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Joe Biden's presidential campaign plans to broaden its voter outreach, launching on-the-ground canvassing across several battleground states beginning this weekend, a senior Biden official tells Axios.
The state of play: As polls tighten with one month to go before Election Day, the Democratic campaign has decided to visit voters just as President Trump and allied Republican groups have done since at least June, according to AP.
- Biden’s campaign notes that this approach will supplement existing phone and digital voter outreach across Nevada, Michigan, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.
- The Biden campaign has 109 supply centers already open — with 188 expected — across 17 battleground states to distribute yard signs and campaign literature, according to the campaign official.
- Campaign volunteers will wear protective equipment, including masks, and remain socially distanced.
What they're saying: “We’re now expanding on our strategy in a targeted way that puts the safety of communities first and foremost and helps us mobilize voters who are harder to reach by phone now that we’re in the final stretch,” Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said.
The other side: Republicans criticized the Biden campaign's decision after Democrats previously denounced Trump's re-election campaign for its in-person campaign strategy. “You can’t just parachute in a month before the election and hope to make up ground,” Trump campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh said, per AP.
- Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel told AP over the summer that her team was knocking on roughly 1 million doors per week.