CNN Panelist Sees ‘Glaring Hole’ In Harris-Walz Campaign

The Democratic National Convention doesn’t seem to be going as the party had hoped following a series of glitches, scheduling problems, and the pushing back of President Joe Biden’s speech to nearly midnight on Monday. Now, during CNN’s coverage of the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago on Tuesday, right-leaning panelist Scott Jennings identified a “glaring hole” in the Harris-Walz campaign.

While Jennings commended what he saw as a “well-produced” DNC, particularly praising the speeches by former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, he pointed out that the convention speeches overlooked the fact that their party has won the presidency in three of the last four elections and that Vice President Kamala Harris is currently serving in the White House.

“I think the contrast that I see — and I don’t know which is gonna win — but we’re seeing the contrast of the politics of combat versus the politics of compassion. That’s what the Obamas were trying to set up tonight, in my judgement,” he argued. “I should warn my fellow Republicans that we heard two of the greatest political communicators in the country tonight. Now, we had Hulk-a-mania,” Jennings said to the laughter of panelists. “The Democrats have Obama-mania. They ripped the roof off of this place tonight. These Democrats are fired up — they’re not playing. Okay?”

“Yes, they say things that are exaggerations. They do say things about Trump and the Republicans that are outright lies. But the convention is working for Harris, at least as of today,” he continued. “The gap that I still see in all these speeches, as good as they were, is that she’s in the White House right now,” Jennings said.

“Democrats have controlled the White House for 12 of the last 16 years. And for all of the talk about division and the problems of the country, and people are hurting, Democrats have mostly controlled this country. Trump had it for four. The Obamas and Biden had it for the rest of the time. And somehow, it’s still all Trump’s fault, and somehow, she hasn’t been at the center of it. So, to me, that’s still the glaring hole in this campaign that hasn’t yet been solved at the convention,” Jennings added.  “How do you explain all of the problems that will be solved by the person who is currently in there for the last three-and-a-half years who was supposed to already be working on solving it?” he asked.

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On Tuesday night, Harris was not present at the DNC but instead hosted an event in Milwaukee, the site of July’s Republican National Convention (RNC). During this time, delegates at the DNC participated in a ceremonial roll call, symbolically casting their votes for Harris by state. Harris had already secured the Democratic presidential nomination through a virtual roll call in early August. Notably, she was absent on the night that the Obama’s spoke amidst a backdrop of speculation that there’s bad blood between them.

Former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign manager and trusted political confidante, Kellyanne Conway, used her perch as a Fox News contributor on Monday, the first night of the Democratic National Convention, to make a prediction about her onetime boss’s chances against Harris. Co-anchor Bret Baier opened the segment by setting up the situation the 45th president faces: “Has Team Trump, Kellyanne, settled on their attack plan against Kamala Harris and Tim Walz? Has there been, do you think, a uniting of forces here, a change in how they’re approaching this ticket? Because obviously, it’s a new ticket.”

Conway predicted Trump could indeed win again. “It is new, and look, Donald Trump beat a woman before, and he can beat a woman again, but this woman’s not defined the way Hillary Clinton was. She was seen as sour and dour, she had a lot of people telling pollsters, ‘I don’t think she’s honest or trustworthy, in fact, she’s probably corrupt,’ and she wasn’t seen as fresh and new. She wasn’t seen as part of the old; she barely was part of the old girls’ club to the extent there was one.”

“And I think it’s a different race, a different set, and look, the struggle is not to find the best nickname for her or insult her, I want more insights, fewer insults. I think the way to beat her is very obvious: it’s through policy. And in 2016 when Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton, a much more formidable, much more experienced woman, the issue set was not as clean,” Conway said.