The Harris Hype
There is no denying that the candidate swap at the top of the Democrat ticket has changed the dynamics of the presidential race. Vice President Kamala Harris apparently has momentum. Donald Trump was leading Joe Biden by three points. Now, he’s leading Harris by less than one point.
However, Harris is hiding from serious interviews and tough questions. She has avoided the media for two weeks now. But she did go on RuPaul’s Drag Show. Some say it’s starting to look like Harris is repeating Biden’s 2020 basement strategy.
A few weeks ago, Donald Trump had significant leads over Joe Biden in Arizona (6 points), Georgia (4 points), and North Carolina (5 points). We were told that Trump lost the first two states. But this time he was leading in all three and well on his way to reelection.
Now Axios is reporting that with Harris as the Democrat nominee, all three states are toss-ups. Trump leads Harris in Arizona by 3 points. His lead in Georgia is down to 1 point. And the latest poll in North Carolina gives Trump a narrow 2-point lead.
If Trump loses any of those three states, it is difficult to come up with a plausible way for him to win the White House.
If Trump sweeps those three states, which he must do, the race likely comes down to Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Trump has to win at least one of those three states to prevail.
Pennsylvania was looking good, but Harris has cut Trump’s lead in half. If she picks Governor Josh Shapiro as her running mate, that could take Pennsylvania off the table.
A lot has changed in two weeks. But there are still 91 days left. And there will be several more twists and turns. In fact, one of those twists may be happening right now. (See next item.)
Market Madness
As you know, Wall Street was shocked by Friday’s report that job creation fell far short of expectations. In addition, the unemployment rate, which was supposed to remain flat, jumped by 5%. The effect on the markets was dramatic. Tech stocks, the most vibrant part of our economy, were hit the hardest.
That rout continued today. This morning, the market opened with massive losses. The Dow Jones fell as much as 1,200 points and finished with a loss of 1,033 points. The Japanese stock market fell 12%, the Nikkei’s worst day in 37 years.
The bottom line is that there are storm clouds in the markets, and no one understands why.
At the same time, multiple countries, including Britain, France, and the United States, are telling their citizens to get out of Lebanon any way they can. An attack against Israel by Iran is believed to be imminent, and Hezbollah in Lebanon is expected to participate in the attack.
You can make a strong case that all these threatening headlines are the direct results of Biden’s policies.
His runaway spending that massively increased our debt resulted in an explosion of inflation, which has crushed family budgets everywhere. That necessitated a rise in interest rates to deliberately slow down the economy. Many experts believe the Federal Reserve kept interest rates too high for too long, and we may now be on the way to a recession.
Professor Jeremy Siegel, who is almost always upbeat on the stock market, is so concerned that he said on CNBC this morning that the Federal Reserve needs to hold an emergency meeting now to announce a 0.75% cut in interest rates and do it again in September. He believes we are on the cusp of an economic disaster.
On the geopolitical scene, Biden has consistently projected weakness, as we have regularly outlined in this daily report. The disastrous retreat out of Afghanistan. Allowing a communist Chinese spy balloon to fly over the country. The failure to rebuild America’s military as we face multiple threats all over the world.
We are living in a very dangerous time in a very unpredictable world.
Restraining Justice
You will recall that President Biden recently announced a plan to fundamentally transform the Supreme Court. The left is furious that there is one branch of government they don’t control, and they intend to bring the court to heel.
But the Constitution created the Supreme Court as a separate and co-equal branch of government. It is not supposed to be subservient to the other branches of government. Nor is it supposed to be a rubber stamp for the left’s radical agenda.
In an interview with Fox News yesterday, Justice Neil Gorsuch was asked about Biden’s scheme to transform the court. He wisely refused to get drawn into the presidential race by directly criticizing Biden’s proposal. But he did say this:
“I have one thought to add: It is what the independent judiciary means -- what does it mean to you as an American? It means that when you are unpopular, you can get a fair hearing under the law and under the Constitution. If you are in the majority, you don't need judges and juries to hear you and protect your rights. You are popular!
“It’s there for the moments when the spotlight is on you when the government is coming after you. And don’t you want a ferociously independent judge and a jury of your peers? Isn’t that your right as an American? And, so, I just say, be careful.”
Justice Gorsuch also discussed his new book, “Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law.” He warned about the explosion of new laws and regulations, saying:
“Some professors say that there are now so many federal laws on the books, crimes, that every American over the age of 18 commits one felony a day. [Since] 1970 to present, we’ve seen maybe a doubling in the number of federal crimes on the books . . . and that’s just the tip of the iceberg because federal agencies have been busy, too.”
Tune In To Family Talk
Please tune in to Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk radio show. On today’s broadcast, I talk with Dr. Owen Strachan, senior director of the Dobson Culture Center, about the issues confronting the church and our country today, as well as the need for Christians to be fully engaged in the battle for Faith, Family, and Freedom.
You can find station listings here. Or you can listen online here.