TEAM HARRIS SPEAKS OUT

Why did Kamala Harris lose? For one thing, Democrats face an uphill battle in swing states, where moderate and conservative voters outnumber liberals, according to Harris campaign advisor David Plouffe, speaking in the Harris campaign leadership’s first interview since the election.

• Democrats have launched a heated debate over the reasons behind Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss — and, to be sure, there’s plenty to talk about. Now, for the first time, Harris’s top advisors are joining the chat. Members of the Harris campaign leadership team sat down for their first interview since the election with Crooked’s Dan Pfeiffer on Monday, in a conversation featuring campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon, principal deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks and senior advisors David Plouffe and Stephanie Cutter. The full interview will be released on Tuesday’s episode of Pod Save America.

• Plouffe noted that any Democrat needs to win both their base and also a commanding majority of moderate voters in swing states — and that, in the end, Harris fell short on that second part. “It’s always worth reminding people: It’s really hard for Democrats to win battleground states,” said Plouffe. “In every battleground state, there are more conservatives than liberals.” The electorate in Pennsylvania, he pointed out, stands at roughly 25 percent liberal and 34 percent conservative. Exit polls suggest Harris won a firm majority of moderates, by 56 percent to 43 percent, according to Plouffe. But, he said: “You kinda got to win 60 percent of them, right?”

• Maximizing base turnout is crucial for any Democratic candidate, said Plouffe, adding that the Harris campaign poured significant resources into doing precisely that. But winning with liberals simply isn’t enough, he said. “We have to dominate the moderate vote,” Plouffe said. “I think as we look ahead to ‘26 and ‘28, particularly where you have seen drift amongst non-college voters, generally, particularly those of color, specifically, you know, we obviously have to get some of that back. We can’t afford any more erosion there.”

The debate over why Harris lost isn’t just about explaining what happened. It’s also the start of deliberations about Democrats’ strategy heading into midterms and the next presidential election — including who should run, and the message they should carry.

• The makeup of the electorate in the swing states is hardly a complete explanation for Harris’ defeat. Plouffe, O’Malley Dillon and the rest spoke for over an hour about the impact of the economy and inflation, the changing media landscape, podcasts vs. traditional news outlets, the ultra-compressed 107-day timeline of Harris’s time in the race, President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out, and much more.

We’ll have more to say about the interview in tomorrow’s newsletter.

NEWS NEWS NEWS

Donald Trump’s D.C. criminal case is no more. Special Counsel Jack Smith moved for the election-subversion case to be dismissed today, and Judge Tanya Chutkan granted the motion. Smith also moved to have Trump dropped as a defendant from the Florida documents case. The question now: Do we think Smith will release a report that details all the bad stuff Trump did?

Rich countries pledged to commit $300 billion in climate finance annually to developing countries until 2035 in a landmark agreement at the COP29 conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. But many developing countries complained the figure is nowhere near the size needed to handle the problem.

Trump announced blanket tariffs on products from China (10 percent), and also Mexico and Canada (25 percent) in posts on Truth Social today. Congratulations, everyone who voted for Trump because they thought prices were too high!

Trump is likely to tap MAGA ultra-loyalist Kash Patel for a top job in the Department of Justice or the FBI, Axios reported Monday, citing sources in the Trump transition. Patel, who is controversial even by Trump standards due to his fervent calls to prosecute government officials, likely won’t get a top job, like FBI director.

Trump’s actual choice for Attorney General, Pam Bondi, however, is hardly an independent, fair-minded moderate. Bondi is on record saying: “Prosecutors will be prosecuted.”

Attorneys for Donald Trump made an initial recommendation that Trump legal advisor Boris Epshteyn be removed from Trump’s proximity, following an internal investigation into whether the longtime Trump aide was profiting from his proximity to the boss, CNN reported, citing unnamed sources. But Epshteyn, who denied wrongdoing, reportedly won’t be going anywhere, despite the recommendation. I mean, let’s be real: Doesn’t this seem like the kind of thing that is more likely to get you promoted in Trumpworld?

MAGA nutjob Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is threatening to target the funding of NPR in her new job helping out Elon Musk’s DOGE government efficiency program from her seat in Congress. She accused the network of public radio stations of making “Democrat propaganda.” It’s gonna be a long four years, people!

President Joe Biden said he plans to attend Trump’s inauguration on January 20, in accordance with traditional presidential etiquette, as he seeks to emphasize that you don’t have to do an insurrection when your side loses.

Rapper Drake filed a lawsuit accusing Universal Music Group and Spotify of artificially inflating the popularity of rival rapper Kendrick Lamar’s diss track, “Not Like Us.” Nothing says, “I lost the rap battle” like filing a lawsuit against Spotify afterwards, and claiming the whole thing was rigged.

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