The campaign staffs of the two US presidential candidates are preparing for contested elections, with each side seeing both paths to victory and potential pitfalls, writes "ABC News". The Democrats were on the crest of a wave in the summer after Kamala Harris replaced President Joe Biden as their candidate and enjoyed a surge of enthusiasm among their voters after the mood in the party had previously been uncertain about the chances of victory, according to the US media.< /p>
According to the average values from a national sociological survey of "FiveThirtyEight" (FiveThirtyEight) Harris led Trump by 3.7 percentage points on August 23, after months of Biden trailing the former president. Last week's numbers, however, showed her lead now stood at 1.7 percentage points, a drop that appears small in numerical terms but was enough to worry some members of the party and Democratic campaign staff, notes " ABC News".
Quotes of Democratic officials, most of them anonymous, appeared in the media about concerns that the race could be lost as support for Harris in key swing states came within the polls' margin of error. Still harboring unpleasant memories of the 2016 campaign, when Hillary Clinton lost to Trump despite polls showing her with a significant lead, Democrats are increasingly raising concerns about what would happen if, as Election Day approaches, the polls began to show that Trump is not an outsider, but enjoys almost the same support as Harris.
"Democrats who follow the campaign closely but don't necessarily work in Harris' headquarters every day had hoped she would pull away, and now realize this race is much more contested than they had hoped." ;, says an official from the US Vice President's staff.
This is why Kamala Harris' messages to voters are increasingly aimed at vacillating Republicans, notes the "Washington Post". That was especially the case last week when she toured swing states with former Republican U.S. Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the outlet said.
Perhaps more than any other presidential candidate in modern American history, Harris has much to boast about when it comes to the large number of prominent members of the other party — not to mention high-ranking former Trump administration officials — who support her. support or at least refrain from supporting their party's candidate, the newspaper noted. Whether that will actually convince Republican voters to vote for the Democratic nominee is another matter entirely, but Harris' efforts to draw attention to support for her candidacy from prominent Republicans at least has the potential to sway some right-wing voters who are somehow skeptical tuned to Trump, commented "Washington Post".
However, some Democrats worry that Harris's efforts are going too far in her quest to win over swing voters who are skeptical of the former president, the New York Times reported. In private conversations — and increasingly in public as Election Day approaches — they say she risks dampening Democratic enthusiasm by alienating progressive and working-class voters, the outlet said.
During the final leg of her campaign this month, Harris made four appearances with Liz Cheney and has appeared at events with her more times than with any other ally, the newspaper noted. She also has more involvement with billionaire Mark Cuban than with Sean Fein, president of the United Auto Workers and one of the nation's most prominent union leaders.
Harris has focused his economic platform on issues related to the middle class, small business and entrepreneurship, rather than raising the minimum wage, an important goal for many in the Democratic Party and one that polls show has strong support among voters. She has taken a harder line on the border than anyone in her party and mentions owning a Glock pistol more often than she talks about fighting climate change. She also does not budge from President Biden's positions regarding the war that Israel is waging in Gaza.
Part of Harris' approach is tactical, the New York newspaper commented. She is trying to deal with Trump's accusations that she is dangerously liberal and has deliberately appeared less often alongside her progressive allies at campaign events. Taking more centrist positions on the campaign trail is a standard tactic in American politics, and it's not the first time the left wing of the party has expressed frustration when Democrats do it.
Preserving the unity and energy of Democratic voters, however, is especially important to Harris, as polls show support for the two rivals in the presidential race are tied, and the consequences for the party could be dire if even a fraction of its voters in contested states stay home on Election Day or vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, notes the "New York Times".
Some progressive observers point to weak support for the vice president among black and Latino voters as evidence that her messages are not reaching enough of the working class. Sensing an opportunity to attract some of these voters who had already shifted to the Republicans, Trump openly courted them in his campaign ads and messages. Representatives of the progressive wing of Democrats fear that Harris - like Hillary Clinton in 2016 - is falling into the trap of relying on the support of traditional Democratic voters without offering them significant policy change.
According to an analysis of the sociological agency "Impact Social" (Impact Social) for "Newsweek" the Democratic presidential nominee appears to be losing momentum among swing voters, trailing 9 percentage points behind the level of support for President Joe Biden at the same point in the 2020 campaign. That's partly due to uncertainty among voters about Harris' policies, the analysis said.
In the words of Phil Snape of "Impact Social" despite some positive trends for the vice president's candidacy, voters still associate her too closely with the current administration of the country. The analyst says Harris' message that her candidacy represents a fresh start has largely failed to convince independent voters who see her administration as a continuation of Biden's.
"Of course, it's still possible that support for her could surge at the last minute. Harris' current attempts to portray Trump as a dangerous fascist may work, especially if she reminds wavering voters why they voted against Trump last time,'' Snape commented.
Morris Mitchell, national director of the Democratic-leaning Working-Class Families Party, said he campaigned for Harris on the ground in Pennsylvania and Georgia, and he said working-class voters in those states still seem are not convinced whether the Democratic candidate will "fight for them".
"Will she fight for the things we believe in?", summarizes the mood among voters Joseph Gevarges of the progressive group "Our Revolution". "I think people are not sure. "Most of them will bite their tongues and vote to defeat Donald Trump, but others simply won't be able to overcome their initial objections," he fears.