Harris’s interview: Democrats swoon while Republicans grimace

Democrats lauded it as the perfect pitch; Donald Trump dismissed it as "boring", while fellow Republicans invoked derogatory terms like "gobbledygook".

Between the two extremes, Kamala Harris appeared to have achieved what she wanted from Thursday's groundbreaking CNN interview, given along with her running mate, Tim Walz - her first since become the Democratic presidential nominee.

Under fierce scrutiny after nearly six weeks of interview radio silence, the vice-president earned lavish praise from the Democratic base while denying Republicans a clear line of attack simply by avoiding major missteps of the type that undid Joe Biden's candidacy in June's climactic debate.

The performance is also unlikely to shake up a race that has reversed itself since Harris entered it and replaced Biden, flipping a narrow but solid Trump lead into a contest in which she is now firmly ahead.

A commentator with AZCentral.com - a news site in the key swing state of Arizona - called the performance "too sane to be great TV", an implicit comparison with Trump's frequently ostentatious media appearances.

Commenting on her championing of Biden's record in office, the New York Times noted that "it turns out, Ms Harris is a better salesperson for Mr Biden's accomplishments and defender of his record than he ever was".

But the highest praise came from Harris's party supporters.