WASHINGTON, D.C. – With just days until the election, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are on the road in Arizona and Nevada.
Harris is doing a southwest battleground blitz before election day. Ahead of the elections, political scientists said Harris needs to appeal to voters there on her economic agenda. The economy is always the number one issue for voters.
“These candidates have talked a bit about what they would do for people in their administration, and they need to do more of that because really what’s getting through all the noise is the attacks and the name calling,” said Dr. Todd Belt, Professor and Director of Political Management at George Washington University. “And people are hearing very little about what these candidates would do, and after all, elections are about the future and they need to talk about that.”
The economy is not the only big-ticket issue in Arizona. Voters also have ballot initiatives on abortion and immigration in that state. Voters will decide if they want to codify abortion rights in the state’s constitution. For the immigration measure, it would make unlawfully crossing the Arizona border from Mexico a state crime, which would then let state police arrest and detain migrants. Harris has campaigned hard on the abortion issue and Trump has campaigned hard on the immigration and border security issue.
As for Trump, he’s spending the day in Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada.
His trip to Arizona on Thursday will be his third visit to that state in October alone, which signals how critical this state is for his campaign. In the Phoenix area, he’ll be taking part in a live show with Tucker Carlson and former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
On Thursday, Trump held rallies in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Henderson, Nevada. Experts said the campaign stops in these Sunbelt states and upcoming rallies in other battleground states provide some insight on how the race is shaping up with just days to go.
“The schedule tells me that the Harris campaign thinks that they have a really good chance of taking Nevada and that the Trump campaign thinks they have a very good chance of getting North Carolina,” said Dr. Belt. “Michigan and Wisconsin look like they’re trending much more for Harris. Arizona and Georgia look like they’re trending much more for Trump. So, it looks like all roads to the White House are going to go through Pennsylvania.”
On Friday Trump will be in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Warren, Michigan before hitting North Carolina and Virginia this weekend.
This weekend, Harris will also visit Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania trying to sure up votes in those battleground states.
