GEOFF BENNETT: And for more analysis of the rapidly changing state of the presidential race, we're joined now by Democratic strategist Guy Cecil and Republican strategist Kevin Madden.

It's great to have both of you here.

So Guy, there's an old saying in Washington that a presidential candidate will never have a better day than than the day that follows their announcement and Kamala Harris with huge fundraising haul, lots of enthusiasm from the base moving forward though, how does she handle attacks on her record, both as prosecutor and as vice president?

.

GUY CECIL, Democratic Strategist: Yes, well, most candidates when they're announcing have a little more time to prepare, they're announcing for president.

Look, I think this is a great opportunity for Kamala to introduce herself to the country.

She's done so in the sense that she's been the vice president in this administration.

But now's the time for her to present herself, her own views, her own contrast against Donald Trump.

And we have seen a lot of that.

As you have said, she's been in Indianapolis.

She's headed to Texas.

She was in Delaware.

She will be traveling the country.

She was in Milwaukee.

You're going to see a very strong contrast, not just on the Biden administration's record, but also on her entire career as a prosecutor.

And I think that contrast with Donald Trump is going to be pretty clear.

One of the ways that you know Trump is always in trouble is, he begins to project.

So now we have, Kamala Harris needs to be put in jail for crimes.

And, of course, we all know that Donald Trump is a convicted felon, convicted 34 times.

We're going to see a lot of this type of projection.

The other thing I would just notice how unprepared Republicans have actually been to take on Harris.

So, in the last three days, they have made fun of her laugh.

They have made fun of her love of Venn diagrams.

And now they have created this false attack on her being the border czar.

So I'm really shocked that they have known for about four weeks that this was at least a possibility, and they seem pretty slow out of the gate taking her on.

And I think that gives her more of an opportunity to introduce herself.

GEOFF BENNETT: What about that, Kevin?

How do you assess the Republicans, the Trump campaign's ability to pivot?

Because the campaign had been focused on and calibrated around defeating Joe Biden.

KEVIN MADDEN, Republican Strategist: Yes, Guy is right.

I think they were largely pretty slow out of the gate.

The last 48 hours, it's been very inconsistent with the messaging.

And -- but I think that's changed today.

I think you see that the president, he only has one - - or -- sorry -- former President Trump only has one speed when it comes to taking on his opponents.

And that's to attack, attack, attack.

And I think the negative frame that you saw from the former President Trump is going to be just the same one that's threaded throughout this entire campaign.

From here all the way into Election Day, it's going to be a very negative frame.

And so this is -- this is not going to be a race at 100 days from now that we look back on and say, this appealed to people's better angels.

The goal of the Trump campaign is to disqualify Kamala Harris as she tries to reintroduce herself to voters in the eyes of those swing voters.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, we expect the vice president to name her vice presidential pick -- she's the likely nominee -- within a matter of days, certainly by August 7, to ensure that the ticket is on all 50 state ballots.

What would a pick add to the ticket, and who among the reported short list do you think really helps boost her political standing?

GUY CECIL: Well, for about a decade, Democrats have bemoaned our lack of a bench.

And I think what we have realized over, in particular, the last four years with our wins in 2018 and 2022 is, we have a great bench.

And I think that this is the most important decision she's going to make as a candidate.

And I think it will reveal a lot about her and the type of partner that she wants.

One, she's got a lot of folks that she can consider that have executive experience, great governors.

She has people that have military experience, Senate experience.

So it's her choice to make.

There's always a lot of moving and guessing, but it's going to reveal a lot about the type of partner that she wants.

I think the other thing you're going to see is a new generation ticket.

And I think that stark contrast against Donald Trump is going to be pretty clear.

And it's why I think the president highlighted it tonight.

GEOFF BENNETT: Our Laura Barron-Lopez mentioned that campaign memo today from Jen O'Malley Dillon, the former Biden campaign chair who's now the Harris campaign chair.

And this memo says that the path to 270 electoral votes still runs through the blue wall, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, but she also says this, that Harris is doing better than President Biden, but also Donald Trump with younger voters, Black voters and Latino voters.

How does the Trump campaign contend with that?

Because the Democrats up until this point had been concerned about losing support among the Biden coalition that won him the White House in 2020.

KEVIN MADDEN: Look, I think it's -- I think they're right.

I think the idea that the -- the states that we all think are going to be the battleground states have largely stayed the same, but the opportunities that emerge in those states now, I think, have changed slightly.

I think Kamala Harris is going to -- is going to improve upon where Joe Biden was in Michigan, for example, is going to do better with some of those African American voters that he was losing, as well as with some of those Arab American voters that are very heavily concentrated in that state.

She's going to have a much better opportunity in places like North Carolina, Georgia, even Arizona.

I think the Trump campaign has to really focus on those blue-collar voters that are going to be the backbone of their turnout operation in those blue states, as well as the 30-mile radius around Maricopa County in Arizona, a 30-mile radius around Atlanta, Georgia, and really make the economic message.

There's -- people still feel that the country is going in the wrong direction.

He has to speak to those concerns.

They still feel like inflation is too high.

Speak to those concerns.

That's the real key for the Trump campaign's electoral map.

GEOFF BENNETT: Was J.D.

Vance the right pick for Donald Trump to serve as V.P., in light of what we now know, that it'll likely be Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee?

KEVIN MADDEN: Well, I think, again, like the rollout of the message, the first 72 hours of J.D.

Vance on the campaign trail has not really, I think, boosted a lot of confidence.

I think there's still time.

There's still a chance to sort of turn that around.

I think the main goal of any V.P.

candidate is to, what we used to call in our parlance, bracketing, right, which is go out there and undermine the other campaign's message every single day three times a day in three different media markets around the country.

I think he's still getting used to that.

You take your toughest day up on Capitol Hill, which is what J.D.

Vance has experienced, presidential campaign is 100 times as tough.

I think it's going to take him maybe a week or two to sort of get used to that.

If it's not -- if it's more than a week or two, then you can come back to me and I will say, this might not have been the best pick.

GEOFF BENNETT: We have got about 15 seconds left.

Do you expect Vice President Harris to really distance herself in any discernible way from President Biden moving forward?

GUY CECIL: Yes, well, look, she's going to run on the Harris -- the Biden/Harris -- I almost said Harris/Biden -- administration's record, which we're all proud of as Democrats.

But she's her own person.

And I think, when she agrees with the president, she will say so.

And when she disagrees with the president, she will say so.

And I think the president would expect that to be the case too.

GEOFF BENNETT: Guy Cecil and Kevin Madden, thank you both.

We appreciate it.

GUY CECIL: Thank you.

KEVIN MADDEN: Good to be with you.