Harris stays in Pittsburgh and has his eye on the decisive game in Pennsylvania

PITTSBURGH – Vice President Harris is spending nearly a week in Western Pennsylvania preparing for the first and perhaps only debate between herself and former President Trump.

Harris arrived in Pittsburgh on Thursday and is expected to stay until Tuesday’s decisive clash in Philadelphia.

The vice president’s seemingly unusual decision to be based outside of Washington may be intended to create a positive atmosphere – and positive local media coverage – in a state that is the largest and most important of the seven battleground states that will decide the election.

But the vice president will also focus intensely on the debate itself, the most crucial moment for her candidacy since the Democratic National Convention last month.

Philippe Reines, who served as a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton during her time as secretary of state, is playing Trump during the preliminaries. Reines also represented Trump during Clinton’s preliminaries in 2016. Democratic activist Karen Dunn and Harris’ former Senate chief of staff Rohini Kosoglu are leading preparations for the debate, a source familiar with the matter told The Hill.

The Keystone State has 19 electoral college votes and would put the winner significantly closer to the White House. Biden, who considers Pennsylvania his home state along with Delaware, won the state in 2020 after Trump won it in 2016.

At the moment, the battle for the Keystone State appears to be on a knife edge. A CNN poll released Wednesday showed a neck-and-neck race, with 47 percent of voters supporting Harris and Trump respectively.

The polling average maintained by The Hill and Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) also has the state virtually tied, with Harris ahead by less than one percentage point.

Harris is following former President Obama’s example and preparing for the debate in a state that is desperate to win in November.

Obama lived in western North Carolina in 2008 while preparing for the debate with the late Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona). During his preparations, he visited a barbecue restaurant in Asheville, North Carolina, to talk to guests. Obama won North Carolina in 2008, becoming the first Democrat to win the state in a presidential election since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Harris traveled to Pittsburgh on Thursday afternoon and was greeted by Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.).

Political observers expect her to speak to voters in Pennsylvania sometime between Friday and Monday, either at official events or informal visits like a coffee shop. Then on Tuesday she will travel from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia to appear on stage with Trump.

“When you go out to get a cup of coffee or take a walk, take a walk in a state where you’re trying to get some news and interest,” one Democratic activist described. “It’s always better to be away from home, you want to be in a different environment so your brain can focus.”

Harris was also in Pittsburgh on Monday, where she accompanied Biden at her first official campaign event. (A joint stop in Maryland last month was technically a White House event and not under the auspices of Harris’ campaign.) On Monday, Harris and the president spoke at a union hall of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and beforehand held a meet-and-greet with a friendly small crowd.

Harris’ decision to be in Pittsburgh before the debate is very different from Biden’s decision to hold his preparations at Camp David before facing Trump on June 27. He spent a week in the presidential palace, completely isolated from the public, before traveling to Atlanta for the debate, where he performed so poorly that his party was thrown into crisis and he eventually dropped out of the race.

Former Pennsylvania Rep. Chris Carney (D), a senior counsel at law firm Nossaman LLP, said preparing for the debate in Pittsburgh is a way for Harris to be productive and present in a state that is so crucial this cycle.

“Posting herself in Pittsburgh is a matter of efficiency. She can prepare for debates and make campaign appearances in the western and northwestern parts of the Commonwealth, particularly in the Erie area – where she can win Trump-Democratic votes,” Carney said.

Erie County is considered a crucial county in the battle for the majority in the state. According to NPR, Biden won Erie by less than 1,500 votes after Trump won the state by less than 2,000 votes in 2016.

Harris’ running mate, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, campaigned in Erie on Thursday and also traveled to Lancaster and Pittsburgh this week. While Harris is in Pittsburgh, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will travel to Wayne, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, to campaign on Sunday.

Todd Belt, director of the political management program at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management, reiterated the importance of Erie County as an indicator.

But Belt also pointed out that any positive attention Harris receives in western Pennsylvania generally could help with an important task: narrowing Trump’s lead in some rural and suburban counties where Republicans have the advantage.

“Remember, this is not about winning the rural white vote. The goal is not to lose it as badly as Hillary Clinton did,” Belt said. “It all goes into the state’s totals.”

Belt also said the kind of local reporting that would come from Harris’ informal visits during his stay in the region could be politically useful.

“The alternative is not to do it – and then you expose yourself to the accusation that you are elitist and disconnected, that you are one of the ‘coastal elites.'”

Harris’ decision may not sound like the kind of momentous decision on which an election depends.

But in a state where the margin was so narrow in the last two elections, even the smallest advantage could make all the difference.

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