Out front now, Michael Hardaway, former long-time aid to President Obama and former communications director to congressman Hakeem Jeffries. Also with us, we have New York Times podcast host Lulu Garcia-Navarro and Republican strategist, Sher Michael Singleton. Lulu, to you first. Today, marking the first joint campaign event with Harrison Biden since he dropped out of the race and endorsed her, and it's in Pennsylvania. How crucial is Joe Biden to Harris's success there?

I mean, I think it helps. There's this This conversation that keeps happening that somehow Biden is a drag on her. She is his vice president. She can't run away from that, so she might as well embrace it where it matters, and it matters in a place like Pennsylvania, and it matters with older white voters who have been traditional supporters of Joe Biden in Pennsylvania. He loves to call himself Scranton Joe. This is exactly where he should be right now lending a hand. What you saw there was typical Joe Biden really speaking to what he has provided to unions, talking about his real connection with union workers. She was the second act to that, but I think it was a useful performance by both of them.

Michael, President Biden today, vowing that this is just the start of his campaigning for Vice President Harris. Let's listen.

Made a lot of progress, and Common and I are going to build on that progress, and she's going to build on it. I'll be on the sidelines, but I'll do everything I can to help.

So now he will head to Michigan. He'll go to Wisconsin this week as well. Does his assistance in these blue-wall states outweigh any risk or limitations on her ability to sell a forward-looking message and plot her own course?

It does because people love Joe Biden. On a personal level, he's incredibly good at connecting with people, especially working class people of all races, and helping them understand that he understands what they're dealing with. If you look at his record, it very much is one that is pro-union and pro-working class, specifically with the Bush-Lewis Act, which saved the pensions of over 100 million Americans. I'm sorry. Of over 1 million Americans. 52,000 of those in Pennsylvania. And so it matters that he's out there, and it matters that he's fighting on her behalf because he does this incredibly good job of connecting with people in a real way.

Sure, Michael, what do you think?

I mean, look, I don't know if it's That's not necessarily a good thing. I mean, the President wasn't performing very well with the very constituents that he's expected to assist the Vice President with. You talk about unions. I understand once a stalward of the Democratic Party. Now we're seeing a lot of working class people migrate over to the Republican Party. It's an interesting reshuffling, if you will, of voters where they once were to where they appear to be going today. But I think Pennsylvania, Breonna, is going to be an incredibly important state for Trump and Harris. I would argue it is a must win state. I think if Harris can win it, she ultimately gets to 270. I think if Trump wins it, he ultimately gets to 270. It's the reason why you're seeing both candidates spend a lot of time there. They're having surrogates there. Look at the massive amount of money in media buys they're spending. And also, Brianna, look at where they're putting their boots on the ground in Pennsylvania. What counties? Who are they trying to target? Who are they trying to penetrate? One, you want to overly excite your base.

But for that small % of people who may still be on the fence there, you want to make that compelling argument now until November of why you are better than your opponent. And so I expect to see a whole lot more come the next couple of weeks in Pennsylvania by both camps.

Sure, Michael. I wonder, we see on the schedule President Trump, he's holding a rally Saturday in Wisconsin. He's not out there on Labor Day, even as he's trying to court union workers. Is that a mistake?

So from my understanding, the former President is getting ready for the upcoming in debate. After the debate, his campaign trail is supposed to kick back up in terms of the number of places he's expected to visit, along with JD Vans. You're also going to see more of JD Vans crisscross in the country as well, hitting some of those crucial battleground states. And I think this is important, Brianna. Oftentimes, we hear from the Trump campaign, he doesn't prepare, he doesn't prepare. Well, I think the former President is taking this debate very serious with Vice President Harris. This is not going to be Joe Biden. She's going to be able to articulate her message on the issues. We may differ, but this is going to be a much more competitive race in a competitive debate. And so he needs to spend that time being able to surgically argue why he's going to be the better alternative on the most consequential issues for the American people They both best take this very seriously, this upcoming debate.

Lulu?

Yeah. One of the things that I thought was really interesting just watching her is that she was much more in this particular speech that she just gave, forceful, than I've her before. The joy seems to be being ratcheted down, and the fight seems to be ratcheting up, because this really is now the crucial moment where you are actually battling vote by vote, as Sure Michael says, for these very tight margins in these very swingy, swingy districts. Just the tone there struck me as different than the one that I've seen from her before.

Let's listen to a little bit of that. Here's more of Harris at her rally.

As we fight to move forward, Donald Trump is trying to pull us backward. America has tried those failed policies before, and we are not going back. We are not going back. We are not going back. We're not going back.

Michael, I wonder about what you saw today, but also we should note the latest ABC poll found no real bounce for Harris after the DNC. Do you think Do you think that's a sign that enthusiasm and momentum may have maxed out on energizing Democrats, on energizing the base? And now she's really got that hard sell for swing voters?

No, I think the good news for her is she's still doing incredibly well in all the swing states that matter in the Midwest. She's neck and deck with Trump in Pennsylvania. She's playing well in Arizona and in Georgia and even North Carolina. And so overall, she is doing incredibly well, but she has to be out there in these battleground states every single week along with the President and making her case, specifically in Pennsylvania, because that for her is a must-win state. I think she wins because she has a real record in terms of what this administration has done for working people in Pennsylvania and across the It's really true, but she has to sell that record.

Lou-laur, I want to listen to a Tim Walls moment on the trail. Labor Day, of course, it's a home stretch for the baseball season. We're on the cusp of the NFL season 2, and he gave a nod to both sports today when he was in Wisconsin. Let's listen.

We respect differences. That's your opinion. Look, we're sitting here together, brewers and twins fans, Vikings and Patrick. Look, we respect it. But on things like health care and what books I read and democracy. We all live by that very simple golden rule, mind your own damn business.

I'm curious, Lulu, how you think Walsh compares as a of jovial midwestern messenger, straightforward, when stacked up against JD Vance, who do you think is more relatable?

I think the polling shows that Walsh is much more likable and relatable. He has the dad vibes, right? And he gets the sports metaphors. He trots them out whenever he can. And this is the currency, the political currency that he brings to the ticket. Jd Vance has been out there. He has been, I think, a very loyal attack dog for for Trump. I don't know how effective he's been because what we've seen is the more that he engages, the less people seem to like him. Again, it is troubling for the Trump campaign that they do not have a waltz on their side. People are not connecting with JD Vance in the same way that they do with waltz.

Sure, Michael, what do you think?

I think JD Vance has showcased a real discipline as it pertains sticking with the economy and immigration and making that case from the interviews I've seen. I certainly understand why Democrats would say some of the comments that he's made in the past that have resurface are colorful, to say the least. I don't think there are many Republicans who are too happy about it. But I want to just quickly tap on the question you asked, Michael, about the momentum with Vice President Harris. If you remember a couple of weeks ago, the top poster for the Trump campaign released an eternal memo that stated, expect to see the Vice President continue to have this incredible rise for maybe the next 28, 30 days, at least until Labor Day. And sure enough, here we are right at Labor Day, and we're seeing the numbers flattened out, which is what I think a lot of Democrats and even Republican strategists have argued this thing is going to get incredibly close as we get closer to early voting, as we get close to November. And so, again, Brian, I know a lot of people ask, well, who in the heck is left out there to decide this election?

You do have those low propensity voters who may be registered, but they don't always engage. You're going to see both camps trying to target those voters with a message of something to try to get them to turn out. I think that's the most fascinating component of this race.

And new voters. There are people who are registering who have come in. I think that is also going to be one of the crucial elements here.

Lulu, Michael, sure, Michael, thank you so much to all of you. Really appreciate.