How Kamala Harris Will Maneuver the Trump Debate Minefield

Inside the Catholic Right • Campaign Media Strategy • Elon’s “Goons” [View in your browser]( | [Update your preferences](newsletter=vf) [Vanity Fair Hive logo image]( How Kamala Harris Will Maneuver the Trump Debate Minefield Good morning! It’s hard to overstate the importance of tonight’s debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, as the 2024 race [is historically]( close and even a sliver of undecided voters in battleground states could tip the scales. “You don’t really need to convince the base,” Ashley Etienne, a former Harris communications director, [tells]( Chris Smith ahead of tonight’s face-off. “The most important constituency has got to be the middle.” Also looking ahead, Mark McKinnon [offers]( 10 tips for Harris, while Eric Lutz [warns]( that her campaign is playing it too safe. The Hive team will be in full force tonight live-blogging the debate at [VanityFair.com](. In the meantime, we just published Kathryn Joyce’s [revealing peek]( behind the “Catholic right’s celebrity conversion industrial complex,” with prominent voices like JD Vance, Russell Brand, and Candace Owens joining the Church in recent years. “For decades, conservative Catholics have predicted a winnowing of the Church down to a ‘smaller, purer’ core, as liberal clergy and laity die off or drop out,” Joyce writes, with the corollary being “the promise the Church won’t remain small but, once purged of internal conflict, will spark a virtuous revolution and exponential growth.” And finally, we have an [exclusive excerpt]( from Kate Conger and Ryan Mac’s *Character Limit,” an inside look at Elon Musk’s slash-and-burn Twitter takeover that hits shelves this month. “Musk’s allies came without costumes and were given a nickname by skeptical Twitter employees: ‘goons,’” they write. “They meandered through the halls as they awaited instructions, the glares of Twitter workers burning into the back of their necks.” Thanks for reading, and look for us live-blogging tonight, with post-debate coverage tomorrow. —Michael Calderone, editor [Image may contain: Jacques Cartier, Art, Painting, Adult, and Person]( [Behind the Catholic Right’s Celebrity Conversion Industrial Complex]( By [Kathryn Joyce]( [From Russell Brand to JD Vance to Candace Owens, what happens when the Catholic Church chases influencers—and their legions of followers—down the rabbit hole of the right?]( [Read more button](   [How Kamala Harris Will Maneuver the Trump Debate Minefield]( By [Chris Smith]( [The veep will have to explain her flip-flops, distinguish herself from Joe Biden, and rise above Trump’s misogyny—all as part of a delicate dance to charm the undecideds. “What a woman does, especially in leadership roles,” says one insider, “can cut both ways.”]( [Read more button](   [Debate-Night Coaching: 10 Pointers for Kamala Harris]( By [Mark McKinnon]( [A presidential campaign veteran believes the VP has a golden opportunity to define herself—and take Trump down a notch or two.]( [Read more button](   [“Are You Saying No to Elon Musk?”: Scenes from the Slash-and-Burn Buyout of Twitter]( By [Kate Conger and Ryan Mac]( [In an excerpt from their new book, Character Limit, Kate Conger and Ryan Mac detail how Musk’s “goons” instilled fear and uncertainty among the rank and file, while his inner circle employed hardball tactics in a touch-and-go transaction.]( [Read more button](   [Kamala Harris’s Campaign Is Playing It Way Too Safe]( By [Eric Lutz]( [Democrats have a dynamic ticket in the veep and her running mate, but Harris’s operation smacks of the same risk-averse approach that did Biden in. The good news: She still has time to change that.]( [Read more button](   Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. [Sign Up Now](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn](   This e-mail was sent to you by The Hive. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe]( Sent from Condé Nast, 1 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007 Copyright © 2024 Condé Nast