CNN commentator Van Jones on Monday expressed being both “nervous and worried” about Democrat Kamala Harris’ prospects in Pennsylvania — and thereby the entire presidential race.
Mark Halperin — a commentator for Newsmax and former political director for ABC News — and others see Harris’ perhaps only path to victory is winning all the so-called Blue Wall states Joe Biden carried in 2020, including Pennsylvania, because the sunbelt swing states appear more firmly in Republican Donald Trump’s win column.
The Harris campaign scheduled four stops for their candidate in Pennsylvania on Monday, revealing how important they see the state, The National News Desk reported.
The Real Clear Polling average has Trump up 0.4 percent. This same day in the 2016 election cycle Hillary Clinton was up against the Republican candidate in the state by 2.1 percent and lost it by 1.2 percent. Meanwhile, Joe Biden was ahead of Trump by 2.6 percent and won it by just 1.2 percent.
So the fact that Trump’s up even a fraction of a percentage point over Harris means he might be up by 2 or even 3 percent, if past polling trends hold true.
CNN anchor Kate Bolduan asked Jones, “What has you feeling good about Pennsylvania, and what is making you nervous about Pennsylvania?”
“Well, I’m just nervous all the time,” he answered. “So I don’t feel good about nothin’, and I’m not gonna feel good about nothin’ ’til it’s over. I’m worried. Philadelphia is where we’ve got to run up a big margin, but Philly overall has been trending down, not in terms of going toward the Republicans, just people not getting out to vote.”
Van Jones on Harris’ chances in Pennsylvania: “I’m just nervous, nervous, nervous.”@DailyCaller pic.twitter.com/amhIzNYd5y
— Jason Cohen ???????? (@JasonJournoDC) November 4, 2024
“It’s a bigger, tougher fight in Philly to get that vote count up than it has been in the past. That has me worried,” Jones added.
The former Obama campaign advisor said the Jewish vote in the state also has him concerned.
“Biden won the Jewish vote by 70 percent, 70-30 last time. Some polls show Kamala at 50-50. That is 70,000 votes we’ve bled away. That is the margin for victory,” Jones argued.
He recounted that there are pro-Harris groups out there trying to keep the Jewish vote on her side, but, “It is door-to-door, bruised knuckles, tired legs, a lot of coffee, and I’m nervous and worried, and I’m not gonna be any way until this thing gets called.”
Last week, CNN called out Harris for running different, incongruous ads trying to cater to Muslim voters in Michigan and Jewish voters in Pennsylvania regarding the war in Gaza.
NEW: Our report tonight on @OutFrontCNN — The Harris campaign is targeting Jews in PA and Arabs in Michigan with entirely different messages on Gaza. PA ads highlight her support for Israel’s “ability to defend itself,” while Michigan ads say “she will not be silent” on Gaza. pic.twitter.com/tLg8gJ0mLE
— Andy Kaczynski (@KFILE) November 2, 2024
“Is there anything making you happy about Pennsylvania?” Bolduan asked Jones.
“No,” he said. “There’s nothing making me happy about Pennsylvania.”
She then turned to conservative panelist Scott Jennings for his thoughts.
“I just have to say, if only there was something that Kamala Harris could have done early in this campaign to help with the Jewish voters of Pennsylvania,” he responded with a smile.
“Could it have been that the governor of Pennsylvania is a Jewish-American? And a very popular one,” Jennings added, referring to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who had reportedly been on Harris’ vice presidential running mate shortlist.
“This could go down as the biggest …,” Jennings started to say, before Bolduan cut him off, telling him to move on albeit with a smile.
He was clearly about to say that Harris’ early choice of picking fellow extreme liberal Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate may have sealed her electoral fate.
Jennings summarized, “What else is there to say about it? Pennsylvania is the state.”
However, Jones wasn’t quite done with talking about the Keystone State.
“The other thing that makes me nervous is, in 2016 we had a big star-studded event right on the edge of the election, and we lost the state,” Jones said.
“I don’t think people understand working people sometimes have to choose, ‘Am I gonna go to the big cool concert this week and pay for babysitting for that, or am I gonna try to figure out a way to get to the polls?’ I don’t like these big star-studded events. I can’t show where they’ve helped us win. In fact, probably helped us lose last time,” he contended.
Jones concluded: “I don’t want people going to concerts. I want people knockin’ on doors. I want people out there fighting for this thing. I’m just nervous, nervous, nervous.”
The fact that a former top Democratic operative like Jones is nervous about Pennsylvania bodes well for Donald Trump.
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