How Harris could win big: Trump's ongoing failures

This is the final part of a three-part series looking at how various factors in the presidential race could lead to Kamala Harris winning big this year. You can find the first and second parts here. Donald Trump’s debate performance last week was disqualifying .

Out of so many key moments in the debate, likely none was more powerful than when Kamala Harris said about Trump and his rallies, “And I will tell you the one thing you will not hear him talk about is you. You will not hear him talk about your needs, your dreams, and your, your desires. And I'll tell you, I believe you deserve a president who actually puts you first.



And I pledge to you that I will.” Trump couldn’t resist taking her crowd-size bait. To say the least, he’s old, addled, and tired.

And just like the June presidential debate uncorked questions about Biden’s ability to do this job, the second debate will hopefully do the same for Trump. As Republican strategist Karl Rove—yes, that one— wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “[T]here’s no putting lipstick on this pig. Mr.

Trump was crushed by a woman he previously dismissed as ‘dumb as a rock.’ Which raises the question: What does that make him?” One of Trump’s most bizarre and consistent lies is that “everybody” wanted abortion “to be brought back into the states,” which he repeated in last week’s debate. But why does this one lie matter? Because 40% of Republican women consider themselves to be more pro-choice , according to polling from KFF.

And some of them must realize he’s lying to their face about their own beliefs. And if he’s willing to lie about that ..

. But even if you’re an anti-abortion Republican, Trump can’t keep his pitch to you straight. Recently, he has tied himself up in knots over Florida’s abortion-rights-restoring ballot initiative.

Initially, he said he was for it, then after infuriating his evangelical base, he said he was against it. Then, at the debate, he said, “And as far as the abortion ban, no, I'm not in favor of abortion ban”—despite having just announced that he would vote against the initiative repealing the ban. And it seems some evangelicals know they can’t trust him.

“Donald Trump is against Project 2025, which I am for; and that Donald Trump is pro-I.V.F.

mandate, which I am against; and that Donald Trump believes that some abortion access is good and should be ultimately decided by states, and that’s what we’ve always wanted, and I disagree with that premise,” one evangelical leader told The New York Times. “The Trump campaign has made it harder for people like me who are trying to galvanize the Christian vote,” said another, who heads a conservative Christian voter-registration group. What happens when Trump’s own supporters lose faith in him? Last week, Trump brought Laura Loomer , a far-right activist who has promoted 9/11 conspiracies, as his guest to a memorial commemorating the Sept.

11 attacks. And not only have major Republicans have publicly expressed horror at her impact on Trump’s messaging and campaign strategy, but also something is certainly broken when far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is a voice of reason.

She called one of Loomer’s recent racist tweets, well, “ extremely racist .” “She is an extreme liability,” a former Trump campaign staffer told Mediate. (Is that you Kellyanne Conway?) “She has no filter on her mouth and says hateful, racist, judgmental things.

...

The fact that Trump had someone with limited education who is a complete grifter on his plane, just proves he doesn’t take this election seriously.” Will Trump alienate his party’s top figures? What happens if more decide to cut bait and regroup for 2026? What happens if downballot Republicans are forced to distance themselves from Trump’s toxicity? To reiterate, the race is basically tied right now. But there are signals out there that could develop into a surprisingly strong win for Harris.

In 538’s presidential forecast , Harris getting 359 electoral votes is about as likely as her getting 272, as of Monday at 2:30 PM ET. But none of this happens without our hard work, and none of this is a signal to take the next two months off. Winning this election is not a spectator sport.

And winning big would mean lifting downballot Democrats, keeping the Senate and retaking the House. A trifecta could mean Washington, D.C.

, and perhaps Puerto Rico becoming states. It could mean passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and mitigating partisan redistricting, ensuring people’s right to vote. It could even mean expanding the Supreme Court to counter its extreme conservative tilt, as well as implementing justice term limits.

Motivated enough? You can help turn out the vote for the election by simply chatting to your neighbors. This is a cool one! Click here to sign up for Daily Kos/Indivisible’s Neighbor2Neighbor get-out-the-vote program..