Behold tax-funded PBS’s idea of balanced election coverage: A Republican campaign strategist who endorsed the Democrat was interviewed on Tuesday night’s show, and a die-hard Democratic partisan strategist on Wednesday night. That hardly fulfills the “strict adherence to objectivity and balance” mandated by Congress when it created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 1967.
Former John McCain campaign strategist Mike Murphy had already signed a letter endorsing Harris over Trump, yet somehow appeared as a “Republican Strategist” on the News Hour, which didn’t mention his endorsement of the Democrat while going through what Harris had to do to beat Republican Trump. The next night, partisan Democratic strategist and fully committed Harris supporter James Carville did the same thing. Some balance!
Geoff Bennett: Let's turn now to a veteran Republican strategist to take a closer look at how the Trump and Harris teams are navigating the weeks that remain in this election. Mike Murphy is a veteran GOP adviser and media consultant who served as a senior strategist on John McCain's presidential campaign and has also worked on campaigns for Mitt Romney and Arnold Schwarzenegger….What's your assessment of this race three weeks out from Election Day?
“Republican” Murphy cared more about what the Democrat needed to do to beat the Republican.
Mike Murphy: ….in the last seven or eight days, he's gone from a tiny bit behind to a tiny bit ahead in many of those states. Some, he's always been ahead. So they're upshifting at the Harris campaign, and they need to. I think they have kind of -- this is all within the margin, but they have run out of steam a little and they know it. So you're seeing her doubling down, increasing aggression, doing all the things the smart campaign does in this situation to close the race. And she needs to.
Later he emphasized:
Murphy: ….I think the biggest factor between now and Election Day is getting Kamala out of a little bit of this bubble they have had her on. Let her campaign. Create the music of the campaign that she is a happy warrior out there working hard dawn until dusk earning it. That's been missing the last 10 days. I think in the last two or three days they're doing it. And I applaud that, because, without it, I don't think they're going to win.
No doubt which side Republican Murphy is on. The very next night, PBS doubled down on the disparity by interviewing veteran Democratic strategist James Carville, who was naturally a strong Harris supporter.
Carville declared himself a “big fan” of the show, which shouldn’t surprise, before telling anchor Amna Nawaz that the Harris “campaign is getting sharper,” before letting loose with personal insults of Trump.
Carville: And, frankly, he's getting, if anything, less attached to reality, even for him, than I have seen before. I mean, some of the stuff that he's out there saying is really wild. And then you had that weird rally, 39-minute, I don't know what you call it, but there's some -- I think he's suffering from what I call my mamentia, madness and dementia at the same time. There's considerable evidence that he's in pretty severe state of deterioration right now, and we will just have to keep monitoring it. But -- and I think she's doing a little better. I really do.
Nawaz didn’t question that irresponsible characterization (though she surely would have, if a conservative had dared talk of Kamala Harris in such fashion), merely followed up with Carville about an op-ed he’d written.
Nawaz: You wrote this: "To be the certified fresh candidate, Ms. Harris must clearly and decisively break from Mr. Biden on a set of policy priorities she believes would define her presidency." In your view, has she done that enough?
Carville praised Harris’s performances at the convention and debate and her new spate of interviews on various platforms: “And she's doing it quite well, frankly.”
These two pro-Democrat segments were brought to you in part by BDO.
Transcripts are available, click “Expand.”
PBS News Hour
10/15/24
7:07:46 p.m. (ET)
Geoff Bennett: Let's turn now to a veteran Republican strategist to take a closer look at how the Trump and Harris teams are navigating the weeks that remain in this election. Mike Murphy is a veteran GOP adviser and media consultant who served as a senior strategist on John McCain's presidential campaign and has also worked on campaigns for Mitt Romney and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
….
Geoff Bennett: So, Donald Trump sounded pretty comfortable today about his Election Day prospects, that his campaign is doing really well in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona. Democrats acknowledge that they're going to have to fight for every vote.
Kamala Harris, in speaking with Charlamagne today, said that this will be a tight race, but she says, "I'm going to win."
What's your assessment of this race three weeks out from Election Day?
Mike Murphy: Well, I think it is an absolute 50-50 coin toss. She's a little bit ahead in the national vote, but in our modern era, it's quite possible to win the national popular vote and lose the presidency because of the way the Electoral College works.
So when you look at those key states, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and potentially North Carolina, Trump's doing better there than he is nationally.
And I think in the last seven or eight days, he's gone from a tiny bit behind to a tiny bit ahead in many of those states. Some, he's always been ahead.
So they're upshifting at the Harris campaign, and they need to. I think they have kind of — this is all within the margin, but they have run out of steam a little and they know it. So you're seeing her doubling down, increasing aggression, doing all the things the smart campaign does in this situation to close the race.
And she needs to.
PBS News Hour
10/16/24
7:08:10 p.m. (ET)
Amna Nawaz: We're now joined by longtime Democratic strategist James Carville.
He served as a lead adviser on Bill Clinton's presidential campaign, and he's the subject of a new documentary called "Carville: Winning Is Everything, Stupid," which chronicles his efforts to get President Biden to step down from the top of the Democratic ticket.
James Carville, welcome back to the "News Hour."
James Carville, Democratic Strategist:
Well, thank you. Always a privilege to be on the show. I'm big fan, been a fan of it for a long time.
Amna Nawaz: Thank you, sir. Well, let me just start by getting your take on the state of the race. There's a new NPR analysis out today, in the seven battleground states, that it looks now like Mr. Trump has his first lead in the polling average in those specific battleground states since Harris moved to the top of the ticket. It's a microscopic lead, less than half-a-percentage point, but I just wonder what you make of that.
James Carville: You know, everybody says this, but it's actually true. In every election but one in this century, both candidates have gone about thinking they have a chance to win the election, 2008 being the only kind of exception to that.
And there's just kind of — the polling is tight. But what generally happens is, the election breaks one way or another toward the end. And so we will — but we will wait and see. I have no prediction or anything like that. I'm just trying to work as hard as I can
But it's — everything indicates that there's tight polling everywhere.
Amna Nawaz: Well, with 20 days left, what do you think it would take to break one way or the next? There's no sort of big events left on the calendar, right?
James Carville:Well, I think that — I mean, to be honest, I think that vice president, the campaign is getting sharper. It's getting more visible.
And, frankly, he's getting, if anything, less attached to reality, even for him, than I have seen before. I mean, some of the stuff that he's out there saying is really wild. And then you had that weird rally, 39-minute, I don't know what you call it, but there's some — I think he's suffering from what I call my mamentia (ph), madness and dementia at the same time.
There's considerable evidence that he's in pretty severe state of deterioration right now, and we will just have to keep monitoring it. But — and I think she's doing a little better. I really do.
Amna Nawaz: I want to ask you about one piece of advice you offered specifically to the Harris campaign in an op-ed last month.
