X and tiktok. Thank you so much for joining me today. First of all, was going on a short hiatus. Im taking two weeks off to go enjoy the warmth of other suns. Ill see you back here saturday, october 5th. Smerconish is up next they or wont day im Michael Smerconish in new York City today, ballots are now being cast in alabama, were 52 days away from the final day of voting. But whether there will be another debate remains in doubt. Tuesday night in philadelphia ended with a nearly unanimous decision, but no Knockout Blow before it began, i said Donald Trump needed to exhibit discipline and Kamala Harris needed to show depth she met her mark. He missed his. I locked in my own assessment of the debate Via X just prior to delivery of closing statements before i might be swayed by anybody elses spin. Among my points, that trumps claims about migrants eating pets and abortions being performed at nine months would be a fact checkers dream, but not decisive. I wrote this, she won the debate but that does not mean the needle move tonight, people will see what they wanted to see in polling suggests i was correct on both according to a Cnn Poll of registered voters who watched the debate, 63 said harris turned in a better performance, only 37 said that about trump its hard to imagine the debate having gone better for harris. Unlike any prior Trump Debate Opponent she surgically got under his skin among other things, she forced a predebate handshake and then mocked that which values his valuing most. She said that people leave his rallies from boredom and that even his beloved Business School Alma mater, wharton was critical of his economic plan. Trump look dour. He cited fiction. And while his campaign has rightly noted the uneven application of factchecking by the moderators. He himself failed to fact check opponent and he missed countless opportunities to make his bestcase. The very first question was a take on the old are you better off than you were four years ago . It went to the Vice President. She didnt answer it. But trump blew is rebuttal he failed to talk about Inflation And World conflict in any number of other comparisons that would have advanced his cause. Trump knows he had a bad night. Why else would he last night have raised the ridiculous idea that she was wearing an earpiece so that she could be fed answers but heres the thing. None of this may have mattered. The first postdebate poll of stature, a new reuters ipsos poll finds virtually nothing has changed in the president ial race after Tuesdays Debate by their metric, harris gained just one point nationally before the debate, reuters ipsos said harrisled 45 to trumps 41 postdebate. They found that harris has 47 of support among registered voters nationwide, while trump stands at 42 and where the Electoral College inherently helps republicans, even after the debate, Nate Silver gives trump a 61 chance of winning his analysis shows harris with national lead of 2. 1 remember in 2016, a popular Vote Victory of 2 was not enough for Hillary Clinton to win the election. And this could explain why trump appears in no hurry to commit to another debate. He initially claimed victory. He said no moss to another and then yesterday said it dependent upon his mood, which means it could be a roller coaster. I suspect hell commit. And if he doesnt, harris has now raised enough money that cheated by 90 minutes of airtime and just err the first debate all over again. It brings me to todays Poll Question at smerconish. Com. Will there be a second . Harris Trump Debate joining me now, two of my favorites, the party sellers a cnn political Commentator And Salena zito, national political reporter for the Washington Examiner and a contributor for the wall street journal, bacari to you, if that first debate didnt up upend the race, it means were going to be locked Neck And Neck till The End, right yeah. I do think this is a Neck And Neck race and i would take it one step further and say that Kamala Harris is an underdog in this race. I mean, i think thats extremely clear. She continues to do the work necessary. She was in Pennsylvania Yesterday should be back in pencil so then you next tuesday. But if you look at the Swing States where this race will be won, if you look in michigan, pennsylvania, if you look in wisconsin, nevada, arizona, north carolina, and georgia you know, these are razor thin margins and this is going to be a marginal race and every vote is going to count and you also see strategies. I mean, just things that people arent necessarily paying attention to michael in north carolina, for example, the kerfuffle that rfk caused, it actually is caused by taking his name off the ballot actually, its caused a Twoweek Delay in an early voting. So these things that are going on around the country actually matter in what is a razor thin race . Im going to get to some of the Ballot Consideration to the next block of the program. Selina why does he pal around with Laura Loomer . I have no idea. But as one voter told me, wouldnt it be great if he was instead had Nikki Haley on the plane as opposed to loomer. However, those are the things that dont matter to voters and now it does as a matter to a sliver. Might matter to enough that would sway someones vote. But there are still real issues that people are deeply concerned about. And i think both candidates need to talk about them in earnest in a way that connects with the voter, sort of the way that Bill Clinton used to say i feel your pain, right voters are looking for someone to say, i see whats going on in your community. I understand what is your problems in your Family Budget and i want to help you in here is how he he caught yes. Yeah reversi like he deliberately brings up the migrant pet business, having to know that its totally bogus. A must be a practioner of the idea that bad publicity is better than no publicity. All he wants to do, selina is control well, i will say both Court Controversy and what happened in Western Pennsylvania last week, she made the decision to go to penzeys spice. It is the easiest decision in The World when you go to a local town and that case, it was pittsburgh, my hometown you always lets go to a locally own business that is beloved and nobody thinks of as political. Instead, she goes to a franchise that is known for antisemitic remarks and also calling republicans fascist on their website. So i think she doesnt much more subtly that was definitely a choice they he just as like in your face with it. Bakari, youre a smart lawyer, put off put on your analytical hat and Tell Me what is trump up to when he brings a 911 Denier While be fair, she said you know, inside job, thats horrible to a commemoration on the 23rd anniversary and then floats the whole whats going going on in ohio where bill the wind and the mayor of that town have both now said its totally bogus. And today the new reporting is that the woman who was the origin of that story said she heard it from somebody else. I think it was her sisters, brothers, nephews, uncle. I dont know. But whats he up to . Bakari . I just think Donald Trump is clearly diminished demand. I think that the Donald Trump that we recall from the Hillary Clinton campaign when he was 70yearsold is not the same Donald Trump that you see today at 78 the two campaigns and the two candidates are not a light last night i listened to Kamala Harris Given Interview in Philadelphia Market where she talked about making sure things were more affordable and being able to buy car seats et cetera. And you may not like her delivery where people may say she meanders, but shes actually talking about issues that matter then you the contrast is Donald Trump, who is talking about having a Mass Deportation of legal haitian migrants in ohio back to venezuela, like that makes no sense whatsoever bakari. Bakari. But your candidate is Neck And Neck lets go back to where we began. Why what we just said is she not winning elicit i think it would the clear contrast between these voters. I wish that we were in a place where this race was not close, but she has to fight for every single vote. And let me just be extremely clear. Commonly harris has to do three things. She has to push our margin up with african africanamerican voters, particularly black men. We have to continue to see Donald Trump precipitously fall under 35 with hispanic voters. And then this race is going to come down to college education. White women. And its do you want chaos of Donald Trump . Do we want to do this every day . Talk about theyre eating your dog, theyre eating your cat, theyre eating your pets. Do we want to do that every day or do we want to have substantive Policy Discussions . Well, yes. Me you michael selina, we may disagree on policy well unrealized Capital Gains or tax or whatever it may be. But at Xephobic Rhetoric that is out dividing our country question. Selina, the pope, lets talk about the pontiff, the lesser, the lesser of two evils. How do you interpret that . I did not know. He said that there are a mayra my rid of people that i wish did not get involved in politics. And, you every everyone can take it their own way, right . Everyone has a geographic and cultural perception of what that might mean. For one person. Its going to meet trump for the another person is going to mean harris. And so i dont put a lot of stock in in celebrity or religious endorsements but its just a layer of one more thing to think about so bakari, let me ask you about a different influencer of this election. The Taylor Swift factor, how do you interpret it and who had the right idea . Taylor swift, who makes an Endorsement Or Caitlin clark who liked it. And then everybody says, well, wait a minute, if you like it, does that mean youre in the same camp . I sat out to both of those amazing young ladies and let me just tell you, i am a swiftie, but im also a south carolina womens basketball fan. And so weve had our back battles with Caitlin Clark enough. But i appreciate the fact that shes actually utilizing her platform. Both of them vote. Org actually had three 360,000 Voter Registration signups. If you go and look it statebystate Swing States where these elections matter. I will actually say that this endorsement and may mean something around the margins is it going to sway this race two or three points . No, its not. But is it going to su8 this race, 10,000 votes here or 15,000 votes here. The answer is yes. And the other thing ill tell you, michael is im im really, really happy that Taylor Swift came out and on the right side of history but ive called beyond say, a couple of times and she hasnt picked up my call. I dont know if i have the wrong number or what, but thats The Endorsement then im waiting on i really want to see what beyonce is going to do. And i know shes tired of me texting and calling her selina, if its a game of inches and we all agree that it is might this be outcome determinative taylor Swifts Endorsement . I actually would point to The Endorsement last night that was given in nevada by rick from pawn stars. It was emotional. It was guarding and it was a story about his son and fentanyl. And if youre going to give an endorsement, put something deep behind it. Its not that i mean, if were Gonna Go with the celebrity endorsements, that to me that was one that was really, really potent and powerful. Selina, you got your touches in earlier this morning somewhere else. I love it. You did the prelim over there, then you came im here for the real show. Bakari, who are your people thats what i want to know thanking another discuss. Another discussion. Nice to see you both what are your thoughts hit me up on social media. Ill react to some throughout the course of the program, katherine, katherine is down the hall from me today. You now im always saying like, hey catherine, what do we have . And im in philly know, shes like 20 yards away here in new York City, kind of cool Hannity Question Harris and Joy Reid question trump. That would be an interesting and hilarious says rick. I think that when, when trump says, oh, id like it to be on fox, although i dont want it to be with bret and with martha m, hes hes like picking the whole lineup that he wants hed be better served if he said id like to go over to msnbc, im willing to come and debate in front of Rachel Joy Reid for crying out loud, then you would say, okay, hes willing to go into the lions den. I still say he does it again. And you know why its not so much because of what the polling says, he must do. I just dont think that he can avoid a Spot Light with what was the number . 71 Million People Watching. I want to know what you think. Go to my website at smerconish. Com. Answer todays Poll Question. Will there be a second . Harris Trump Debate . Up ahead with the election only 52 days away. I should say the final day of voting. Top Election Officials across the country raising concerns about delays in the united states postal Service Service are voters at risk of having their ballots getting lost in the mail . My next guest is the Kansas Secretary of state. He thinks the Pony Express would have likely done a better job and be sure to sign up for my daily newsletter. A. Come on. Look what Steve Breen drew for us this week at smerconish. Com on The Edge premieres next sunday at nine on cnn. Why do couples she was asleep number smart bad. Can it keep me warm when im cold . Weight know im always hot. Sleep number doesnt make my side softer . Think my side firmer . Number. Does that your Ideal Firmness in effortless comfort all night can help us sleep better and better sleep never does that nine ten couples reported better sleep . 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