As Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris hits a “plateau” and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump faces criticism for failing to explain key elements of his platform, two former senior advisers from across the aisle say: Each candidate spoke about the final push necessary to secure a majority of 270 votes. Number of electoral votes on election day.
Karl Rove, a former senior adviser and chief strategist in the administration of President George W. At the event, he spoke about the upcoming election. American Grand Strategy, POLIS: Center for Politics and Division of Political Science.
Mr. Rove and Mr. Axelrod worked extremely hard to maintain campaign momentum in the shortened campaign, although Ms. Harris’ last-minute nomination and strong debate performance stoked enthusiasm for the Democratic Party. He argued that it was necessary to make an effort.
“She started feeling groggy starting around September, but by late September to early October it had leveled off,” Loeb said. “She has used up that momentum and has not found a way to restart it through her activities.”
Rove also pointed to the need for Trump to prove he has a “second act” in him and to “prosecute[Harris]better than he did,” adding that Trump’s He admitted that his time would be better spent explaining things accurately. As president, rather than putting the blame on the Democrats.
Both Axelrod and Rove provided analysis of the current state of the race, which shows a close margin between Trump and Harris. Axelrod pointed out that the largest difference between candidates in a battleground state is 2 percentage points in Arizona.
“The question when you look at early voting is which party is winning more undocumented voters and new voters?” Axelrod said this is difficult to assess this early in the voting period. Although not enough data is available, he said he believes that number is closer than it was four years ago.
Both men agreed that changes in party voting dynamics will influence how this November’s election unfolds.
“Former President Trump spent a lot of time telling people that voting by mail is not legitimate, and his campaign has worked hard to get people to vote by mail,” Axelrod said. . “So you’ll see more Republicans participating and voting more both in person and (by) mail. That’s going to change the dynamic a little bit.”
However, the target electorate has also changed. Rove noted that a small number of undecided, “weakly connected” voters are becoming “increasingly important” in elections. He added that the most powerful campaign efforts are those aimed at identifying and targeting those voters.
At the end of the night, Rove and Axelrod said Americans are “tired” of the current state of polarized politics, especially after seeing the apparently friendly tone of the vice presidential debate. “I want to see something different,” he said. in both previous presidential debates.
“The vast majority of people … want to accomplish something constructive. We need to say, ‘Thank you for doing that,'” Loeb said.
Mr. Axelrod concluded by emphasizing the importance of young people participating in the democratic process.
“[Young people]are skeptical, but not cynical, and on some level understand that we are provided with tools that can be used to make the world a better place and strengthen our communities. I want to know if it can be done,” he said. “So I think we need to encourage them, because it’s up to them to move forward with this experiment, so we want them to have enough hope.”
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Claire Cranford | Feature Management Editor
Clare Cranford is a second-year student at Trinity University and the Editor-in-Chief of the News Department.
