WASHINGTON, Aug 17, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Republican Donald Trump will hold a
rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, followed closely by Kamala Harris taking a
bus tour through the crucial battleground state ahead of her big moment at
the Democratic National Convention.

Trump's rally in the small town of Wilkes-Barre will give him a chance to
take the spotlight off the vice president, who has enjoyed a whirlwind entry
into the race since her boss President Joe Biden abruptly pulled out on July
21.

Trump will highlight his dark vision of a failing America, which he blames in
increasingly drastic terms on Harris.

"Hard-working Americans are suffering because of the Harris-Biden
administration's dangerously liberal policies," his campaign said ahead of
the rally.

"Prices are excruciatingly high, cost of living has soared, crime has
skyrocketed, and illegal immigrants are pouring into our country," it said,
although a recent crackdown on the Mexico border has stemmed much of the flow
of undocumented workers and asylum seekers.

The campaign also insisted that "in Kamala Harris's America, crime runs
rampant" -- even if statistics show that violent crime has dropped sharply.

Trump will take the same message to another small Pennsylvania town, York, on
Monday.

With polls showing the head-to-head race against Harris very close, it's the
swing states -- especially Pennsylvania -- that will decide the final result
in the US electoral college system. Trump lost the state by a narrow margin
against Biden in 2020 but has strong support in the rural areas and small
towns.

Harris will be close on Trump's heels over the weekend before heading to the
Democratic convention.

The celebratory bash in Chicago will feature three days of speeches from
party leaders, including Biden and former president Barack Obama, before her
own speech Thursday to accept the nomination.

But first, Harris and running mate Tim Walz, the down-to-earth governor of
Minnesota, will be joined by their spouses on a bus tour around western
Pennsylvania on Sunday, the campaign said.

Their route will start in the Democratic urban stronghold of Pittsburgh
before threading through the "critical battlegrounds" of Allegheny and Beaver
counties, the campaign said.

The goal will be to expand on Biden's 2020 success, the campaign said, by
seeking to drive up turnout in Democratic Allegheny "while simultaneously
making inroads in historically conservative counties like Beaver."

The Harris campaign touted its sophisticated ground game, noting it has 36
field offices in Pennsylvania and "the Trump campaign still has little to no
public presence."

Also this weekend, volunteers and organizers will fan out nationwide,
"talking to the voters who will decide this election about Vice President
Harris's vision to take this country forward by putting the middle class
first, in contrast with Donald Trump's dangerous, extreme" agenda, the
campaign said.

- Fight over economy --

With the November 5 election day rapidly approaching, Harris is trying to
distance herself from unpopular Biden policies, while getting ahead of
Trump's attempts to brand her in extreme terms, like "communist."

This week has seen the two sides home in on voters' worries about the
economy.

Trump hammered Harris on Thursday, saying she has a "very strong communist
lean" that would bring the "death of the American dream."

On Friday, Harris held an event in North Carolina -- another vital state in
the electoral college math -- to unveil a series of proposals for easing the
burden of post-Covid pandemic inflation.

She noted that the US economy is booming while conceding that "many Americans
don't yet feel that progress in their daily lives."

But "Donald Trump fights for billionaires and large corporations," she said.
"I will fight to give money back to working and middle-class Americans."