Jessica Yellin Instagram – FIRST TRADITIONAL PRESS INTERVIEW AS NOMINEE
VP Kamala Harris has agreed to sit down for a traditional press interview alongside nominee Gov Tim Walz – and they’ll do it with @cnn’s @danabashcnn .
The political press has been clamoring for an opportunity to interview Harris ever since she entered the race. This will be her first as the nominee.
The interview comes as the traditional media finds itself at odds with other media personalities who are getting more access to the candidates — especially content creators who tend to promote the campaign’s messages online.
Whatever knocks you have against the DC press, a sit-down like this has advantages for voters. Serious reporters who cover Washington talk to experts and electeds on all sides. They have historic knowledge of institutions and a memory for what policy has been attempted before; they also understand where the votes are and therefore can engage candidates on questions including: can this get passed? What are the costs and unintended consequences? A sit down like this allows voters to hear the candidates speak on topics that matter but which the campaign might not have addressed and it’s a way to pressure test the candidates — to assess their readiness for the rough and tumble of DC politics — and their ideas.
As a matter of strategy, there are obvious downsides to an interview: if the candidates stumble badly that provides material the opposition can use to its advantage. On the other hand, refusing to do an interiew would become an issue on its own. And Harris said she’d grant one this month — so failing to do so would become a big THING.
A note on Dana Bash: she is a serious, substantive reporter who has covered multiple presidential campaigns as well as Capitol Hill for years. I worked alongside her and can attest that she knows more about what’s happening in DC than many members of Congress. I’m personally delighted to see that the campaign granted this interview to a woman reporter. I can’t tell you how rare that is.
You can tune in to see the interview Thursday night on CNN. | Posted on 28/Aug/2024 02:59:13
