The ground game for Harris and Trump in closing days of 2024 election

In Allouez, Wisconsin, a Democratic-leaning vicinity successful a region erstwhile President Donald Trump won successful 2020, elector Mark Losson said nan canvassing effort by Vice President Kamala Harris' run has been persistent. 

One doorway knocker was "insistent connected a response" and many times offered to travel backmost until his woman was home, Losson told CBS News. 

"She had a checklist and she was making judge she checked each her boxes," said Losson, a erstwhile Republican elector who did not ballot for Trump successful 2020, and is leaning towards voting for Harris. 

The Harris run has held a dependable advantage complete Trump successful position of beingness resources connected nan ground. It has 353 section offices and complete 2,500 unit members successful nan battleground states. 

The run says its unpaid effort has been surging and said from Oct. 14-21, during complete 124,000 shifts, volunteers knocked connected 1.6 cardinal doors and made 20 cardinal telephone calls. 

The Trump run did not disclose really galore section offices it has, but it said location are astir 2 twelve successful Pennsylvania, which is considered to beryllium nan astir captious battleground authorities successful this election. 

The Harris run is banking connected its crushed crippled advantage pinch unpaid resources connected nan crushed to thief push nan vice president complete nan apical successful November. The statesmanlike title successful each battleground state remains wrong nan separator of error, according to CBS News polling. 

"I can't really speak to what Donald Trump is doing," Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly told CBS News successful early October. "My guess, from what I tin show astir nan measurement he campaigns, is he conscionable drops verbal bombs connected TV and doesn't do nan difficult work. It sewage him crossed nan decorativeness statement successful 2016. I don't deliberation it's gonna activity again."

"Trump Force" captains and low-propensity voters

The Trump run has taken a little accepted attack to its get-out-the-vote efforts successful nan battleground states. It's trying to mobilize low-propensity voters — group who infrequently formed their ballots successful elections — to triumph successful nan important battleground states pinch what they've dubbed their Trump Force 47 program. 

The programme relies connected Trump's astir loyal supporters — referred to arsenic "Trump Force" captains — who are recruited by nan run to spell aft these voters. The run provides nan captains pinch a database of 25 group successful section areas inclined to ballot for nan erstwhile president but who person not yet voted. 

The captains are past tasked pinch identifying, engaging and "activating" those voters by encouraging them to make a scheme to ballot early, by message aliases successful personification for nan erstwhile president. 

The Trump Force 47 programme is besides incentivized by tiers. The first tier is called "Ten for Trump." If nan captains prosecute and activate 10 voters for Trump, they person a reddish t-shirt that says "Trump Force 47."  When they execute nan adjacent tier, "24 for 24," captains get expedited introduction into run rallies. And if nan captains scope 45 voters, they execute nan tier called "45 for 47" and person a achromatic "Trump Force Captain" hat. Captains besides person a "Trump Force 47" spot for completing nan basal unpaid training. 

The model, developed by nan campaign's governmental head James Blair and lawman governmental head Alex Meyer, was first deployed successful Iowa, wherever Trump won nan GOP caucuses decisively. 

The Trump run is outsourcing its mid-propensity and high-propensity elector outreach to groups for illustration Elon Musk's ace PAC and Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA group.  

In Wisconsin, different captious battleground state, Elon Musk's America PAC mixed forces pinch Turning Point Action. Musk, who has donated $75 cardinal to his PAC, has taken nan lead connected information and crushed crippled operations utilizing Turning Point staff. 

Musk has besides held events pinch his ace PAC successful Pennsylvania this month, wherever he urged attendees to registry to vote. He's besides pledged to springiness $1 cardinal to a registered elector from a battleground authorities a day, sweepstakes-style. Election rule experts are raising reddish flags astir nan giveaway.

The large shelter for nan Harris campaign

Harris inherited an already-built crushed cognition from President Biden erstwhile he left nan race, and it besides taps into nan existing infrastructure built by authorities and region parties. In nan closing weeks, nan run has taken an "all-of-the-above" elector interaction strategy. 

While accepted doorway knocking and telephone banking stay astatine nan halfway of their elector outreach, nan run is focusing connected integer and societal media ads, too. A run charismatic besides pointed to "relational organizing," that is, urging supporters to person their family, friends and neighbors to ballot for Harris. 

The beingness of elector targets for nan run is large, and that's evident from Harris' caller travels. Within 48 hours successful nan past week, Harris said astatine 2 Black churches successful Atlanta to mobilize guidelines voters and past toured nan "blue wall" states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin for municipality halls pinch erstwhile Republican Rep. Liz Cheney to entreaty to Republicans and moderates. 

Black and Latino voters are cardinal get-out-the-vote targets, an charismatic says, but nan run is besides trying to scope Republicans and agrarian voters to trim into Trump's margins successful immoderate counties wherever immoderate GOP voters person shown a reluctance to support Trump.

Suburban voters, chiefly women and college-educated voters, are besides cardinal for Harris successful states for illustration Michigan. Wisconsin Democratic officials are focusing on Dane County, location to nan University of Wisconsin-Madison and a ample number of young voters. 

"Normally, campaigns displacement to consecutive mobilization successful nan last sprint," this charismatic said. "But because of really unpopular Donald Trump is pinch Nikki Haley voters and others who person traditionally voted Republican, we are continuing to scope retired to and seduce conservative-leaning voters correct done nan very end."

Harris, pinch thief from ace PAC Future Forward, has maintained an advantage complete Trump connected advertisement spending successful nan battleground states successful nan closing weeks, according to advertisement search patient AdImpact. From Oct. 1 done Election Day, Harris and her ace PAC will person spent $328.3 cardinal connected ads successful nan 7 battleground states, compared to $215.9 cardinal spent by Trump and Republican groups.

Only successful Pennsylvania has nan spread narrowed, successful portion owed to pro-Trump extracurricular groups specified arsenic nan Florida-based "Right for America" PAC, which has spent $11.7 cardinal connected ads successful nan closing month. 

Harris' moving mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, has had a dependable drumbeat of battleground authorities run events. Top surrogates wrong nan Democratic Party, erstwhile presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, person besides been deployed to nan way to mobilize voters. 

Obama is slated to look pinch Harris successful Atlanta connected Thursday and erstwhile first woman Michelle Obama is campaigning pinch Harris successful Michigan connected Saturday. Early voting is underway successful some states. 

The volunteers knocking connected nan doors 

In northeastern Wisconsin, a competitory but Republican-leaning portion of nan state, Democratic-leaning voters voiced a operation of assurance and anxiousness astir nan election, if they were consenting to talk. 

Sarah Stabelfeld, a Wisconsin Harris run volunteer, hadn't knocked connected doors since Obama's tally successful 2008. She was dispatched to sound doors successful Appleton, Wisconsin, a Democratic-leaning municipality successful Outagamie County wherever Trump won by 10 points successful 2020.

"What feels different this clip astir is overmuch much hesitancy erstwhile we sound connected doors, group are hesitant to stock their opinions," she said astatine a Harris arena successful Ripon, Wisconsin, pinch Cheney. 

"Door knocking is truthful labour intensive. We're each experiencing ads, commercials, mailers. But there's thing for illustration that human-to-human connection," said Wisconsin State Assembly campaigner and section Democratic region chair Christy Welch. "If they're consenting to person a dialogue."

Welch knocked connected nan doorway of Democratic elector Barbara Biebel, who said she's seen overmuch much activity and finance from nan Democratic broadside successful her area. She said she's still anxious. 

"[Trump] would beryllium devastating for our nation. It doesn't support maine awake astatine night, but I clench my teeth a lot," said Biebel, who added she and her neighbors person agreed not to bring authorities up. "We cognize who is who connected this block."

In Nevada, nan Harris campaign's efforts are bolstered by canvassers for nan Culinary Union Local 226, an influential labour national that represents 60,000 voters successful Las Vegas and Reno. 

When they walked doorway to doorway successful North Las Vegas connected Thursday, nan canvassers ran into conscionable 1 undecided voter: Shirley Jackson, an older Black female who supported Democratic voters successful nan past but wanted to cognize much astir really Harris would reside nan rising costs successful groceries and wellness insurance.

"I really don't cognize her. I'm still trying to decide," Jackson said, adding that while she thinks Trump is "a small better" connected nan economy, she's not considering voting for him.