This is the sixth #transitzone USA election update.

It was recorded on Friday 30 August. (Please see news update below.)

Vice President Kamala Harris, since emerging as the presumed then formally nominated Democratic presidential candidate, has been under considerable pressure to do some formal media interviews and full cry media conferences.

Some of her "critics" have suggested Harris is OK on the teleprompter doing rally speeches but less accomplished and confidently communicative when she is extemporising under journalistic questioning.

Another more substantive aspect of doing more interviews was to “explain” shifts in her policy positions including around, for example, fracking and how to deal with the border.

Historically, candidates from both parties have shifted their overall policy profile once they face a general election after the primaries are done with.

Harris, and her VP pick, Governor Tim Walz, have been touring the crucial swing state of Georgia in their emblazoned campaign bus. They chose veteran journalist, Dana Bash, from CNN, for their first sit down interview.

Bash pre-recorded the interview in a plain unadorned room with that bus visible parked outside the glass doors before the two candidates headed to a rally in Savanah Georgia.

Peter Clarke and Margo Kingston appraised Harris's first formal journalistic interview and the current state of the competing campaigns.

NEWS UPDATE

Former President Donald J. Trump said on Friday that he would vote against a ballot measure in Florida that would expand abortion access in the state, clarifying his stance after having suggested a day earlier that he might support the measure.

“I’ll be voting no,” Mr. Trump told Fox News, even as he said he disagreed with his home state’s current ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/30/us/politics/trump-florida-abortion-measure.html

RESOURCES

GEORGE LAKOFF

Peter and Margo referred to the linguist, activist, George Lakoff.

https://x.com/georgelakoff/status/1829010468327080438?s=61&t=LsaW4g5LZrmuvsdTgt2l2w

LAKOFF WEBSITE: https://george-lakoff.com

KAMALA HARRIS INTERVIEWED BY DANA BASH AT CNN

PART 1 https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/30/politics/video/kamala-harris-tim-walz-full-interview-part-1-digvid

PART 2 https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/30/politics/video/kamala-harris-tim-walz-full-interview-part-2-digvid

PART 3 https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/30/politics/video/kamala-harris-tim-walz-full-interview-part-3-digvid