CNN has begun to release "teaser" quotes from tonight's big interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, in an effort to build interest (and ratings). Among other tidbits, it was announced that Harris committed to appointing at least one Republican to her cabinet. This actually isn't all that unusual; the practice of bringing in a few members of the opposing party so a president can brag about having a "team of rivals" (the phrase originally referred to Abraham Lincoln's cabinet). But it did start me wondering about which department(s) she might be thinking about.

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Two Tuesdays from now, the two major presidential candidates are set to have a debate. At this point it seems more likely than not that both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will actually show up, although the details are still being hashed out between the two camps. The biggest sticking point seems to be whether the microphones will be live throughout the entire evening or whether they will be muted when the other candidate speaks. What is rather mystifying is that the positions have been reversed in this squabble -- it is Harris who is arguing for live microphones, while Trump wants them muted. Which leaves me to wonder whether we'll get a real debate or whether it will devolve into a shouting match.

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It has now been announced that CNN's Dana Bash has won the journalistic sweepstakes and will be conducting a joint interview with Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Thursday. This will fulfill a promise Harris made to sit down for an unscripted interview with the media before the end of the month.

Which directly leads to the question of what Harris and Walz should be asked about on Tuesday. So putting on our late-summer "If It Was Me" thinking cap, here are the questions I would ask Harris and Walz, if they were sitting down with me for an interview.

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[Editorial Note: We do apologize for not hewing to our usual Friday format here today, but we decided at the start of the week to write our round-up reviews of each night of the Democratic National Convention on the following day. Our usual Friday Talking Points will resume next week, but today we've got to go over the final night of the big Democratic wingding in Chicago.]

Over its first three days, the Democratic National Convention kept building on one overriding theme: joy. Or, as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez explained to Stephen Colbert last night, for Democrats it was "the rebirth of hope." I almost expected Beethoven's Ode To Joy to be played at some point, but I guess the various DJs didn't have a copy. A far different Alex -- the main character in A Clockwork Orange -- would have been seriously disappointed by this omission, since (as he put it) it would have added: "all the banging and creeching about Joy Joy Joy Joy." The lack of "Ludwig Van" aside, though, it certainly was a joyful event for the first three nights.

Last night, however, was best summed up by Kamala Harris (when she was quieting the crowd before her speech): "Let's get to business." It was a more somber and sober night, with an emphasis on national security, crime and punishment, gun control, veterans, and Republicans urging other Republicans to vote Democratic this time around. That's not to say there weren't joyful moments (there were!), but the overall mood seemed more serious in general. In fact, the lineup for last night was nowhere near as star-studded as the first three nights have been, which might have been intentional (they didn't want anything to overshadow Harris's acceptance speech, maybe?). In this vein, disappointing millions, neither Beyoncé nor Taylor Swift showed up.

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The Democratic National Convention has truly been a blowout affair, building each day to an even-more-impressive frenzy, sparked by speaker after enthusiastic speaker, each seeming to bring the levels of excitement inside the arena to new heights. Last night was a continuation of this building sense of joy. A third Democratic president, Bill Clinton, appeared (following Joe Biden on the first night and Barack Obama on the second) -- but (rather astonishingly) he was actually not the biggest star of the evening.

If you didn't catch any of it last night, my advice would be to make sure you watch two key speeches -- Tim Walz accepting the nomination for vice president, and Oprah Winfrey being Oprah Winfrey. To me, at least, these were the highest of the high points of the evening.

As many have already commented, this is shaping up to be "the vibe election." Pundits can complain about the candidates (on both sides) not focusing on policy, but this largely misses the point. People are being drawn to politics because of how it makes them feel, not their candidate's stance on the economy. And the difference between the two parties on the vibe front couldn't be starker.

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The Democratic National Convention is now half over, after a blowout second night that featured both Michelle and Barack Obama as the evening's headliners. This was after what is normally a pretty boring (and cheesy) process -- the rollcall of the state delegations -- turned into a joyful dance party, complete with a DJ spinning tunes appropriate to each state. All in all, a pretty outstanding night!

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So the first night of the Democratic National Convention has come and gone. It was a night featuring two memorable swansong speeches. The first came from Hillary Clinton, who in an alternate universe would be finishing up her second term as president right about now. The second came from Joe Biden, who is currently finishing up his first (and only) term as president right now. It was a night for passing torches, in other words.

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Today is the first day of the Democratic National Convention, but I've decided I'm going to report on each day's events the day after they happen, rather than typing furiously into the night with my snap reactions. So today's convention round-up will run tomorrow, and we will likely have to pre-empt the Friday Talking Points column for the final day's review (which of course will be the biggest night, when Kamala Harris gives her acceptance speech).

Instead, I have a few random comments about the news media and how they are currently exhibiting a massive double standard towards Harris and her campaign, in more ways than one.

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For the past few weeks, JD Vance has been mightily trying to paint Tim Walz as having somehow claimed some "stolen valor" for his 24 years of honorable service in the National Guard. This required him to completely ignore the fact that Donald Trump got a deferment for non-existent "bone spurs" to avoid going to Vietnam, as well as Trump's naked contempt for those who do serve in the military. But hey, all that was a long time ago, and people have mostly forgotten how Trump denigrated an authentic war hero (John McCain) in 2015, so Vance just kept trying.

Today, this all comes back into focus after Donald Trump again heaped derision upon not just soldiers, not just war heroes, but the highest military decoration there is. Not only did Trump flub the name of it (it's just the "Medal of Honor") but he once again showed his contempt for those who serve. Here he is speaking about a Republican megadonor, complimenting her on a civilian honor that he himself awarded her (two months after she donated an enormous pile of money):

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Well, that was an hour and a half of my life that I surely would have enjoyed doing just about anything else during... sigh.... Chalk it up as another instance of: "I watch these things so you don't have to," I guess.

Donald Trump gave a marathon press conference today, but didn't actually take a single question until more than 45 minutes into it. He then answered questions for roughly 40 minutes before walking off camera to give someone an autograph.

The presser was held at Trump's New Jersey golf resort, and his aides had set up two long tables on either side of the podium, which were packed with lots of props, mostly food. Two items of things like milk, eggs, and Cheerios (more on that in a moment) were set up, assumably with a price tag on each for what they cost under Trump versus what they cost now. This is all a concerted effort to get Trump to talk about the issues (the economy, today) more, and stop all the whining about the unfairness of the universe quite so much.

Trump didn't even notice the prop tables until 45 minutes in, right before he started taking questions. He seemed astonished at the box of Cheerios, saying he hadn't seen them "in a long time" -- and that he might just take them back to his cottage to "have some fun with them." [Editorial Note: I am not 100 percent sure of the wording of that quote, but he definitely used the term "have fun with" in there somewhere.] Personally, I can't wait to see what the late-night comedians do with that line, but perhaps the presser was so late in the day that the jokes might have to wait until Monday.

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