A political campaign is much like a long Olympian foot race and, at times, like a relay where you get a boost from someone who can carry you on the last leg of the race into the winner’s circle.
Let me share with you some of my humble ideas and thoughts about the two presidential campaigns.
Going into the Republican National Convention, the Trump campaign was smug and most happy that they had stunted support for Biden. They were celebrating Biden’s poor performance in the debate.
At the convention, Trump should have gotten a good-sized bump with his acceptance speech and the announcement of JD Vance as the Vice-Presidential Candidate. Not only did they not get the bump they wanted, but Vance also came out of the convention with a negative rating. Plus, Trump’s long and rambling speech did not energize the convention as it should have.
And yes, at that time, the Trump campaign, along with some Democrats, was calling for Biden to step aside. The Trump campaign was geared around Biden being the candidate. And as you know, Biden took an amazing historic action and stepped down, recommending his Vice President to be the Presidential Candidate for the Party. It shocked and shook many who did not know what to expect.
Suddenly, it seems that everyone but Trump is endorsing her.
Moreover, she has raised over $100 million in her first week ($310 in July) and has gotten a serious bump on the electoral map, even before naming her vice-presidential running mate. Besides, she still has the Democratic convention in Chicago to present herself to the voters.
Overnight, she gained momentum, taking the baton from Biden and running this last leg of the race. The financial and volunteer enthusiasm for her candidacy has surpassed any expectations.
Then you had the disastrous Black Journalist Convention where Trump stumbled and mumbled his racist attacks against Harris while having to defend JD for comments he had made about single women, cats and their ability to govern.
I have been in those difficult campaign meetings where you have to decide where to spend your money, time and how to adjust your message. Trump, I am sure, is screaming at those in his circle who told him that Vance would help him with key Midwestern states. As of today, it does not seem to have been a wise decision.
As a matter of fact, swing state Republican parties are worried because Trump has hired a consulting firm to turn out the vote instead of working through the state and local parties. This is a huge gamble.
On the other side, the Harris campaign is opening more offices in swing states and recruiting thousands of new volunteers. Across the board, candidates and party officials are excited about this historic race ahead of them.
The fact that the Biden/Harris team was able to do a historic international swap of prisoners, bringing home more Americans from Russia, will be yet another positive highlight. Another feather in the cap for the Harris campaign.
Trump, for his part, in recent posts has returned to his third-grade-level taunts and name-calling of Harris. He does not need to do this since his MAGA crowd is still going to vote for him no matter what.
What should worry the Trump campaign is that down-ballot Republicans will become less MAGA than they were before because they see Trump losing support and the coattails disappearing.
Both campaigns must carefully analyze how they are doing with the many independent voters and specially targeted groups such as women, people of color, young voters, blue-collar workers and others.
There is one group that is still out there to be reached: our family members and friends who are chair- or bedridden and want to be part of this election. Once, when I did a workshop for differently abled individuals, a young man in a wheelchair, through the help of his electronic board and his medical assistant, told me that he and others were waiting to work and could call and use the internet.
By the way, when was the last time you saw these special and good people as part of the stage makeup with candidates?
In a tight campaign, you should not take anything for granted. You need to make sure that people vote early, and that we all work the phones and streets to get a huge turnout for this election.
Remember that the only poll that counts is the number of voters that you can turn out for your candidate.
