Republicans in the swing states are warning Donald Trump that he has no campaign to mobilize voters.
Donald Trump thought the election was over when Joe Biden was in the race. Trump never bothered to build or invest in a campaign to mobilize voters in the swing states. Instead, he left those efforts to private conservative groups, but Biden
is no longer running for office, and now the ex-president has a big problem.
The Washington Post reported:
While Trump has repeatedly said Republican Party officials need to focus only on election integrity. But now he's hearing from outside allies that he has no significant presence in key swing states. He's upset by the media attention some of his campaign staffers are attracting and has told others that his advisers are getting too much credit. Some advisers have urged him to spend more on digital advertising because he's facing pressure online.
This is how bad things are for Trump in the swing states: “Less than 100 days before the election, local GOP officials in the swing states have raised alarms about Trump's campaign's lack of field staff. The large armies of paid and volunteer poll workers and door-to-door canvassers that normally boost turnout in presidential elections are relying largely on outside groups like America First Works, America PAC and Turning Point Action to campaign.”
Local staff are the ones who drive voter turnout in swing states. If there are no staff or organized offices, there is no one available to mobilize voters.
In contrast, in the two states it is visiting on Friday (Arizona and Nevada) alone, the Harris-Walz campaign has the following to show for the Harris campaign:
Team Harris-Walz has more than 25 coordinated campaign offices throughout Arizona and Nevada with over 220 full-time employees.
In Nevada, we are running the largest statewide campaign ever, with 13 offices and nearly 100 local staff. We have also seen unprecedented enthusiasm from volunteers in recent weeks: hours after Vice President Kamala Harris announced her presidential campaign,Over 600 volunteers have come forward to assist the campaign. Shortly after Vice President Harris announced her candidacy, the campaign hosted a weekend of action that brought in over 1,000 volunteers and reached nearly 50,000 voters across the state by knocking on doors and working the phones.
In Arizona, the campaign has 12 offices with six more to come — more than any other coordinated Arizona campaign in history. The campaign has hired more than 120 full-time staffers and has offices in every corner of the state, from border communities like Nogales to rural areas like Kingman. With a popular message and a strong record on the issues voters care about most, Vice President Harris has seen growing support in Arizona in the form of voluntary sign-ups and statements of support. Since July 21, 20,899 Arizonans have signed up online to join the campaign. And during the July Action Weekend, the campaign and the Arizona Democratic Coordinated Campaign launched 26 door-to-door canvassing drives and hosted a total of 67 events from rural Arizona to midtown Phoenix.
Harris and Walz have hundreds of paid staffers in two states contacting voters and getting them to vote. Trump is hoping outside groups will fill that gap for him.
If the election remains close, the political battle game will decide who wins and who loses in the swing states. And without a strong, coordinated effort, Republicans could be heading for the kind of disaster Donald Trump brought upon himself by abandoning his party's political battle game.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a member of the White House press pool and a congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a bachelor's degree in political science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and professional memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association
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