in June. He pushed one officer and joined rioters as they forced their way inside the Capitol. McMahan pulled, grabbed, and slapped various officers as they tried to clear the Rotunda.

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MUSE OF HISTORY.  September 11, 1945.  World War II was over, but Americans were still dealing with food rationing, and some weren't happy about it.  "May I say that the present situation with respect to butter is perfectly absurd," said Rep. Frank Bateman of Wisconsin.  "There is no reason in the world why the housewives of America should be compelled further to pay ration points for butter."

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LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:

The House meets at 10 am.

The Senate convenes at 11 am.

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Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com

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