Welcome to the online version of From the Political Bureauan evening newsletter featuring the latest reporting and analysis from the NBC News Politics team on the campaign, the White House, and Capitol Hill.

In today’s edition, we examine a positive and negative development for Kamala Harris’ support from organized labor. Plus, chief political analyst Chuck Todd writes that the current level of political discourse is unsustainable.

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A major union won’t support it, but Harris has other plans to boost support for workers

By Megan Lebowitz, Alexandra Marquez and Natasha Korecki

Vice President Kamala Harris failed to win the support of a major labor union, but her campaign is counting on the key unions backing her to provide a boost to the rapidly diversifying Sun Belt.

The influential Teamsters union declined to issue an endorsement in the presidential race on Wednesday, Megan Lebowitz and Alexandra Marquez reported. Both candidates had courted the group — union leaders met with Harris on Monday and with former President Donald Trump earlier this year. But the development is a particular blow to Harris, as the Teamsters have endorsed a Democratic presidential candidate in every election since 2000, including Joe Biden four years ago.

Before the announcement, the Teamsters also released polling data showing more members of the party supported Trump than Harris.

“Neither major candidate could make any serious commitments to our union to ensure that the interests of working people always come before big business,” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said in a statement.

Still, Harris has won the support of virtually every other major labor union in the country (the International Association of Fire Fighters remains a notable holdout). And while a candidate’s labor credentials are often viewed through the lens of white, working-class voters in the Rust Belt, Harris’ campaign is targeting women and people of color in the Sun Belt.

Workers from the Service Employees International Union, the Culinary Workers Union and the AFL-CIO are among the groups that union leaders say have become extra energized since Harris rose to the top of the Democratic ticket, Natasha Korecki reports.

All told, union leaders predict thousands of union members will travel to key swing states to knock on doors and make phone calls on Harris’ behalf. Large groups are expected to travel from blue states like California, Illinois and New York to crucial battlegrounds like Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.

“It’s a special moment for our members, especially when we think about women of color, who often feel invisible, who often feel undervalued, disrespected, and demeaned,” said SEIU President April Verrett. “It’s a really special moment when our members see themselves reflected in a woman who has been their champion for a long time, who can be the leader of this country.”

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What if we can’t unite?

By Chuck Todd

There is a strange numbness in the political ecosystem regarding the apparent second attempt to assassinate Donald Trump. We have collectively underreacted — and perhaps there are perfectly reasonable explanations for this.

Yet I fear that some of the underreaction has to do with the fact that we are now so close to election day that some people are basing their reactions on whether what they say will help or hurt their party political positions, rather than taking a step back and critically asking themselves how we got here.

And unfortunately, I think the broader electorate and the media are more concerned about that larger question than any elected leader we have collectively put at the helm of our democracy. It is frustrating to see this episode being exploited for political gain, which only serves to fuel the divide, not heal it.

Just look at Trump’s initial response to the arrest of a man with a gun spotted on the sidelines of his golf course. Unlike after he was gunned down in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July, when he and his team embraced a “let’s keep our cool” approach and left some of the heated rhetoric to other Republicans, none of that has happened this time around. Instead, the Trump campaign appears to be treating this apparent assassination attempt as an opportunity rather than a moment of reflection.

Let’s face it: The current level of political discourse is unsustainable for this democracy. It may not break us this year, it may not break us next year. But unless we choose to rise above it, either by choosing de-escalators over purveyors of zero-sum political boxing or by demanding that big tech stop creating algorithms designed to incite and divide, we will break — and that break will be dangerous. It has happened to this republic before, so don’t assume it can’t happen again.

The problem with political discourse in America right now is that we’re all stuck in a social media funhouse mirror booth. What we see is not what it is, and how we’re seen is not who we are. And yet here we are.

Read more from Chuck →

That’s all from the Politics Desk for now. If you have any feedback — likes or dislikes — please email us at [email protected]

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