Donald Trump’s campaign appears to grapple with navigating the changed political landscape since Joe Biden opt-out of the race, setting an odd race against Kamala Harris. His campaign is banking on the impact of younger male voters in the forthcoming November elections, a contest they deem within their grasp. The fact that Kamala Harris stands in the place once occupied by Biden has seemingly condensed the contest, a reality acknowledged by the Trump campaign. Yet, they insist that the bedrock of the competition has not swayed.
Tony Fabrizio, the Trump campaign pollster, described the recent events as akin to an ‘out-of-body experience.’ Alluding to a kind of surreal suspension of reality, he shared these sentiments during a press briefing in West Palm Beach. His perception resonates with Trump, who attempted to downplay the size of the crowds Harris has been attracting at her rallies. In a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago club, Trump dismissed the ‘honeymoon period,’ stressing that his team possessed the real energy.
The Trump campaign agreed, rather begrudgingly, that Harris’s entrance into the pool had sparked a surge of dynamism among Democratic supporters. Moreover, her team seemed to have an edge in the fundraising frontier. However, Trump’s team continues to hold that they have the necessary resources for their electoral conquest. Their confidence comes despite Harris’s campaign having raised an impressive sum of $310 million in July, dwarfing Trump’s $138.7 million.
The Trump machinery, three months away from the elections, has narrowed their focus on a particular demographic that they surmise to be the key to their win. Their targets, they argue, form about 11% of the electorate in the crucial battleground states. This demographic is largely younger, predominantly male, and leans moderately. Over half of them are Caucasian, while the rest paints a more diverse picture including a higher proportion of Asian and Latino voters compared to the broader electorate.
The target demographic has one common quirk – they are the ones disillusioned by the economic downturn, manifest both at the national level and personal financial fronts. They also tend to be pessimistic about the chances of their conditions improving. This percentage of the population, asserts Fabrizio, is the one they are endeavoring to sway. Their disconnect from traditional news outlets and preference for streaming services over cable necessitates innovative strategies to reach them.
Consequently, the Trump campaign has been devising unique ways to connect with this newly identified electorate fraction. Fabrizio explained that their engagement in activities like podcasts and liaising with controversial internet personality Adin Ross are justified by this population’s consumption patterns. They are the people who resonate with mixed martial arts and celebrities such as Ross.
Campaign officials apprehend a reenergized Democratic voter fraction, a sentiment they didn’t observe when Biden was the nominee. They confess that Harris could be more appealing to Black voters than Biden, drawing particular interest from women and older men. However, they plan to frame Harris as an excessive liberal, trying to persist as the incumbent rather than a force for change.
Trump’s campaign hopes that by the home stretch of the race, the public image of both candidates would be tarnished. They aim at pushing public sentiment to favor the candidate more likely to strengthen their economic stability. Trump’s team has sought to use Harris’s campaign slogan – ‘We are not going back’ to their advantage. They argue that her catchphrase might be ill-suited in the current climate where many voters feel that times were better under Trump’s office.
Currently, Trump’s campaign presence extends to 18 states, hoping to create a payout in battlegrounds and states such as Virginia, traditionally dominated by Democratic voters. Hundreds of paid staff, more than 300 Trump and GOP offices are operating across these states. In comparison, Harris’s campaign has a wider network – with 1,500 paid staff and 265 offices nationwide. However, a significant part of Trump’s strategy hinges on volunteer effort and external groups.
The Trump campaign is replicating the strategy they used in the GOP primary in Iowa, employing the services of volunteer ‘caucus captains.’ Each captain is entrusted with the task of mobilizing a group of 10 neighbors to cast their vote. They believe that this strategy could be the game-changer, similar to its success in Iowa during unfavorable weather conditions.
Their program, designated ‘Trump Force 47’, is aimed at desperate voters with low to medium consistency. Volunteers will go door-to-door, make phone calls, organize neighbors, and write postcards. As per official records, about 12,000 captains have completed their training, and 30,000 others have registered their volunteer interests.
The Trump campaign is relying heavily on the support of external entities which will hold paid canvassing activities and get-out-the-vote efforts. Such planning comes in the wake of new guidelines from the Federal Election Commission allowing campaign-external group coordination, previously prohibited. On the other hand, the Harris campaign’s efforts are largely driven by the rise of an impressive volunteer force.
In the initial fortnight of Harris’s candidacy, her campaign boasted of 200,000 new volunteers. Her team managed to sign up for 29,000 canvassing shifts and 197,000 phone banking shifts. But the Trump campaign remains dismissive of these declarations, believing that the Harris campaign is merely playing a catch-up game.
Harris-Walz’s battlegroup director, Dan Kanninen, has derided Trump’s delayed groundwork and ensuing scrambles to build his campaign program. In such a tight-knit electoral race, Kanninen emphasizes the significance of reliable and disciplined field operations. He stresses the importance of establishing community ties and relationships over months of interaction, something he believes the Trump camp has failed to master.
Regardless of these competing narratives, the reality might only unfurl on the polling day. With the electoral battle lines drawn, it’s a bitter and relentless fight ahead, where the only verdict that matters will come from the ballot boxes in November.
Kamala Harris’s Campaign: A Low-Bar Spectacle? appeared first on Real News Now.
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