Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump plans to campaign in Butler on Saturday, his first event in Butler since the assassination attempt. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — Saturday marks one month until Election Day, giving the presidential campaigns little time before voting closes to convince voters that their vision for the country offers the best path forward.
Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump will spend much of that time attacking each other, though they are also leaning on high-profile allies to support voter turnout efforts and help sway the dwindling number of undecided voters.
Former Democratic President Barack Obama is set to rally supporters in battleground states throughout the next month after starting off in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 10.
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Obama is expected to make the case that Harris “is ready for the job.”
“This is a person who has spent her life fighting on behalf of people who need a voice and a champion,” Obama will say, according to prepared remarks shared by the campaign. “Kamala wasn’t born into privilege. She had to work for what she’s got, and she actually cares about what other people are going through.”
The campaign didn’t disclose which other states Obama is likely to visit, though it’s a safe bet he’ll be traveling to swing states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
Trump is set to rally supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, returning to the location where a gunman climbed onto a roof before taking several shots at Trump in July.
The rally will include numerous members of Congress as well as the family of Corey Comperatore, who was killed by the gunman.
Comperatore’s widow, daughters and sisters are all expected to attend the Trump rally, as are several people who attended the one where the shooting broke out, according to an announcement from the campaign.
Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, is expected to attend along with billionaire businessman Elon Musk; Missouri Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt; Pennsylvania Reps. Mike Kelly, Dan Meuser, Guy Reschenthaler and Glenn Thompson; Florida Rep. Cory Mills; Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson; and several Pennsylvania officials.
Separately on Saturday, Vice President Harris will travel to North Carolina to receive a briefing on recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene and survey storm damage.
On Sunday, former President Trump is expected to give a speech in Juneau, Wisconsin.
Biden warns of election denial
President Joe Biden said Friday during a surprise appearance at the White House press briefing that he expects the November elections will be fair and free, though he expressed concern about the possibility of violence.
“I don’t know whether it will be peaceful,” Biden said. “The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time out, when he didn’t like the outcome of the election, were very dangerous.”
Biden criticized Vance for declining to say during this week’s vice presidential debate that he would accept the outcome of the election.
“They haven’t even accepted the outcome of the last election,” Biden said. “So I’m concerned about what they’re going to do.”
Trump has falsely claimed for years that he won the 2020 presidential election, despite multiple lawsuits failing in the court system due to a lack of evidence and numerous Republican officials saying there was no evidence of widespread fraud.
Special counsel Jack Smith is pursuing a case against Trump for attempting to overturn the results of the election that includes actions he took leading up to and during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The latest filing in that case, which included new details, was released this week.
Control of Congress
Democrats and Republicans are also focusing on the race for control of Congress during the final weeks of campaign season.
Republicans are projected to reclaim the Senate, most likely through picking up seats in West Virginia and Montana, with races in Michigan and Ohio ranked as toss-ups by the Cook Political Report with Amy Walters.
The House could also go either way, though Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has repeatedly said he expects to keep that chamber red and increase his razor-thin majority.
There are 26 toss-up races that will determine control of the House for the next two years, according to the Cook Political Report. The remaining 409 House districts are rated as either leaning, likely or solidly favoring Republicans or Democrats.
Which party controls the House and Senate will determine how much the next president can actually accomplish.
Leaders of the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said on a call Friday they are coordinating their efforts to boost Harris and Democratic candidates during the weeks ahead.
DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, DSCC Chair Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan and DCCC Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington highlighted some of those efforts to mark nearly one month out from Nov. 5.
“I think we have probably one of the most coordinated efforts we’ve seen, at least in my memory, where three committees are working together to make sure that we use our resources as effectively and as efficiently as possible, to make sure that we win all across the board,” Peters said.
Harrison said party leaders were focused on dozens of races ranging from “the school board to the White House.”
“When I became the chair of the DNC, I committed to a 57-state-and-territory strategy,” Harrison said, adding that he’s proud to say “we’ve taken that commitment to the next levels, rounding out our mission, again, sending electoral investments to all 57 states and territories to bolster down-ballot races in a single cycle.”
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