With two months left until Election Day, the Harris and Trump campaign are going head to head to win over the small fraction of the population that will likely decide who the next president will be— undecided voters in the seven battleground states.
The two camps have been spending cash, time and money in these states to appeal to these voters. Trump is focusing on swaying voters through personal finance workshops and concerts, while Harris is opting for coat drives. But will this be enough? That is yet to be seen.
"It's a small but critical piece of the electorate," said Nick Trainer, who was political director on Trump's 2020 campaign. "In battlegrounds, it's tens of thousands of voters, not hundreds of thousands."
Attracting these voters may be a difficult task, as some of them are even undecided on whether or not they will cast their ballots in November. But both campaigns see the economy as a pivotal issue of concern that crosses subgroups within the set of swing voters.
Trump is vowing to bring about a "national economic renaissance" if he's elected, while blaming Harris for the economic hardships of the last few years.
"She wants four more years to enforce the radical left agenda that poses a fundamental threat to the prosperity of every American family and America itself," Trump said Thursday in remarks to the Economic Club of New York.
On the other hand, Harris is trying to define herself as a champion of working-class families who have been hit by rising prices. Part of that strategy includes pushing back on Republican attempts to paint Harris as a liberal who will be more worried about "increasing the social network for immigrants and others who aren't working," a source familiar with the Harris campaign told NBC News.
One of the states where the two candidates will be showing their strategies is Pennsylvania, which has emerged as a key battleground state to win in November.
In the Keystone State, polls have consistently shown a virtual tie between the two candidates, with the Vice President holding a slight edge over the former President.
For instance, a polling average from FiveThirtyEight shows Harris ahead in the Pennsylvania race by less than a percentage point, at 0.7%. Likewise, a new CNN poll shows the two candidates also tied at 47%.
These figures show a stark contrast with the rest of the "blue wall" states like Michigan and Wisconsin, where Harris seems to be widening the gap.
One of the biggest red flags for Harris in Pennsylvania is that she is lacking support from men, trailing behind Trump by 15 percentage points among the group, according to the CNN poll. Among likely male voters in the state, Trump shows 55% support and Harris with 40% support.
Harris is planning to spend five days in Pennsylvania before her debate with Trump in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
One Democratic strategist said one of Harris's biggest challenges will be to get younger voters who support her to actually vote. The source said Harris's decision to bring David Plouffe, former President Obama's campaign manager, onto her political team appears designed to convert young people's support into real votes.
"To win in Pennsylvania, you need a strong base of support in the Philadelphia metro area and be able to do well in Allegheny County and carry that by a wide margin," the source said, referring to the county that encompasses Pittsburgh.
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