Former President Donald Trump’s campaign is targeting persuadable voters through personal finance workshops and concerts, while Vice President Kamala Harris is using coat drives as part of her strategy to connect with the undecided electorate.
With just two months remaining before Election Day, both campaigns are investing heavily in one of the most challenging aspects of modern elections: reaching and convincing the small group of voters in the key battleground states who are still undecided or uncertain about voting.
Nick Trainer, a former political director for
Trump’s 2020 campaign, emphasized the significance of this group. “In battleground states, it’s tens of thousands of voters, not hundreds of thousands,” he said. “This small but critical segment could determine who becomes president in January.”
There’s no single approach to sway these voters, who are diverse in their reasons for remaining undecided. However, both campaigns recognize that the economy is a major issue that resonates across various voter subgroups.
“One reason these persuadable voters have a less fragmented issue matrix is due to their strong concern about the economy,” noted a senior Trump campaign official, who requested anonymity to discuss strategy. “While some may prioritize other issues, economic and affordability concerns are dominant.”
This focus on economic issues explains Trump’s pledge to deliver a “national economic renaissance” if elected, and his criticisms of Harris. “She wants four more years to enforce a radical left agenda that threatens the prosperity of every American family and America itself,” Trump stated in a recent address to the Economic Club of New York.
Meanwhile, Harris is positioning herself as a defender of those affected by rising prices. Her campaign’s proposals, since she became the Democratic candidate, have centered on providing government support for parents, small business owners, and first-time homebuyers.
According to a source familiar with Harris's campaign strategy, a significant portion of their effort is dedicated to economic messaging and proposals aimed at appealing to undecided voters.
Part of Harris's strategy involves countering Republican efforts to portray her as a liberal focused on expanding social networks for immigrants and others rather than addressing the financial struggles of many Americans.
A campaign that focused solely on broad philosophical issues like ‘democracy’ wasn’t resonating because people couldn’t see its relevance to their own lives,” said a Harris campaign official, referring to a central theme of President Joe Biden's campaign before he withdrew on July 21. “Freedom succeeds when it’s tied to personal impact. Freedom from poverty is a powerful message.”
The official also noted that Harris's emphasis on improving people’s lives, rather than the historical significance of her candidacy, is intended to connect with undecided voters and those who might be hesitant about voting for a Black and South Asian woman.
“There’s a tendency for people to delay their decision more than expected,” the official said. “She faces two significant challenges: being a woman and being Black. The country sometimes struggles with these aspects, and this election could be a defining moment for those who are on the fence.”
The focus on swing voters is gaining renewed importance after several election cycles dominated by mobilizing each party's base. This shift is driven by the narrow margins in recent presidential elections and the influx of political funding.
Identifying and persuading undecided voters is considerably more expensive than simply getting a candidate’s supporters to the polls. For the Trump campaign, this involves extensive data collection and analysis to identify persuadable voters. They use early data to build models predicting which voters are most likely to be swayed and continuously validate these models through direct engagement.
On the other hand, Harris’s campaign emphasizes "relational" organizing, involving supporters in community events to reach undecided voters. This approach is reflected in their efforts, such as Harris's involvement in a coat drive in Milwaukee, while Trump’s allies focus on financial seminars.
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