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In every election there are moments, some obvious at the time, some
less so, that shape the state of the race, leaving public opinion on
the ground, and eventually in the polls, very different from how they
found it.

This year is no exception and since the contest hit the final stretch
under early September skies, there are five events -- twists in the
road -- that have led to the general sense of panic we see among
Democrats, and renewed confidence for the Republicans.

IF 2024 POLLING ERRORS MIRROR THOSE IN 2020 ELECTION, TRUMP ‘WINS IN A
BLOWOUT,’ SAYS CNN DATA GURU

It is worth remembering that at the end of August, Kamala Harris was
firmly leading, Donald Trump was being bashed, even by some on the
right, for choosing JD Vance as his running mate, and frankly, the
picture was looking really rosy for the Democrats. But that was all
about to change. 

Here are the five moments that wrought that change.
RFK Jr. on stage with Trump at Arizona rally

1. RFK Jr Endorsing (And Normalizing) Trump

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s endorsement of Donald Trump at the end of
August was the moment that Trump regained momentum in the election.
Harris had flatlined, albeit with a narrow lead, but the Trump
campaign was also stalled out.

RFK Jr did two things. First, he brought along most of his voters, as
polls now show us, to Trump, and these are people who aren’t big fans
of Trump or Harris, but trust the Kennedy scion to demand
accountability from either. Second, the endorsement was an arrow to
the heart of the argument that Trump is some fascist, or threat to
democracy. If Kennedy wasn’t buying it, then neither were most
Americans in the middle.
2. The Harris Debate Victory Mirage

In the minutes after last month’s debate between Harris and Trump,
Democrats and their media allies were over the moon about Kamala
speaking her truth to power and stylistically trouncing the bad orange
man. 

Others weren’t so sure. Yes, Trump seemed flat, and Harris did better
than many expected, but she had a unique job to do, which was to tell
the American people who she is and what she stands for, especially
given that she had no primary cycle in which to do so. On this count
she squarely failed, and the voters I spoke to all knew it. It was the
biggest missed opportunity of the race by either side. There was no
bounce for Harris. In fact, it was when polls started moving to Trump.

3. JD Vance Strikes Back

As I have insisted in these pages for months, the media’s farcical
attack on JD Vance for being weird never landed with voters, but it
was enough, early on to be a stumbling block, leading the punditry to
declare his selection a mistake. Then he debated Democratic Vice
Presidential Nominee Tim Walz, coming away with a clear, if not
overwhelming, victory.

Before and after the debate, Vance sought out every tough interview he
could get and proved himself deft and able at defending Trump and
populism, even in the teeth of left-wing talking points. Today, it is
obvious that his selection was a boon to the ticket.
4. Joe Biden Voters Jumping Ship

Of all the hard turns and switchbacks of the past month, the one that
nobody I talked to saw coming, be they voters, pundits, consultants or
clairvoyants, was that there a significant number of voters,
especially in Pennsylvania, who would have voted for Scranton Joe, but
aren’t voting for Harris.

The bombshell moment that revealed this was the Teamsters refusal to
endorse Kamala after the union’s internal polling showed that while
Biden beat Trump, Trump trounced Harris among its members. According
to Pew Research, Trump now has the lead in the bellwether Catholic
vote, which Biden won in 2020. This as Harris refuses to attend the
Catholic Al Smith Dinner and Gov Gretchen Whitmer mocks the Eucharist
on tik tok with a Harris Walz hat on. 

This could all spell revenge for Joseph Robinette Biden.

5. Harris’ Embarrassing Media Gauntlet

Over the past week, as concern turned to panic in Democratic circles,
the Hidin' Harris 2024 campaign realized it had a problem, that nobody
knows who she is, and she had better go get on TV. It did not go well.

First, she did so poorly on "60 Minutes" that CBS News had to
surreptitiously edit her real response to a question about Israel when
her ham-fisted actual response was a rank slurry of jingoistic
buzzwords.

Then Harris took to "The View," where she couldn’t think of anything
the Biden administration should have done differently, and then hours
later, failed to answer the same softball question on the Stephen
Colbert show. Harris isn’t just not ready for prime time, she isn’t
ready for daytime or late-night either, and boy, did it show.

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/david-marcus-top-5-twists-put-trump-back-command?intcmp=fb_fnc&intcmp=fb_fnc&fbclid=IwY2xjawF3oU1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHU-LL4DkFr-XqkqUyJQu9tu6nSjjbcHiT7csxiKXC_f10qcGrW1_b5_bzA_aem_V-x7iMdn6zupK2Ct6cxZQw