It’s the final week before Election Day and the candidates, Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, are tying up the loose ends of their campaigns. These are things that I see are “Hail Marys” in the hopes of tilting the election in battleground states to their favor.
Harris is spending the last stretch of her campaign in Michigan while Trump rallies support in Georgia. These two seemingly different states have one thing in common: how crucial they are to this election.
These states are known as swing states and also include Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. They can make or break an election for a candidate and it’s pivotal to win at least Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan to secure an election win.
But at this stage in the election, with so many people already mailing in their votes, does it really matter what the candidates are doing? Should they just sit on their couches and wait to see how it plays out?
The answer is not so simple.
Take, for example, Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden. This rally was a mess from the start. First, he is campaigning so close to Election Day in a historically blue state that convicted him as a felon just last year. It was an event of racism and incitement to violence. This could range from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” to the same comedian calling out a Black man in the audience by referencing a watermelon.
This rhetoric is disgusting, but even PBS agrees that it is unlikely to lose Trump much in the polls because of how staunchly loyal his supporters are this far in the race.
The NYC rally was a showing of pride and a stroke of ego. Michigan and Georgia are where these candidates get serious.
If that event tells us anything, it’s that these candidates are unlikely to lose support regardless of what they do in any of these states.
But there are some key voters that Harris particularly needs to appeal to in these last few days. Harris has silent supporters that are necessary in this last week to bring to the polls.
Those are suburban women.
In an advertisement displayed around the country, Harris reminds women that their votes are private. Women who may fear repercussions for not voting for Trump are reminded that their husbands do not have to know who they vote for.
This demographic is necessary and the point was further emphasized in Michigan with former First Lady Michelle Obama. Suburban women could cinch the election for Harris, which makes campaigning for her now much more serious than Trump.
On Nov. 2, Kamala Harris appeared as a surprise guest on Saturday Night Live. This is a deviation from what she has been doing for the past week, but it makes sense for her campaign. Harris appeared on the podcast Call Her Daddy with host Alex Cooper a few weeks ago in an attempt to reach younger and more female audiences. SNL reaches young people and families alike, hitting the target for suburban women Cooper’s podcast has previously helped her with.
Harris can hope it will reach women in battleground states rather than women in New York which is bound to stay blue through this election. Trump can hope the same for his rally — the videos and broadcasts of it will reach his target audience in crucial states around the nation instead of in his hometown. But one thing remains clear, New York matters much less than the states that could turn either direction on Tuesday.
Trump can go to MSG and plant a flag in a Democratic city, his hometown, because his particular conservatism is already drawing out all of his supporters. I would go so far as to say that he did not have to campaign at all and he would still have the same Republicans fighting for him and showing up at the voting booth on Nov. 5.
Harris needs this last week. Her “Hail Marys” are closely targeted to a particular and crucial audience that, if they show up to the polls and vote, could tilt these tight battleground states in her favor.
This last week of voting is not to convince college students in New York to vote. This last stretch of the election is not about us, but still, keep a close eye on the candidates. The final week is history in the making for both of these candidates, even if it only shows what exactly they can get away with.
