Both former President Donald Trump's campaign and Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign spent Wednesday in the Midwest, vying for support in must-win battleground states. But one side now clearly has more enthusiasm from voters.
Journalist Maggie George of the Michigan Information & Research Service tweeted a 360-degree view of the crowd at a Vance rally in Macomb County, Michigan, that showed a relatively small crowd of supporters in the typically Republican-leaning county. As progressive organizer Evan Sutton tweeted, Macomb County went for Trump over President Joe Biden by a 53-45 margin in 2020. And in 2016, Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by an 11-point margin. But according to Sutton, the poor attendance at Wednesday's rally could signal trouble for the GOP ticket this November.
"While Kamala and Vice President Dad [Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz] draw massive crowds at every stop, hardly anyone is showing up to see the weirdos," Sutton tweeted. "Today Vance couldn't even get 200 people to an event in a critical Michigan swing county where Trump took 54% in 2016. Talk about low energy."
Politico Playbook DC deputy editor Zack Stanton noticed the small crowd and wrote that he was "genuinely surprised that the Trump campaign didn't turn out more supporters to greet Vance" in the Republican-controlled county, adding that "it's not as though there is a shortage of them!" And Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Florida) recalled his own campaign experience and tweeted that Vance's team failed at "Advance 101," referring to campaign's advance teams to scope out venues prior to events.
"[I]f you aren’t gonna fill a space, get a smaller space," he offered, with a thumbs-up emoji for emphasis.
Progressive group Indivisible Michigan opined that "we've seen more people in this parking lot at Trunk or Treat," in reference to the Halloween tradition of parents stuffing their car trunks with candy and gathering in one place for convenience. from 2020 Democratic National Convention delegate Christopher Hale also joined in on roasting Vance, writing: "This press conference could've been an email."
"This is really JD Vance's rally? I've seen kids selling Girl Scout Cookies attract larger crowds than this," tweeted comedy writer Lon Harris.
Meanwhile, Harris and her newly minted running mate, Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz, were scheduled to hold a rally on Wednesday evening in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Harris-Walz campaign youth organizer Victor Shi tweeted a time-lapse video showing that the line to get into the venue is already thousands of people long.
"Holy cow. This is the line right now to see VP Kamala Harris & Gov. Tim Walz in Eau Claire, Wisconsin — an area that is represented by a Republican in Congress," Shi tweeted. "This energy & enthusiasm are freaking jaw dropping."
Both Michigan and Wisconsin played decisive roles in the 2016 and 2020 elections. Trump won both states in 2016, and Biden won them in 2020. Wisconsin in particular was a nail-biter contest, with Biden winning the Badger State by less than 21,000 total votes. He won Eau Claire County by roughly 6,000 votes.
If Harris managed to win the so-called "Blue Wall" states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin this November — along with Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District (Nebraska allocates its electoral votes by congressional district) — she could seal up 270 Electoral College votes even if Trump wins all the other battleground states like Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.
Reprinted with permission from Alternet.
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