NBC News reported on Tuesday that Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, along with national Democrats, are bracing privately for the possibility she won’t carry the Blue Wall states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in next month’s election. Concerns are growing, particularly in Michigan.
Furthermore, according to the NBC News report, Harris’ campaign sees battleground North Carolina “slipping away,” a loss that would further complicate her path to 270 electoral votes if she loses one of the Blue Wall states.
The Blue Wall state trio has voted in unison in each election since 1988, when Michael Dukakis, Democratic presidential nominee, won Wisconsin but lost Michigan and Pennsylvania in his blowout loss to Republican President George H.W. Bush.
However, according to a senior Harris campaign official to NBC News, “There has been a thought that maybe Michigan or Wisconsin will fall off,” adding that Michigan is the greater concern.
Dem Senate hopeful: VP Harris ‘underwater’ in Michigan
Democrat Senate hopeful Representative Elissa Slotkin said that Harris was underwater in Michigan last month.
One issue for the vice president in Michigan is the predominantly Muslim and Arab population that has been highly critical of the Biden-Harris administration over the handling of the war in Gaza and what they view as the administration’s outright support of Israel and not demanding a cease-fire to the fighting.
The Abandon Harris movement, which started as Abandon Biden, endorsed Jill Stein—a Green Party candidate—earlier in the month. In the meantime, the Uncommitted National Movement has said it won’t endorse VP Harris but has warned against the peril of backing a third-party candidate and said it could help GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, whom they oppose.
A Michigan loss would require Harris to win in another battleground or two to reach the 270 threshold. If North Carolina is “slipping away,” that would mean securing narrow wins in Arizona, Georgia, and/or Nevada, according to the report.
“I don’t see a blue wall path, Sun Belt path, or Southern path. I see seven states that are as close as it gets that will all be decided by margins on the ground,” said Dan Kanninen, Harris battleground state director, per NBC News. “And, truthfully, one of the seven has as good a chance as any other to be the tipping point state.”
