What next after the debate? Trump outsources his campaigning while Harris barnstorms the swings states

Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump are finally due to square off in their first, and so far only scheduled, debate. It is simultaneously a high-stakes and inconsequential event.

Many voters in both camps have begun to “come home” as the ticket is set. Indeed, a lot of independents are already leaning toward one candidate at this point.

In reality, the debate just signifies the final phase of the campaign. With 56 days left, and a vice presidential showdown between Tim Walz and JD Vance next month, the campaign will continue in earnest in the final weeks.

Typically, this means that candidates do multiple rallies, speeches or meet-and-greets in one day. They will do radio hits for local television and radio stations, as well as interviews with local newspapers in the swing states.

In the days after the debate,the Harris campaign will begin a set of trips headlined a “New Way Forward”. This will send Harris to North Carolina, where she will hold rallies in Charlotte and Greensboro. Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff will also head to swing states, spending Thursday in Nevada and Arizona before spending Friday in Central Florida.

Harris’s running mate Walz will travel to the midwest, specifically Grand Rapids, Michigan and Mosinee, Wisconsin. Sending Walz to Grand Rapids makes sense given that Kent County voted for Trump in 2016 before it snapped back and broke for Biden in 2020. The campaign dispatched him with success to rural parts of Lancaster County in Pennsylvania last week.

Gwen Walz will take part in a debate watch party in La Crosse, Wisconsin on Tuesday night. Part of Wisconsin shares a media market with the Twin Cities in Minnesota, so the familiarity likely is a plus — and part of the