Biden, Trump set up showdown in Pennsylvania in sprint to finish
PHILADELPHIA — As the national early vote climbs past a staggering 93 million and challenges to the electoral process intensify across states, President Donald Trump and Joe Biden are barreling into Pennsylvania and turning it into the top battleground in Tuesday’s election, with Democrats flooding in with doorknockers and Republicans trying to parlay Trump’s rallies into big turnout once again.
Both campaigns see Pennsylvania as increasingly crucial to victory: Trump now appears more competitive here than in Michigan and Wisconsin, two other key northern states he hopes to win, and Biden’s clearest electoral path to the White House runs through the state. Pennsylvania has more Electoral College votes, 20, than any other traditional battleground except Florida, and Trump won the state by less than 1 percentage point in 2016.
Trump devoted Saturday to four rallies across the state, and he and Biden planned campaign events for the final 48 hours of the race as well, with a wave of prominent Democrats and celebrities slated to arrive. On Monday the president was set to make an appeal to white, working- class voters in Scranton, where Biden was born, while the Democratic nominee was aiming to solidify a broad coalition of white suburbanites and voters of color on a two-day swing through Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and elsewhere in western Pennsylvania.
Biden is ahead with a modest margin in recent polls, and is trying to cut into the president’s turnout in rural counties. But Trump’s rallies have energized many Republican voters, and his team is already preparing legal challenges over the vote if it ends up being close.
In Pennsylvania in particular, the possibility of extended court battles and confusion hangs over the race, with the state Republican Party hoping the Supreme Court will reconsider its decision lastweek to allow the state to continue receiving absentee ballots for three days after Election Day.
Some Trump supporters also turned disruptive on Sunday: Vehicles bearing Trump flags halted traffic on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey; local officials said the motorcade backed up traffic for several miles. In Georgia, a rally for Democrats that had been scheduled was canceled, with organizers citing worries over what they feared was a “large militia presence” drawn by Trump’s own event nearby.
Biden also told reporters that Trump supporters in about 80 pickups drove around his block in Delaware on Sunday.
Trump’s lagging position in the race was evident in his grueling travel schedule that had him shoring up votes in five states he won four years ago — Michigan, Iowa, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
His final rally of the day was scheduled for 11 p.m., and risked violating a midnight curfew in MiamiDade County.
Biden, by contrast, set his sights squarely on Pennsylvania on Sunday, an approach he will repeat again Monday, along with a foray into Ohio, a state Trump won handily in 2016 but that polls show could be more competitive now.
Compared with other swing states, such as Florida, far fewer early ballots have already been cast in Pennsylvania and, according to the U.S. Elections Project, as of Sunday there were more than 350,000 absentee ballots that had been requested by Democratic voters that had yet to be returned. The Biden campaign is focused on the fact that a large share of the electorate here is still expected to vote on Election Day, an adviser said.
The final sprint of the race came against a different backdrop than in previous elections, with fewer voters left to motivate. The record number of early votes underscored the intense interest in one of the most consequential elections in modern history, despite the logistical challenges of voting amid a pandemic.
Biden spent Sunday afternoon with Black voters at a drive-in “Souls to the Polls” event at a Philadelphia church. His outreach came as Democrats have worried about his ability to sufficiently energize and turn out Black and Latino Democratic voters in some states. He addressed another drive-in rally in the city Sunday evening, reminding voters of their influence over the outcome.
Trump, for his part, made his own pitch to Black voters while campaigning in Hickory, N.C. “To every Black American, I am asking you to vote on Tuesday,” he said, projecting confidence about his own standing with Black voters.