In the run-up to the November 5th elections, United States Vice-President Kamala Harris, along with her associate Tim Walz, are set to travel extensively throughout Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. These are prominent battleground states that hold paramount importance for their ascension to the presidency. In anticipation of the final electioneering weeks, the Democratic candidates are turning their gaze upon the disputed “Blue Wall” states.
There’s a highly contested race underway in these three states, all won by Donald Trump in 2016 but reclaimed by Joe Biden in 2020. According to Harris, the competition is neck and neck but the direction to vote in is unequivocal. With indications of her support amongst black male voters waning, Ms Harris is embarking on a targeted four-day bid to regain favour.
Over the weekend, Ms Harris engaged black community, faith and political leaders over a meal in a barbecue joint in Raleigh, North Carolina and was present at a Sunday service in Greenville. All this in parallel to her campaign’s launch of “Souls to the Polls”, an initiative to urge black church congregations to exercise their right to vote.
As the week begins, she will head to the Rust Belt, starting with a visit to Erie, Pennsylvania, where she is set to host a gathering of black men and a political rally. Her agenda for Tuesday includes a trip to Detroit for conference with black business moguls followed by a communal event steered by Charlamagne tha God, one of the hosts of the radio show The Breakfast Club, centred towards a black audience.
Expressing his thoughts last Friday, he voiced his hopes to allow local activists from Detroit and other contentious states a chance to present their queries to Kamala Harris. Recognising the crucial nature of the election, he stated that the destiny of their nation hangs in the balance, hinged on the individuals they choose to elect.
The situation improved significantly for her when it was verified on Sunday that she had overpowered her Republican opponent Trump’s influence in the crucial segments of the American population: the suburban dwellers and those with a median income, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll analysis.
Post July 21st, with Biden stepping back from his dwindling reelection campaign, Vice-President Harris has surged ahead in both these large voter groups, boosting Democrats’ chances in the election, albeit the competition remains extraordinarily tight.
Trump has shifted his stance from decrying early voting as a scheme by Democrats to orchestrate his loss to Biden in 2020, to now encouraging people to vote early and through mail.
A recent poll conducted by ABC News-Ipsos indicated that voting leaned heavily towards gender divisions, with women supporting Harris in a 60-40 ratio while men favoured Trump by a comparable boundary.
Trump needs the backing of white women, who endorsed him more in 2020 than in 2016, as well as black men. On Sunday, he criticised ex-president Obama’s recent plea for black men to support Harris purely based on her race, not her policies, as “deeply offensive”.
Democratic Georgia senator Raphael Warnock expressed on CNN on Sunday, “Black men are unlikely to vote for Donald Trump in meaningful amounts.” However, his fellow Democrat, Jim Clyburn, a congressman from South Carolina, voiced his worry on CNN regarding black men voting for Trump.
President Trump, aiming for a second tenure, has planned a town hall in Oaks, Pennsylvania for Monday, and is set to be in Atlanta on Tuesday for a campaign speech. -Bloomberg.