Former President Donald Trump headed to Michigan on Monday and planned a weeklong series of events in Rust Belt swing states as Vice President Kamala Harris announced an end-of-the-week Georgia campaign swing.
Trump is stepping up his campaign schedule in hopes of blunting Democratic political momentum that has seen Harris grab narrow edges in the so-called “blue wall” states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania during and after last week’s successful Democratic National Convention.
Trump gave a low-energy address at a National Guard banquet in Detroit on Monday.
“We need new leadership,” Trump said. “Nov. 5 is the most important day in the history of our nation.”
The Republican candidate will return to the Wolverine State, which he famously won in 2016, for a stop at a central Michigan factory Thursday.
Trump also plans a town hall meeting Thursday evening with voters in LaCrosse, Wis., Wisconsin being another key battleground state, before heading to Pennsylvania for a rally Friday.
Kevin Lamarque/Pool via AP
Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff walk to board Air Force Two in Chicago on Friday. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool via AP)
Harris, on the other hand, is heading south on Wednesday for a bus tour through battleground Georgia along with vice presidential nominee Tim Walz.
They will also address a rally in Savannah, a heavily Democratic portion of the Peach State that helped deliver a razor-thin margin of victory to Biden over Trump in 2020.
The travel plans of the two campaigns reflect their shifting strategies after Harris pulled even with Trump and even has taken a narrow lead in many national and swing state polls.
Trump is seeking to raise the energy and tempo of his campaign schedule after a low-key couple of weeks before and during last week’s DNC in Chicago, which dominated political coverage.
Both campaigns are awaiting more polling data this week now that the DNC is done, which will show the extent of an expected further bounce for Harris after the convention.
One Trump adviser told CNN to expect the high tempo to continue straight through the November election.
“Think Trump on steroids,” the aide said. “It’ll be all hands on deck.”
That approach suggests that Trump’s team is taking very seriously Harris’ impressive rise in polls and favorability in recent weeks, which has seen her take the lead in all the blue wall states. Trump and running mate JD Vance are scrambling to prevent that lead from ballooning in coming days and weeks.
Harris is seeking to go on political offense in the Sun Belt states where Biden had fallen far behind Trump.
Her campaign hopes to put Georgia and North Carolina in play along with Arizona and Nevada in the Southwest, a move that opens up another path for her to reach the needed 270 electoral votes to win the White House.
“It’s all about the Electoral College,” said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist whose Sabato’s Crystal Ball forecast model recently moved North Carolina into the toss-up category.
The Harris campaign also says the vice president is also spending a significant amount of time preparing for the debate with Trump scheduled for Sept. 10.
Trump isn’t planning to devote the same amount of time to the debate, noting that he spanked President Biden in their only debate, a debacle that eventually forced Biden to drop out of the race.
The two campaigns sparred Monday over the rules for the clash, with Harris suggesting the microphones be kept live for both candidates, a shift from the previous deal hammered out between Trump and Biden.
Trump also won the official endorsement of ex-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a one-time Democratic lawmaker from Hawaii who has already been helping Trump with debate prep.
“I am committed to doing all I can to send President Trump back to the White House,” said Gabbard, who sparred with Harris during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary contest.
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