Ground Game: What to see in the final week of the campaign

Uncertainty looms in the final full week of the 2024 campaign, with Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump locked in a fiercely competitive presidential battle. What happens in the coming days will be crucial in determining the winner.

Welcome to AP’s ground game. This and next week we will bring you additional special editions ahead of Election Day.

Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, speaks during a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The campaign is nearing its end. Here’s what you need to check out.

One of the questions in this final full week before the presidential election is whether wars in the Middle East could shift the focus of the campaign, whether Harris’ closing message will allay Democrats’ concerns, and whether Trump can deliver on his message. to stay.

American presidential elections are rarely determined by foreign affairs, but wars in the Middle East are escalating just as millions of voters prepare to cast their ballots. Iran’s response to Friday’s airstrikes by Israel could determine how much the conflict in the Middle East shapes the US election.

Also look at Trump and Harris’ itineraries, which have largely focused on the seven battleground states but are always likely to change based on information about the campaigns on the ground. Trump added a Saturday stop in Virginia, which has not voted for a Republican for president since 2004. Read more.

NB:

More than 41 million votes have already been cast across the country in the election, and while Democrats generally have an advantage in early voting, Republicans are participating at a much higher rate so far than in the past.

AP-NORC poll: Americans concerned about post-election violence

American voters are approaching the presidential election with deep unease about what could follow, including the potential for political violence, attempts to overturn the election results and its broader implications for democracy, a new poll shows.

The findings of the survey, conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, speak to persistent concerns about the fragility of the world’s oldest democracy. Trump’s refusal to accept the 2020 election results inspired a mob of his supporters to storm the US Capitol in a violent attempt to stop the peaceful transition of power.

About four in 10 registered voters say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about violent attempts to overturn the results after the November election. A similar share is concerned about legal efforts to do so. Read more.

NB:

About 1 in 3 voters say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about efforts by local or state election officials to prevent the results from being finalized. Relatively few voters – about a third or less – are “not very” or “not at all” concerned about this happening.

Lawmakers share what it’s like in a ‘chaos’ Congress

Polarizing. Challenging. A lot of time wasted.

This is how six lawmakers describe what it is like to sit in the American House. A particularly tumultuous period in American history has brought governance to a standstill, endangered their lives and raised fundamental questions about what it means to be a representative in a divided democracy. And yet they keep going, running for re-election.

The Associated Press sat down separately with lawmakers, three Republicans and three Democrats, to hear what things are like on Capitol Hill and what they — and Americans — can do to make things better. They all come from safe districts and are expected to easily win another term. Read more.

NB:

They all celebrated even small victories. Especially the small victories, because that’s about all Congress can accomplish these days.

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a community meeting at the Alan Horwitz “Sixth Man” Center, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

• Harris is campaigning with Tim Walz in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Monday and will deliver what her campaign has called a “closing argument” speech at the Ellipse in Washington on Tuesday. On Wednesday she stumps in Raleigh, North Carolina; Pennsylvania and Madison, Wisconsin. Harris will campaign in Phoenix on Thursday before heading to Nevada for campaign events in Reno and Las Vegas.

• Trump will appear at a faith roundtable in Powder Springs, Georgia, on Monday before holding a rally in Atlanta. He heads to Pennsylvania on Tuesday for a roundtable on Building America’s Future in Drexel Hill and a meeting in Allentown. Trump will convene in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Wednesday and head west on Thursday for a rally in Henderson, Nevada, and an appearance with Tucker Carlson in Glendale, Arizona. He will hold a rally in Milwaukee on Friday and an event in Salem, Virginia, on Saturday.

Harris said Sunday that “no one should be left on the sidelines” in this year’s presidential election, capping a day of campaigning in the crucial state of Pennsylvania’s largest city. Read more.

Trump staged a rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden Sunday with crude and racist insults, turning what his campaign had billed as the event at which he would deliver his final message into an illustration of what turns off his critics. Read more.