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Harris, Trump, hold dueling campaign events in race to win the biggest battleground

Harris, Trump, hold dueling campaign events in race to win the biggest battleground

PITTSBURGH, PA – Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz barnstorm through western Pennsylvania on Sunday, on the eve of the kickoff of the Democratic National Convention. Hours earlier, former President Trump declared “I love Pennsylvania” as he held a rally at an indoor arena in Wilkes-Barre, in the northeast corner of the Keystone State. Pennsylvania has been and will continue to see plenty of campaign trail traffic. With 19 electoral votes up for grabs, it’s the largest prize among the seven battleground states that will likely decide the outcome of the presidential election. “We’re winning by a lot in Pennsylvania,” Trump declared on Saturday.  TRUMP RUNNING MATE VANCE AIMS TO TURN BLUE WALL STATES RED But an average of all the polls conducted in Pennsylvania since Harris replaced President Biden at the top of the Democrats’ 2024 ticket four weeks ago indicates it is all tied up. And both campaigns have been placing plenty of emphasis on the Keystone State. Harris made Philadelphia her first stop of her first battleground state swing after announcing Walz as her running mate. And Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, both return to Pennsylvania on Monday for separate events focused on the economy. HARRIS AND TRUMP TRADE FIRE IN BATTLE FOR THE BLUE WALL STATES  Pennsylvania, along with Michigan and Wisconsin, make up what’s known as the Democrats’ ‘blue wall,’ which the party reliably won in presidential elections for a quarter-century before Trump narrowly carried all three states in 2016 en route to winning the White House. But four years later, in 2020, Biden won back all three by razor-thin margins, to defeat Trump and claim the presidency. On Sunday, Harris and Walz will be accompanied by their spouses, second gentleman Doug Emhoff and Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz. The bus tour will depart from Pittsburgh’s airport and make stops, according to the Harris campaign, in Allegheny and Beaver counties, which are considered swing areas in the battleground state. Both campaigns have invested heavily in Pennsylvania, spending big bucks on ads and outreach. But the Harris campaign touts that their grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote infrastructure – with 36 coordinated offices in conjunction with the Democratic National Committee and the state party – dwarfs the presence of the Trump-Vance campaign in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania will not only see plenty of stops by the candidates between now and November, it will also be the site of what’s likely to be the first and possibly only debate between Harris and Trump, which is scheduled to be held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Sept. 10. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Anti-Israel protesters expected to gather in Chicago by the thousands during DNC

Anti-Israel protesters expected to gather in Chicago by the thousands during DNC

Thousands of anti-Israel protesters from across the country are expected to rally in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention this week as Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, make their case for the White House. As of Sunday, the Chicago Tribune reports at least seven large demonstrations on issues ranging from abortion rights to economic injustices have been sanctioned by city officials. The largest of these demonstrations, however, are expected to come from anti-Israel groups that are demanding the U.S. cut off aid to Israel and end the war in Gaza. Hatem Abudayyeh, chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, told the Washington Post that despite President Biden stepping aside, “we feel that their administration is responsible for this ongoing war and genocide.” LIVE UPDATES: DEMOCRATS ASCEND ON CHICAGO AHEAD OF THE 2024 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION “Our target is the Democratic Party and the leadership of the party and ‘Killer Kamala’ is one of them,” Abudayyeh said. Meanwhile, the Israeli American Council is planning to hold a rally on Wednesday in support of Israel. Aya Shechter, chief programming officer, told the Chicago Tribune that their message is simple: “We stand with Israel.” The group also aims to highlight those who are still being held hostage by Hamas. With tens of thousands of people expected in various parts of the city during the course of the DNC, Mayor Brandon Johnson on Friday said that all protesters are welcome. “They don’t have to be concerned about their First Amendment right,” Johnson said. “I’m going to make sure that these individuals have everything that they need to make sure that their voices are heard.” PLANNED PARENTHOOD OFFERING FREE ABORTIONS, VASECTOMIES AT DNC Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling, however, vowed that authorities would intervene if protests should spin out of control.  “We will not allow people to come here and destroy the city,” Snelling said earlier this week, according to the Chicago Tribune. Other rallies are expected to occur throughout the week despite not having been provided with the necessary permits.

Fox News Power Rankings Issues Tracker: Trump leads on two top issues, but Harris is gaining ground

Fox News Power Rankings Issues Tracker: Trump leads on two top issues, but Harris is gaining ground

Voters prefer former President Trump on the economy and immigration, but Vice President Harris is making headway on these issues and more in the first Power Rankings Issues Tracker since she became the Democratic nominee. A broadly defined Harris is gaining ground Will Harris push President Biden’s agenda if she wins this November, or does she still believe in more liberal policies from her 2019 presidential bid? Republicans say the answer is “both,” but so far, voters aren’t sure if it’s either. Trump wants America to see Harris as “dangerously liberal.” The former president has been reminding voters about policies Harris backed in previous campaigns, like decriminalizing border crossings and implementing the Green New Deal. He says running mate Tim Walz is the other half of the “most radical left duo in American history.”  At the same time, Trump wants voters to see the vice president’s policies as a continuation of Biden’s. Trump has hammered her on rising prices and the border, and at a news conference yesterday, said “you don’t have to imagine what a Kamala Harris presidency would be because you are living through that nightmare right now.” The logic is that Americans disapproved of Biden and saw him as too liberal, so telling them that Harris is a more left-wing version of Biden and also his right-hand woman will make voters wary of four more Democratic years. FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: FIVE THEMES EMERGE IN THE BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE GAVEL That strategy has left voters with a broad impression of a brand-new candidate. The results of the Issues Tracker show that voters prefer Harris to Biden on the major issues in this race. She lags Trump on the two most important issues – the economy and immigration – but has improved on the sitting president’s performance earlier this year. Harris also enjoys leads on three qualities: honesty, temperament, and mental soundness. Trump has an edge on strong leadership but doesn’t lead on any traits. Next week, the vice president will sell her agenda at the Democratic National Convention. Harris campaign officials have been telling news outlets, including Fox, that she isn’t pursuing the same policies that she was in 2019. But she is also reportedly putting distance between herself and Biden on the unpopular parts of his administration. In other words, voters’ broad impression of Harris is working for her, and her campaign wants to keep it that way. Issues: Voters prefer Trump on the economy and immigration, Harris leads on abortion and three other issues Voters continue to say three issues are more important to their vote than any others in the latest Fox News national survey: the economy (38%), immigration (14%), and abortion (14%). These are the issues likely to define the presidential race. Trump has a dominant and consistent lead on immigration. He beats Harris by 14 points in the Fox News Poll, 16 points in Marist’s poll, 18 points in Marquette University’s poll, and 13 points in the Wall Street Journal’s poll; all conducted after Biden stood down from re-election. Immigration has also shifted the least out of the top three issues since May, as 87% of voters say they consider the situation at the southern border either an emergency or a major problem. Trump’s advantage on the economy has slipped. He has an overall lead of 8 points in this tracker, down from 15 in May. That is a 7-point shift in Harris’ direction. Democrats will be relieved at data showing inflation slowed in July, even as economists remain concerned about the possibility of a recession. Harris is stronger on abortion policy. She is ahead of Trump by a range of 15 to 23 points on the issue, giving her an overall lead of 16 points over Trump.  The former president has made clear that he wants to leave abortion policy up to the states, and this year’s Republican Party platform avoided mentioning the basis for a national ban for the first time in four decades. But polls still show that the Supreme Court’s decision to end the right to abortion was unpopular; something Harris has spoken about extensively on the trail. Harris also has 11-point leads on health care and preserving democracy, and an 18-point lead on climate change. Qualities: Harris wipes out Biden’s age issue, and voters see her as more honest and temperate In the first Issues Tracker, Trump’s largest lead on any issue or quality was age. The former president enjoyed a 21-point advantage on that issue, and that was before President Biden’s dismal debate performance in June. In this tracker, the pendulum has swung dramatically in the other direction. Harris now has a 45-point advantage on age, as 48% of voters say Trump is best described as “too old” to run for President in the Journal’s poll, and 57% of voters say that term describes Trump very well or somewhat well in the Marquette survey. To be clear, this does not make age a worse liability for Trump than it was for Biden. The Journal’s poll, which pits the candidates against each other directly, shows that 48% of voters say Trump is too old, with only 2% giving Harris the same descriptor. But another 47% say that “neither” candidate is too old to run for president.  That is very different to Biden’s position in May, when a majority of independents and Democrats said that the president was too old to be an effective president now. FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: THREE GOVERNOR’S RACES TO WATCH ON ELECTION NIGHT The results just show that Democrats no longer have an age problem, and the party’s voters have “too old” on the list of things they don’t like about Donald Trump. Harris’ more important advantages are on honesty (+16), temperament (+13), and mental soundness (+8). Biden led on the first two in the May tracker, and Harris has built on his margin since entering the race. Trump doesn’t have a lead on any candidate traits. He is ahead of Harris on strong leadership by 5 points, but that is within the tracker’s