Tamara Keith of NPR and Jasmine Wright of NOTUS analyzed the closing messages from Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in the final stretch of the presidential race. Trump held a rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden where allies made racist and vulgar comments about Latinos and Puerto Rico. His campaign is doubling down on his promise for a massive deportation to reverse what he calls an immigrant invasion.
Keith said this rally was an embodiment of Trumpism, aimed at motivating voters who have felt disengaged and getting them to cast a ballot. Wright noted that the Trump campaign’s strategy of targeting low-propensity voters is risky, as it’s unclear what works to motivate them to vote. She called this a “base-plus election,” with both campaigns reaching slightly outside their base.
Contrasting election strategies
The Harris campaign is engaging right-leaning women to mitigate losses with voters of color, while Trump targets low-propensity voters who like his message. Harris is trying to draw a contrast by speaking from the Ellipse, the same place where Trump spoke before the January 6th Capitol attack.
She is leaning into the democracy argument, which resonates with anxious Democratic voters and suburban women wary of the Republican stance on reproductive rights. As the election is already underway, with 40 million Americans having voted early, Trump and his surrogates continue to spread lies about election fraud. A CNN poll shows more than two-thirds of Americans believe Trump will not accept the results if he loses.
Keith noted that Trump is laying the groundwork to contest a potential loss, similar to his language in 2020, by suggesting the election could be rigged and spreading misinformation about voter suppression. The analysis highlights the different strategies employed by the Harris and Trump campaigns in the final days before the election, with Trump focusing on energizing disengaged supporters and Harris appealing to moderate Republicans while emphasizing democracy and reproductive rights.
