Harris Pitches to Donors in Hamptons, Vineyard: Campaign Update

(Bloomberg) -- Kamala Harris brought in almost $1 million at fundraisers last weekend on Martha’s Vineyard and in the Hamptons, according to two people who attended events.

From Friday to Sunday, Harris’s appeals to donors included stops at the homes of the movie director Spike Lee and the private equity executive Frank Baker.

At a Southampton event, attendees included Robert Jain of Millennium Partners, Blackstone Group’s Bennett Goodman and Infor Chairman Charles Phillips, who said he’d also been at an event on Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday.

At an fundraiser in Water Mill at the home of public relations executive Michael Kempner, the guests included Blair Effron of Centerview Partners LLC, Deven Parekh of Insight Partners and Alexandra Lebenthal.

Harris raised $23.9 million through the end of June, placing her fourth among Democratic candidates behind Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren, Federal Election Commission filings show. More than half of her donations in amounts over $200 came from fellow Californians, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. She got $1.8 million from residents of New York State, with the bulk from the New York City area.

“There is tremendous national momentum across gender, race, age, geography and economic class,” said Citigroup’s Ray McGuire, who is involved in her campaign and attended several of her weekend fundraisers.

Trump Could Get Impeachment Boost, Poll Shows (3:30 p.m.)

Democrats beware: A huge majority of Americans believes impeaching President Donald Trump would fail and some believe it might even bolster his re-election effort, according to a new Monmouth University poll.

The survey showed that 75% of respondents believed it would be unlikely that Trump would be convicted in the Republican-controlled Senate even if he were impeached by the Democratic-led House.

Moreover, 31% think an attempt would put him in a stronger position in 2020, compared with 23% who said it would weaken him.

There was an additional note of caution for House Democrats who are considering impeachment: Some 51% said it would be a bad idea to move forward, while 34% said a failed attempt would put them in a weaker position to retain control of the chamber.

None of this means the president is receiving high marks. More than half of Americans do not approve of his job performance, about as many as in previous surveys, and 57% of registered voters say “it is time to have someone new in the Oval Office.” -- Emma Kinery

Trump’s Mid-Year Review Not Too Rosy for 2020 (10:20 a.m.)

President Donald Trump received an August performance review in the form of a new Associated Press poll, and it’s not good: Just 36% of Americans approve of the way he’s doing his job.

It’s the third-lowest score Trump has gotten in the 17 times the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll has rated his performance. Unlike previous presidents, Trump’s numbers are remarkably consistent: His job approval number in the AP poll has never been higher than 42% or lower than 34%.

The survey is consistent with other public polling that shows Trump’s approval ratings in decline 15 months before his re-election bid. A CNN poll this week had his approval rating at 41%, down from 45% in June. Even Rasmussen Reports -- the pollster Trump most likes to cite -- had his approval rating at 46%, down from 51% in June.

Trump’s numbers are dragged down by low approval on a number of contentious issues: Immigration, 38%; health care, 37%; foreign policy, 36% and guns, 36%. One bright spot for the White House is the economy. But even there, only 46% approve of his job performance and 51% disapprove.

Republicans and Democrats are predictably polarized, with 79% and 5% approval respectively. But independents seem to be siding more with Democrats at 31%. -- Gregory Korte

Debate Deadline Looms for Several Democrats (5:30 A.M.)

It may be now or never for Democratic candidates who so far haven’t caught on with primary voters and pollsters: They’ve got just one week left to make the cut for the third debate.

Of the more than 20 candidates in the battle for the nomination, 10 have qualified to participate in the forum, scheduled to take place Sept. 12 and 13. But if no others meet the requirements by Aug. 28, the event in Houston will be compressed to one night, according to ABC News, the host.

If more than 10 candidates end up qualifying, the network will randomly assign the participants to one of the two nights. They will have one minute and 15 seconds to answer questions, and 45 seconds for rebuttals.

To qualify, candidates must have received donations from at least 130,000 unique donors and poll above 2% in at least four national polls. Pending verification by the Democratic National Committee, these contenders have qualified so far: Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Julian Castro, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang.

The debate will be held at Texas Southern University and moderated by ABC anchors George Stephanopoulos and David Muir, ABC News correspondent Linsey Davis and Univision anchor Jorge Ramos.

A contender who had not met the polling threshold, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee, announced on Wednesday night that he was dropping out of the race. Inslee became the third Democratic presidential candidate to withdraw from the contest for the 2020 nomination, following former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and Representative Eric Swalwell of California. -- Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou

Coming Up:

• The Democratic National Committee meets until Saturday in San Francisco. Most of the top presidential candidates -- except Biden and Buttigieg -- will speak to members on Friday.

--With assistance from Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou, Gregory Korte and Emma Kinery.

To contact the reporters on this story: Bill Allison in Washington DC at ballison14@bloomberg.net;Amanda Gordon in New York at agordon01@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Max Berley, John Harney

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