PORTLAND, Maine — It was another busy week in politics. From Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate pick to a top Republican stumping for Austin Theriault in Maine, our analysts shared their opinions on the top stories.
VP Kamala Harris picks Gov. Tim Walz
This week Vice President Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. The pair held a large rally in Detroit after scoring the endorsement of the United Auto Workers Union. Harris and Walz made campaign stops at several key battleground states, including Wisconsin, where they held dueling events with former President Donald Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance.
ZACH: "Betsy, it seems the Harris campaign is gaining a little bit of momentum here, but there's still a long way to go."
BETSY: "There's a long way to go. But I think 'little bit' is an understatement. I mean, it has game. It is like this tsunami has happened. All of a sudden, we have a campaign team. We have a candidate team that is full of joy and hope. And what I like to do is look at the crowds. In less than 24 hours in Detroit, they had over 5,000 people, and they had to turn people away. In Wisconsin they had equal numbers, and they have to turn people away. I think people—regardless of what side they're on, regardless of what party they're on—to have people who talk positively, who are looking forward for America, and who are happy and smile and laugh and talk during a political campaign that is not dour and, 'Oh, my God.' Just that alone—and there's a million reasons to support this ticket—but just that alone is so refreshing that I think everyone is taking a collective breath to be able to watch something and feel good about it or feel joy about it or see people at least who are joyful rather than feeling like, 'Oh my God, is this really what we have to offer?'"
LISA: "I think they're in a honeymoon phase right now. They're a good pair. You know, Kamala Harris has allowed an enormous amount of illegal border crossings. And we have Gov. Walz who's saying, 'Welcome to Minnesota. Here's a driver's license for you.' And Gov. Walz, who absolutely watches his cities burn and delays a response with the devastation of homes and businesses. And then we have Kamala Harris saying, 'Hey, here's free bail money,' for the people that were doing that destruction. They're a good pair in that way. And I would imagine that they would like to stay in the honeymoon phase, where we focus on feelings rather than the facts of the policies that have absolutely devastated America with the amount of drugs coming over the border and devastated the cities in Minnesota. They're ghost towns."
BETSY: "Oh, I'd love to look at the policy in Minnesota. It is has the fastest growing economy. It's the third happiest place. [...] Kids get lunches. Abortion rights are protected. They have infrastructure. He is an avid hunter and a sportsman and yet they have gun protection. I mean, as he said, if you want to call me a monster for that, I'll take the label. It is one of the most successful states in the union right now. And I think the whole idea of that we're going to focus on things that aren't true and things that were worse under Trump and pretend that those are the issues of Harris and Waltz is just spin."
LISA: "But inflation is incredible."
BETSY: "But inflation went down more than anyone predicted in the last two months."
LISA: "Well, that's two months. Right now, you know, the families are in America are hurting. They want to be able to afford their groceries, their electric bill, and buy soccer cleats for their kids, and that's not the reality. And the amount of drugs, especially here in Maine, that have just flowed over the border, it's a pipeline of drugs. It has devastated families. That matters. Nobody cares about free lunches more than they care about their child actually living and not being handed drugs."
BETSY: "And Harris and Walz have both done more to help our middle class than any politician in the last two decades. [...] And he's from the middle class. Tim Walz is the guy that we all can relate to. He doesn't own stocks. He doesn't own bonds. He's been a schoolteacher. He's been a coach. He does not come from that political elite and from that corporate elite that actually has no relationship and no understanding of the middle class."
LISA: "Well, J.D. Vance has, of course. I mean, obviously, he is living the American dream. He has come from nothing and worked his way up."
BETSY: "He came from middle class, went to Yale. Come on."
LISA: "That's the American dream."
72-hour waiting period
The 72-hour waiting period law for gun sales went into effect Friday. State officials shared some guidelines earlier in the week, including exemptions. People can sell guns to their family members without having to wait, and dealers can sell to law enforcement and corrections officers. Some opponents of the law argue it was not well thought out and only impacts people buying guns for protection. The Sportsman's Alliance of Maine is even looking at potential legal action here.
ZACH: "Lisa, this obviously comes out of the Lewiston shootings. What regulations, if any, would Republicans get behind?"
LISA: "Well, right now there are regulations. I helped sponsor, the 'yellow flag law,' which absolutely would take weapons out of the hands of people who are dangerous and who have that capacity and really put them in line to get mental health treatment. This law is absolutely unacceptable. A woman that is in danger—fleeing domestic violence situation, for instance—she should have immediate access to self-protection. That is a very real concern. We had a tragedy just recently in my area of Maine, where a woman was killed in a domestic violence situation, so there are many of those types. First and foremost, our Second Amendment constitutional right is about defense, self-defense. And there's no reason why someone should have to wait 72 hours for a weapon to use in their own self-defense if they are in that situation and have needs."
BETSY: "I applaud this. I'm so happy. Because the largest group of people, the largest homicide [rate], suicide [rate] is by gun violence—someone who has an impulse to kill themselves and/or somebody else. I think this is a very reasonable thing. It's been shown constitutional in other states. And the information on domestic violence? It just doesn't track. The Domestic Violence Coalition was in favor of this bill, because the information is that when there is a gun involved on either side, either with a person who is trying to defend themselves or the person was trying to hurt someone, the likelihood of a mortality is way higher. And so even though it sounds right. Right? It sounds like the right thing, but the data does not bear that out."
LISA: "I think it's such a sexist argument for them to be making: Is a woman who's not able to handle a firearm, or is it a woman who's in danger that's not able to handle it?"
BETSY: "I don't think it's not being able to handle it. It elevates the issue."
LISA: "Well, absolutely. Because generally [the gun is] in the hand of a man who is the abuser; it's generally not in the hand of a woman who's there to protect herself. But absolutely this is a right to self-protection, first and foremost, and the idea that we are going to reduce suicides by this, that's a hope and absolutely that would be a great goal, but not to the detriment of taking away someone's constitutional freedom."
ZACH: "But I want to go back to the focus of this, which is the Lewiston mass shooting. What about preventing a tragedy like that?"
LISA: "It wouldn't have stopped it. That's absolutely clear. If they use the yellow flag law, that would have been stopped."
House Speaker Johnson backs Theriault
With all eyes on November, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson held an event in Auburn this week for Republican Austin Theriault.
Theriault is looking to unseat Democratic Rep. Jared Golden in Maine's Second Congressional District. The race considered a tossup by the Cook Political Report.
ZACH: "Democrats say they believe Golden has more momentum in this race. Betsy, is that really true?"
BETSY: "I think it is true. I think he has certainly has incumbency, which helps him, which helps all candidates. I also think... Here's the problem that Theriault has, which is many of the issues nationally are the issues that happen in Congress are ones that actually Golden agrees with him on. So the differential between Theriault and Golden is not very big, and so people are going to go with someone who has power, who has time. And Golden's work and has [voted] against the Democrats many times—his whole thing is how independent he is. And I think on a lot of the things that Theriault is talking about, Golden is actually with him. And so I think it's hard for the Theriault campaign to gain momentum, so I think Golden has a clear advantage."
LISA: "Well, I see this differently. I was at that event. So much excitement in the room. Republicans are excited to be coming out to vote for him, and Golden's already lost his base because he's trying to be so Republican in the way he talks that people are wondering, 'What do you even stand for?' Because you used to be Democrat. Now you're something sort of in the middle. And as I said, border security, with all of the drugs that are flooding over the border and are killing Maine people, they care about that. And, you know, Golden has flipped on that issue so many times. So, people are going to be looking at him on both sides saying, what does this guy really believe in?"
ZACH: "It's a weird dance."
BETSY: "It's absolutely a weird dance."
LISA: "He has to. It's CD2. They love Trump."
BETSY: "Yeah, well, in the past. I'm predicting right now that I think we are going to win. I think Harris and Walz are going to win CD2, and I think there's a momentum that's so strong underneath for so many people—not the 30 percent that are going to support Trump and Theriault no matter what—but among the rest of the people in the middle who haven't thought where they're going to be, change back and forth depending on who the candidates are and what their issues are, I think that momentum is definitely in the Harris-Walz campaign."
LISA: "I think it's exactly the people in the middle who are going to be looking at Golden and saying, 'What does he even believe? I don't trust him.'"
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