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What to know about the campaigns today
- Former President Barack Obama kicked off his swing-state blitz on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris with an event in Pittsburgh this evening marked by pointed remarks targeting former President Donald Trump. Harris is rallying in Phoenix.
- Trump spoke this afternoon at the Detroit Economic Club, where he said the U.S. has allowed big companies to "rape our country."
- Addressing the impact of Hurricane Milton, which made landfall in Florida yesterday, President Joe Biden told Trump to "get a life" and stop spreading conspiracy theories about the storms.
- Two critical Senate races also had noteworthy moments today. Republican nominee Kari Lake cast her ballot during early voting in Arizona, and the Maryland Senate nominees — Republican Larry Hogan and Democrat Angela Alsobrooks — faced off in a debate hosted by NBC News' Chuck Todd.
Cards Against Humanity offers payouts to new swing-state voters, responding to Musk’s PAC
The company behind the game Cards Against Humanity is aiming to one-up Elon Musk with its plan to pay blue-leaning swing-state residents who make a voting plan and agree to publicly condemn Trump.
The company announced this week an initiative to encourage people who didn’t vote in 2020 to go to the polls this year, by handing out up to $100.
On a website created by the game company, eligible voters are asked to provide their personal information, which is then checked against voter data that the company said it bought from a data broker. “You wouldn’t believe how easy it was for us to get this stuff,” the website said.
How a N.Y. ballot measure became a battleground in the culture wars
One measure on the ballot in New York state this November means two very different things to its supporters and its opponents.
The measure, Proposition 1, seeks to expand the state’s Equal Rights Amendment by adding “sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy,” as protected classes. The New York Constitution currently protects against unequal treatment based on race, color, creed and religion.
Advocates of the measure argue that it is simply a way to codify New Yorkers’ right to reproductive care. But, because the language of the proposition is vague and does not explicitly include the word “abortion,” opponents argue the measure has an ulterior motive: expanding transgender rights for minors and taking parental rights away.
New wave of GOP lawsuits targets overseas ballots in key swing states
Republicans have filed lawsuits over the past week in three pivotal battleground states seeking to challenge the legitimacy of some ballots cast by U.S. citizens living abroad, including military members, arguing that some votes are particularly prone to fraud.
Election officials in those states — Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania — and nonpartisan voting experts strongly defended the previously uncontroversial overseas voting rules, arguing that the suits amounted to efforts to further lay the groundwork to question the veracity of the election results next month.
Walz to deliver campaign message to men in swing states
Walz will take his message to male voters in swing states over the next few days, according to a Harris campaign official.
After he gives a pep talk tomorrow to the football team at Mankato West High School, where he used to coach, Walz will speak in Michigan and participate in an event with Black male voters, the campaign official said. On Saturday, he will be accompanied by a group of digital creators for an early morning hunt to mark the start of pheasant season.
He will also do media appearances with local TV stations in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the official said.
"This latest campaign push to reach male voters in swing states comes on the heels of the Governor’s recent media blitz, and builds on ongoing efforts to engage and out to persuadable men," the official said in a statement.
Walz revises Electoral College comments
Walz said in an interview set to air tomorrow that his recent remark about getting rid of the Electoral College isn't the view of the Harris campaign and that they're both on the same page.
"Well, it's not the campaign's position," Walz said in a clip of his interview with ABC's "Good Morning America."
"And the point I'm trying to make is, is that there's folks that feel that every vote must count in every state, and I think that some folks feel that's not the case," he said.
Asked whether the Electoral College is an area in which he and Harris disagree, Walz said no.
"I have spoken about it in the past —that she's been very clear on this — and the campaign and my position is the campaign's position," he said.
Walz said at a campaign reception this week, "I think all of us know the Electoral College needs to go." He then added, "But that’s not the world we live in."
Black voters discuss importance of Obama's appearance in Pennsylvania
Ahead of Obama’s rally for Harris is Pittsburgh, NBC News spoke to Black voters about the significance of his visit to Pittsburgh.
“I think he has a broad appeal. His coalition is pretty much intact. They were just waiting for the right candidate to bring him back out, and I feel like Kamala is that candidate,” Bettyjean Waller said.
Her daughter, Kashmir Waller, who was attending the rally with her, cast her first vote in 2008 for Obama. She said the fact that Obama “is rallying for potentially the first woman of color to be president, I think, is a huge deal.”
Alex Grant, 24, a student at the University of Pittsburgh, called Obama a “transformational president.” He said that “as somebody who is African American, I think it’s nice to see that representation and to have that knowledge that you can do it, too.”
Grant said he thinks Obama’s presence in Pennsylvania can make a difference this election cycle.
“I think he’s somebody who speaks to my generation and speaks to a lot of people in general. So I think it’s going to be very important to have him here.”
Vance calls for 'accountability' for those who 'screwed up' storm response in trip to North Carolina
On his first trip back to North Carolina since Hurricane Helene devastated western parts of the state, Sen. JD Vance leaned on his usual criticisms of the federal government’s response to the storm and called for “accountability” for those who “screwed up” those efforts.
“If you don’t have accountability — in other words, if you don’t fire the people who screwed up — it’s never going to get better,” Vance told a local pilot who said he had been transporting goods to storm-affected parts of the state.
In what has become a new staple of his stump speech of late, Vance chided the Biden administration for not deploying the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division sooner and for what he described as overall “bureaucratic incompetence" at a town hall-style event moderated by former NASCAR driver Danica Patrick.
“Donald Trump, I mean, hell, he got famous saying, 'You’re fired.' He believes in accountability in our government. Kamala Harris just doesn’t,” Vance said. “I think it’s this attitude of 'go along to get along,' of 'Yeah, you screwed up, and maybe even you got people killed, but we’re not going to fire you.' That’s not going to do good for our people in the 21st century.”
Despite Vance’s oft-repeated criticisms, governors like Georgia’s Brian Kemp and South Carolina’s Henry McMaster — both staunch conservatives — lauded swift and robust responses by FEMA and the federal government to assist with recovery and rebuilding efforts in the immediate aftermath.
At one point during the event, a woman on the riser behind Vance let out a scream, prompting him to stand up to inspect the scene. Her seat, it turned out, seemed to have partly collapsed, causing her to fall over onto some of her fellow attendees.
“Kamala Harris built this platform behind us. That’s what happened,” Vance said, drawing laughs and applause.
Harris points to California experience and criticizes Trump when asked how she would differ from Biden on border policy
Harris sidestepped a town hall question today about how she would handle the border differently from Biden, instead pointing to her experience on the issue and pivoting to attack Trump’s policies.
“Let me start with this, perhaps what distinguishes me from at least a couple of people: I was the top law enforcement officer of the biggest state in this country, California, that is also a border state,” she said at the Univision event set to air tonight. “I have taken on transnational criminal organizations. I have taken on transnational criminal organizations that traffic in guns, drugs and human beings, and I have prosecuted them.”
“I will put my record up against anyone in terms of the work I have always done and will always do to ensure we have a secure border,” she added before she pivoted to a criticism of Trump.
Obama suggests Trump and Harris differ in how they view freedom
Obama painted an image of the two presidential candidates with contrasting views about freedom, suggesting Trump believes freedom "is getting away with stuff," while Harris embraces "a broader idea."
"We believe in the freedom to provide for our families, if we’re willing to work, the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water, send our kids to school without worrying if they come home," he said.
Obama described a view of freedom that affords "the right to make decisions about our own life," such as abortion rights.
Angela Alsobrooks and Larry Hogan spar over abortion and party ties in Maryland Senate debate
In their first and only debate of an unusually competitive Maryland Senate race today, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and former Gov. Larry Hogan sparred over the issue of abortion and whether the deep blue state would be best represented by a staunch Democrat or an anti-Donald Trump Republican.
Hogan distanced himself from the former president and current GOP presidential nominee, framing himself as someone willing to put “country over party.” He emphasized his support for codifying federal protections for abortion and argued that Maryland could push back against growing partisanship by electing “strong, independent leaders.”