Welcome to the online version of From the Political Bureauan evening newsletter featuring the latest reporting and analysis from the NBC News Politics team on the campaign, the White House, and Capitol Hill.
In today’s edition, we explore how Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s looming exit from the presidential race could give Donald Trump a boost. Plus, national political reporter Ben Kamisar breaks down how Kamala Harris opened the fundraising floodgates.
Programming note: Stay tuned for a special edition of the From the Politics Desk newsletter, which will be released each evening following this week’s Democratic National Convention. It will bring you the latest news and analysis from our Chicago team.
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How Harris Boosted Democratic Fundraising
By Ben Kamisar
The latest campaign finance reports underscore how much the switch between Joe Biden and Kamala Harris has fueled enthusiasm and fundraising among Democrats.
The party’s presidential campaign reported raising a staggering $204 million in July. Biden was the top candidate on the ticket until July 21, when he withdrew and endorsed his running mate. By comparison, Donald Trump’s campaign raised $47.5 million in July.
A dive into the digital fundraising numbers from ActBlue, a platform that essentially serves as the Democratic credit card processor for online donations, shows how Harris opened the floodgates.
In the first 20 days of July, as Biden faced a series of Democratic calls to withdraw from the race after his shaky debate performance, his campaign raised about $30 million through ActBlue, an average of about $1.5 million per day.
But from the time he ended his candidacy through the end of the month, Harris raised more than $183 million — including $39.5 million the day Biden withdrew and nearly $43 million the next day — an average of about $16.7 million per day.
The trend is clear. While the campaign never topped $3 million in daily ActBlue fundraising in Biden’s final 20 days as a candidate, it never raised less than $7 million a day in the final 11 days of July with Harris as the Democratic standard-bearer.
What to Expect on the Third Night of the Democratic Convention
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will deliver the keynote address tonight, presenting his biggest opportunity since Harris selected him as his running mate to introduce himself to the nation.
Other notable speakers include: former President Bill Clinton; former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg; Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro; Maryland Governor Wes Moore; House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries; and Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Chris Murphy of Connecticut.
Follow tonight’s speeches on our live blog →
RFK Jr. plans to withdraw from 2024 presidential race and endorse Trump
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to end his independent presidential campaign and endorse Trump, according to two sources familiar with the plans: Vaughn Hillyard, Dasha Burns, Katherine Koretski and Alec Hernández.
The sources warned that talks are ongoing but that clarity will be reached by the end of the week. One of the sources said the campaigns are working on a joint appearance.
The decision to withdraw marks the end of the most prominent third-party candidacy in the 2024 race. Kennedy announced Wednesday that he will deliver a campaign speech discussing “his path forward,” days after his running mate said the campaign faced a choice between staying in the 2024 election or dropping out to support Trump.
Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, told NBC News in an interview Wednesday that “there’s been a lot of back and forth” between Kennedy and his campaign. Vance also said Trump would not promise a Cabinet position for Kennedy’s support.
The possible consequences: As Mark Murray notes, polls show that a Kennedy withdrawal would likely help Trump more than it would hurt him.
According to National NBC News polls, Republicans like Kennedy better than Democrats. In January, Kennedy had net positive ratings from Republicans (+18) and independents (+4), while Democrats gave him mostly negative ratings (-25).
The spread has only widened since then. Fast-forward to the July NBC News poll — conducted before Biden left office — and Kennedy was in positive territory with only Republican voters (+11), while he was negative among independents (-18) and Democrats (-38).
The July poll also found that in a head-to-head multi-candidate race with Biden, Trump retained 87% of voters who voted for him, while 10% of his voters went to Kennedy, 1% to Jill Stein and 1% to Cornel West.
Biden, in contrast, retained 85% of his support on both sides, with 6% going to Kennedy, 3% to Stein, 2% to Chase Oliver and 1% to West.
And since Biden left the race, the overall share of voters supporting Kennedy and third-party candidates in general has fallen, according to national and battleground polls. More voters have opted for Harris or Trump instead.
Although Kennedy’s potential base of supporters is smaller than before, these voters could still be decisive in a close election.
🗞️ Today’s top stories
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🗓️ 60 years later: Harris’ speech on Thursday marks the 60th anniversary of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, in which she admonished her party for refusing to support voting rights for black Americans and for failing to seat its integrated delegation. Read more →
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🪧 Outside the arena: Protests outside the Democratic convention have far outnumbered protests outside last month’s Republican confab, thanks to divisions among Democrats over the war in Gaza. Read more →
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💲 Price is right: Trump has criticized Harris’ proposal to ban price hikes, but 37 states and DC already have proposals aimed at preventing companies from quickly raising prices on certain goods and services. Read more →
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⭐ A fading star? Governor Ron DeSantis suffered a political blow in Florida’s primary on Tuesday when several candidates he supported lost in the school board elections. Read more →
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🗳️ Ballot paper: Now that key Senate races are officially set, both parties are bracing for a tense battle for control of the chamber. Read more →
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💸 A steep fine: A telecom company has agreed to pay a $1 million fine for its role in a deepfake robocall that imitated Biden’s voice ahead of the New Hampshire Democratic primary. Read more →
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📰 In memory of: Longtime Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., died Wednesday at age 87. Read more →
That’s all from the Politics Desk for now. If you have any feedback — likes or dislikes — please email us at politicsnieuwsbrief@nbcuni.com
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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
