Welcome to Talking Feds, a round table that brings together prominent former federal officials

and special guests for a dynamic

discussion of the most important political and legal topics of the day.

I'm Harry Littman.

Kamla Harris's speech at the DNC Convention last Thursday was in many ways her

introduction to the country she hopes to lead, a chance to make her case to a nation

still getting to know her.

Her campaign continues to feel a bit like a startup, finding its rhythm and momentum as they go.

Yet, with the election looming in just nine weeks or even sooner for those

voting by mail, the campaign is rapidly approaching its final sprint. Fresh off what was widely considered a triumphant convention, the Democratic ticket

dove into its first week on the campaign trail, featuring an unscripted CNN interview in which Harris sought to position herself

as both a steadfast ally of President Joe Biden's administration and a harbinger of a new political era, one that above all seeks to leave behind the toxic

divisiveness of the Trump years.

Trump meanwhile made headlines twice neither flattering.

His entourage flouted the rules, forbidding political use of Arlington Cemetery,

and then roughed up a guard who tried to stop them.

Later in the week, Trump attempted a clumsy pivot

to position himself as a defender of reproductive rights,

a move that not only highlighted his moral vacuity, but also underscored

his campaign's clear anxiety over Kamla Harris's growing advantage on this issue in the polls. To take stock of an extraordinarily

dynamic and consequential race in the pivot point between the DNC Convention and the first presidential debate, we welcome three

of the wisest and most experienced political commentators in the country.

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