The presidential campaign rallies in the United States are in full swing. This weekend, both the Republican presidential candidate, Trump (Trump), and the Democratic presidential candidate, Harris, will hold opposing campaign events in Pennsylvania.
Former President Trump is set to hold a rally in Wilkes-Barre, northeast Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Meanwhile, Vice President Harris will kick off a bus tour in Pittsburgh on Sunday and then attend the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next Monday.
Harris’s campaign team announced that the Vice President and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, will hold events in Allegheny and Beaver counties in Pennsylvania on Sunday.
On Monday, the day the Democratic convention opens, Trump will hold a rally in York, Pennsylvania, and address economic issues. Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance, will also speak in Philadelphia on the same day.
On Friday, Harris delivered her first economic-focused speech as the Democratic presidential candidate in North Carolina, outlining the economic agenda she plans to implement if she wins the November election.
Pennsylvania, along with Wisconsin and Michigan, is one of the three “Rust Belt” states in the U.S. These three states played a crucial role in Trump’s victory in the 2016 election and helped the Democrats reclaim these states in 2020.
According to Reuters, the three “Rust Belt” states are true bellwethers for the U.S. presidential election. Since 2008, every president who won the election has also won in these three states.
To win the presidency, a candidate must secure 270 electoral votes. Pennsylvania has 19 electoral votes, Michigan has 15, and Wisconsin has 10.
Based on statistical models created by election prediction expert Nate Silver, Pennsylvania is more than twice as likely as any other state to be a “tipping point” state. The electoral votes of these “tipping point” states could push either Harris or Trump into a leading position.
Both Trump and Harris are heavily focusing their campaigns on Pennsylvania as a key battleground state, including substantial ad spending.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that since Biden withdrew from the race at the end of July, both campaigns have spent over $110 million on ads in seven swing states, with approximately $42 million allocated to Pennsylvania, more than double that of any other state.
AdImpact data reveals that from late August through the election period, Democratic and Republican groups have already reserved $114 million in ad time in Pennsylvania, which is more than double Arizona’s $55 million, the second-highest ad spend. Given that Harris’s campaign team has not yet booked any ads beyond Labor Day on September 2, these figures are expected to increase.
Both Trump and Harris have visited Pennsylvania more than six times this year. Trump was injured in an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 but has announced plans to return to Butler in October.
Trump’s visit to Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County on Saturday aims to strengthen support from white, non-college-educated voters who helped him win in 2016. This working-class county, historically Democratic, shifted substantially towards Trump in 2016, similar to other areas nationwide.
Pennsylvania was a core element of Biden’s winning strategy in the “Rust Belt” states in 2020: limiting Trump’s advantage among working-class white voters while building a majority in suburbs and increasing voter turnout in cities with significant African American populations.
Harris’s campaign team is employing a similar “win big, lose small” strategy, seeking to gain significant advantages in cities and suburbs like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh while limiting losses in smaller counties like Beaver, where Trump won 58% of the vote in 2020.
CNN reported that Harris’s campaign team has reserved $370 million for TV and digital ad spending until the November election, including the largest digital ad purchase in American political history.
This massive ad buy represents a historic shift: $200 million will be spent on digital ads, with $170 million allocated to traditional TV ads. Engaging voters through the internet or mobile devices has become crucial for campaigns seeking an edge.
A source told CNN that former President Trump will hold a series of “messaging events” in battleground states next week to counter the Democratic National Convention agenda.
These events will be held in smaller venues and focus on one or two key policy issues crucial to the campaign. Besides visiting Pennsylvania, Trump is expected to visit Michigan, North Carolina, and Arizona next week. These additional visits will also cover economic, crime, and immigration issues, as Trump’s campaign team believes that these three issues could help him win in November.