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Trump, Biden Campaign Travels Show Expanded Battleground Map - WSJ

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Via: jbb • 4 years ago • 6 comments

By: Alex Leary and Sabrina Siddiqui (WSJ)

Trump, Biden Campaign Travels Show Expanded Battleground Map - WSJ

The campaign battleground map has expanded in this year's presidential race. On Monday, Trump headed to Florida for his first campaign event since contracting Covid-19, and Democratic nominee Joe Biden and Vice President Mike Pence were both in Ohio.

S E E D E D C O N T E N T

The president is in Florida while Biden and Pence hit Ohio, both states where Trump is playing defense after winning in 2016

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden talks to reporters in New Castle, Del., before boarding a flight to Ohio on Monday.

Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Alex Leary and

Sabrina Siddiqui

Updated Oct. 12, 2020 9:33 pm ET

A year ago the presidential race was shaping up to be a repeat battle for a trio of Rust Belt states that carried Donald Trump to victory in 2016: Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. On Monday, Mr. Trump traveled to Florida for his first campaign event since contracting Covid-19, and Democratic nominee Joe Biden and Vice President Mike Pence were both in Ohio.

The...

The choices, 22 days before Election Day, illustrate how the electoral map has been altered, with Mr. Trump forced to defend states such as Ohio that he easily won four years ago. He narrowly carried Florida, but the Trump team has long been confident about increasing the margin in his adopted home state. Mr. Pence also campaigned there on Saturday, including a stop at the mega retirement development in central Florida called the Villages.

Nearly every recent poll has shown Mr. Biden with a lead in Florida, and surveys show the candidates locked in a dead heat in Ohio. Mr. Trump is also faring worse in other key states he won in 2016, including Arizona and Iowa, while Mr. Biden's well-financed campaign is pouring resources into once-reliably Republican territory such as Texas.

Like so much in 2020, the presidential campaign was thrown into turmoil because of the coronavirus pandemic. WSJ's political team reviews the critical events of this year's campaign season and looks forward to what might influence voters on Election Day. Photos: Jim Watson and Saul Loeb/AFP

In Toledo, Mr. Biden said Mr. Trump was directly responsible for both the human and economic cost of a pandemic that has claimed more than 214,000 lives across the U.S.

"The longer Donald Trump is president, the more reckless he seems to get," the former vice president said at a drive-in rally held outside a United Auto Workers hall. "He's let you down. He's let us down."

Mr. Biden touted the Obama administration's bailout of the auto industry and highlighted his $700 billion plan to revitalize U.S. manufacturing. He also denounced Mr. Trump as a member of the financial elite, claiming the president's "only plan is more tax cuts for the wealthy."

"Like many of you, I spent a lot of my time with guys like Trump looking down on me," Mr. Biden said. "Guys who thought they were better than me, because they had a lot of money. Guys who inherited everything they ever got and still managed to squander it."

Mr. Trump's 2016 victory was secured by flipping Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan from Democratic support. Much of the attention remained on those states as the 2020 contest came into view, but the playing field has grown larger amid Mr. Trump's struggles with the coronavirus pandemic and eroding support among women and seniors. Older voters are especially crucial in Florida, for example, and Mr. Trump has seen support decline, according to polls.

President Trump at a campaign rally in Sanford, Fla., on Monday.

Photo: saul loeb/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

In Toledo on Monday, Mr. Biden once again appeared to target working-class white voters who supported the president in 2016, echoing a strategy he has pushed in other Obama-to-Trump states. At a second stop in Cincinnati, Mr. Biden accused Mr. Trump of widening a wealth gap across the nation.

"They see people at the top doing better and better while they're in midst of this recession," Mr. Biden said. "While they're left to wonder who is looking out for me? That is Donald Trump's presidency."

Following the first presidential debate in Cleveland, Mr. Biden held a whistle-stop train tour across eastern Ohio, where he claimed Mr. Trump had reneged on his promises to bring back manufacturing jobs.

Despite Mr. Trump's 8-point win four years ago, Mr. Biden's campaign has seen an opening in Ohio amid recent polls showing the president losing ground. Last week, Mr. Biden's campaign built on its paid media effort in Ohio as early voting got under way, expanding its ad reach to 56 of Ohio's 88 counties. The announcement came as Mr. Trump pulled back on his Ohio advertising.

"We are quite happy to see Joe Biden wasting a valuable day on the campaign trail in a state he won't win in three weeks," Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said during a conference call with reporters.

But as he spoke, Mr. Pence was about to land in Columbus for a rally in what will be his second visit to Ohio within a month. He pitched Mr. Trump as a tireless worker and said he had delivered on promises. "Now it's our turn to fight for him. It's on Ohio," he said. "We've got to bring it." He urged people to leave the event and go vote at an early polling location.

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The president left Washington late Monday afternoon and boarded Air Force One for Sanford, Fla., near Orlando. Before a large crowd, Mr. Trump said, "I am so energized by your prayers and humbled by your support." He quickly returned to familiar themes about the economy while criticizing Mr. Biden and Democratic investigations into his administration. Mr. Trump didn't wear a mask.

"He is strong. He is energetic. He is raring to go," Mr. Stepien said. "He's our best asset." Another aide, Jason Miller, said the president complained on a call Monday morning about not having enough events lined up.

The campaign is scheduling daily campaign events, and Mr. Trump is to appear Tuesday in Pennsylvania, Wednesday in Iowa and Thursday in North Carolina. His surrogates are spreading across other battlegrounds this week, including Georgia, another state Mr. Trump won in 2016 but has been forced to defend. Mr. Biden's wife, Jill, will campaign in metro Atlanta Monday, as will Donald Trump Jr.

Mr. Trump's campaign on Monday dismissed national and state polling showing him losing to Mr. Biden, arguing that polling in 2016 at this time had Democrat Hillary Clinton ahead. The campaign also argued it has more on the ground enthusiasm, as evidenced by the large crowds that turn out for rallies, and a significant improvement in voter registration versus the 2016 effort.

"We feel very, very good about the position we are in," campaign adviser Corey Lewandowski said.

Write to Alex Leary at alex.leary@wsj.com and Sabrina Siddiqui at Sabrina.Siddiqui@wsj.com