With seventy-two days remaining until the November election, the Donald Trump campaign is preparing to ramp up its operation “aggressively” with “several events each week, if not daily” and other efforts, particularly in swing states, CNN reported Sunday.
“Think Trump on steroids,” one campaign source told CNN. “It’ll be all hands on deck.”
Anchor Paula Reid reported the efforts on CNN Newsroom Sunday, speaking with former Pennsylvania Republican congressman Charlie Dent and Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha about the plans that reportedly will not only focus on battlegrounds but include Trump visiting two states each day.
“I think that it’s a good strategy,” said Rocha. “I think that we’re getting down to the close to the end, now. We keep talking about 72 days, but folks actually start voting here in about 40 days. Early ballots go out in Nevada and Arizona and a lot of these other battleground states.”
Dent credited Vice President Kamala Harris with putting several states in play that seemed lost with President Joe Biden as the nominee, and said that Trump is going to have to change tactics.
“It’s time for the Trump campaign to actually focus and try to make this a policy based, campaign rather than what it’s been so far, which has really been focused on personal ad hominem attacks and insults, which aren’t probably gonna be able to sustain him going forward,” he said.
CNN adds:
Trump, who has an aversion to traditional debate prep and has argued he doesn’t need formal preparation, such as engaging in mock debates, prefers to study his opponent and fine-tune his messaging in a more casual setting, the adviser added.
Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, for example, has been working with Trump behind the scenes to help him understand Harris’ debate style.
The latest RealClearPolitics polling average on Sunday shows Harris ahead of Trump 48.4 to 46.9 in national polling less than 80 days from election day, with Trump battleground leads in Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia, and Harris now ahead in Michigan and Wisconsin. Trump also still has the lead on RCP’s electoral college map.
REID: Former U.S. representative from Pennsylvania Charlie Dent and Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha. All right. Chuck, I want to start with you. We have new reporting tonight on Trump’s sprint to November. We’re learning that his campaign plans to aggressively ramp up his schedule, holding several events each week. One adviser saying, quote, “Think Trump on steroids. It’ll be all hands on deck.” What do you think of that strategy?
ROCHA: I think that it’s a good strategy. I think that we’re getting down to the close to the end, now. We keep talking about 72 days, but folks actually start voting here in about 40 days. Early ballots go out in Nevada and Arizona and a lot of these other battleground states. And for folks who do campaigns like me, Labor Day is normally the time where everything kicks in. But that’s all been amplified now by the conventions, all the craziness that we’ve had to recover. So now it becomes the sprint. All the TV advertising, all the surrogates, all these great bus tours and all the things that folks are used to doing in a campaign season. It’s now, campaigning is now, and folks will start voting in a little over a month.
REID: I’ve heard some people even suggest this is the way we should always do it, right? Don’t drag it out to 72 days. Charlie, I want to get your take on this new reporting as well.
DENT: Well, look, this campaign is in full sprint mode right now. Harris and Waltz have got a lot of momentum and they’re going to try to carry this as long as they can. We’ll see. This election remains tight. I still think it’s, you know, it’s it’s anyone’s race. Harris might have the slight advantage, but she’s expanded the playing field from when Biden was in. I mean, Georgia’s in play. Nevada’s back in play. Arizona is back in play. While under Biden those seats, those states seemed like they were gone. So now it’s time for the Trump campaign to actually focus and try to make this a policy based, campaign rather than what it’s been so far, which has really been focused on personal ad hominem attacks and insults, which aren’t probably gonna be able to sustain him going forward.
Watch the clip above via CNN.
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