Jennifer Epstein, Nancy Cook, Skylar Woodhouse | (TNS) Bloomberg News
Vice President Kamala Harris is looking to harness the momentum from her strong showing in Tuesday’s presidential debate with a tour of key swing states, even as her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, is about to embark on a trip to the West, where he’ll be pressed to show donors and supporters a plan to regain his footing.
For the Democratic nominee, visits to North Carolina and Pennsylvania — two crucial battlegrounds in November’s election — offer the opportunity to solidify support among swing voters considering her candidacy anew after her promising debate performance.
With early voting starting soon, Democrats are also eager to bank support, particularly as enthusiasm among the party faithful has swollen in the hours since the candidates squared off in Philadelphia.
Trump plans a fevered stretch of campaigning, including a press conference, rallies and high-dollar fundraisers across Arizona, Nevada, and California that have taken on new significance after his rocky debate performance that even some of his top supporters acknowledge could have gone better.
While the former president’s allies insist the debate is unlikely to be a make-or-break moment like his exchange with President Joe Biden in June, which effectively ended the president’s half-century political career, the pressure is back on Republicans to blunt Harris’s momentum.
Trump’s frustration in the aftermath of the debate has largely focused on ABC News moderators who fact-checked his claims in real time, leading allies to believe he’s not likely to shake up his campaign staff. But the Republican nominee could use his western swing to offer a new policy proposal to reshape the narrative, as he’s done in the past.
Harris’ team says it is shifting into a new, more assertive phase on the campaign trail. After limiting her interactions with the press — and facing criticism from Republicans and members of the media — she will begin sitting for more interviews, including some with battleground state outlets in the coming days and with the National Association of Black Journalists next week.
Former President Barack Obama will also appear at a major fundraiser for Harris in Los Angeles on Sept. 20, according to a person familiar with the schedule, which will help boost her campaign coffers and fund get-out-the-vote efforts.
The debate has the air of a missed opportunity for Trump, who has an Electoral College advantage and is favored to prevail if the race remains tight.
Polls have found Trump and Harris generally running neck-and-neck in surveys of the seven swing states expected to decide the election. A New York Times/Siena College poll on Sunday showed Trump led Harris nationally by a point.
“Our team could not be prouder of President Trump for delivering a masterful debate performance in a 3-on-1 fight against lying Kamala Harris,” said Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, who accused the moderators of bias.
Trump spinHarris, by contrast, is riding high after the debate – and Taylor Swift’s endorsement – seeking to translate that boost into votes. Her debate performance saw her odds of winning the election increase in betting markets and 63% of registered voters say she did a better job than Trump in a CNN flash poll.
Though he repeatedly declared victory in his debate spin, Trump appeared to acknowledge that the night didn’t go particularly …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
