The intense focus on Pennsylvania comes days before the state could determine which party controls the 50-50 Senate. And the state is set to be a focal point of presidential politics for the next two years, particularly if Biden and Trump face off again.
Fetterman and Obama are also rallying in Pittsburgh on Saturday morning. The lieutenant governor has the best chance of any Democratic Senate candidate of flipping a seat this election, with GOP Sen. Pat Toomey’s retirement spawning a nasty and expensive race to replace him.
Obama, in a blue button-down shirt, spoke after Fetterman, who had taken to the stage in his quintessential black hoodie. The former president rallied the crowd on a range of issues from abortion to gun violence and framed Republican politicians as lacking any plans to address inflation and rising crime.
“Pennsylvania, you’ve got a choice between politicians who seem willing to say anything and do anything to get power, and people who see and care about you and share your values,” Obama said.
But a once-large Democratic polling lead in the race has narrowed following a barrage of Republican attacks on the issue of crime — and a difficult debate performance by Fetterman, who is recovering from a stroke he suffered this spring.
Obama and Fetterman will join Biden and Shapiro on the campus of Temple University in Philadelphia in the afternoon. Biden’s appearance is notable in part because the Democratic president, whose national approval rating hovers in the low 40s, has largely campaigned in blue states this fall, including Oregon and California, while mostly avoiding the places that he won only narrowly two years ago.
The visit also comes hours before the Philadelphia Phillies are set to play the Houston Astros in Game 6 of the World Series in Houston. First lady Jill Biden attended an earlier game in Philadelphia.
Trump will be in Latrobe, roughly an hour east of Pittsburgh, on Saturday evening along with Oz and Mastriano, who have seldom appeared together while taking very different approaches to campaigning in the swing state.
Mastriano has leaned into the party’s base while making few attempts to reach moderate voters and has trailed Shapiro significantly in public polling, while Oz has looked to appeal to suburban voters in an attempt to put together a winning coalition.
Trump has a lot riding on Republicans’ success in Pennsylvania, particularly after he endorsed Oz in the wide-open GOP primary earlier this year. His super PAC, MAGA Inc., has also spent millions on ads supporting Oz in the past few weeks.
The former president also hinted at an Iowa rally on Thursday night that he could announce a 2024 presidential run in the coming weeks. Pennsylvania is among the states that would hold special significance in a Biden-Trump rematch as it was the state that put the Democratic president over the 270-vote threshold in the Electoral College two years ago.
Jessica Piper
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