Tuesday marks 10 weeks until Election Day on Nov. 5.
And former President Trump is now working at breakneck speed as he aims to blunt Vice President Harris’ momentum as she rides a wave of energy and enthusiasm out of last week’s Democratic National Convention.
Trump campaigns this week in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, three of the seven battleground states from coast to coast that will likely determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. His running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, returns to Michigan.
Last week, as the Democrats held their convention in Chicago, Trump stopped in five of the key swing states, part of his counter-programming effort, with Vance also crisscrossing the campaign trail.
TRUMP PICKS UP PACE AS WHITE HOUSE RACE ENTERS FINAL PHASE
Republican presidential nominee former President Trump speaks at a campaign event in Las Vegas on Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
The vice president and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, kick off a two-day bus tour this week in the crucial southeastern battleground of Georgia.
Expect the bumper-to-bumper traffic on the campaign trail to be repeated going forward until Election Day.
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But over the next month, there are also a handful of major markers that could impact the outcome of the election.
Harris interview?
Trump, Vance, their campaign and allied Republicans have repeatedly criticized Harris for not holding a news conference or sitting for an interview since replacing President Biden at the top of the Democratic Party’s 2024 ticket more than five weeks ago.
Presidential nominee Vice President Harris is shown at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
“She can’t answer questions,” Trump said on Monday as he took questions from reporters during a stop in northern Virginia.” Why doesn’t she do something like I’m doing right now?”
So, all eyes will be on Harris to see if she lives up to her promise to do a national news media interview by the end of the month.
Fundraising fight
There are just a handful of days left in August, and the end of the month brings anticipation of the latest fundraising figures from both the Trump and Harris campaigns.
Biden enjoyed the fundraising lead over Trump earlier this year, but the former president saw his fundraising soar in the late spring and early summer.
But after Biden’s blockbuster move to end his re-election bid and Harris replacing him as the Democrats’ standard-bearer, the campaign and the party’s fundraising surged and Harris walloped Trump in fundraising during July.
Former President Trump and Vice President Harris (Getty Images)
The August numbers, which the campaigns could release as early as Sept. 1, will be closely watched and scrutinized, as fundraising along with polling is a crucial metric.
Debate clash
The first and possibly the only presidential debate between Harris and Trump is scheduled for Sept. 10 in Philadelphia. But Trump on Monday questioned whether he would take part in the ABC News-hosted showdown as he charged that the network was “biased.”
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The face-off, if it truly happens, could be the most important evening in the 2024 presidential election, with the power to potentially shift or transform the current margin-of-error race between the vice president and the former president.
For proof of this, look back to the late-June debate between Biden and Trump. The president’s disastrous performance fueled questions about whether the 81-year-old president had the mental and physical stamina to handle another four years in the White House. And it sparked calls from within his own party for Biden to drop out of the race.
Less than a month after the clash in Atlanta, the president was out of the race.
Early voting
There are 70 days to go until Election Day, but some voters start casting ballots next month.
In swing state North Carolina, mail-in voting begins on Sept. 6. And early voting begins on Sept. 16 in Pennsylvania and Sept. 26 in Michigan, two other crucial electoral battlegrounds.