Harris campaign plans red-state detour
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Vice President Harris and some of her campaign's top surrogates are fanning out beyond the battleground states this week, with stops planned in Texas, Kentucky and Florida.
Why it matters: None of these red states are seriously in play. But in the final two weeks before the election, the Harris campaign is using these detours to spotlight one of Democrats' strongest issue: abortion rights.
Driving the news: Harris will hold a campaign rally Friday in Houston, where she'll be joined by women who have been impacted by Texas' near-total ban on abortion.
- Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will speak Wednesday at a campaign reception in Louisville, Kentucky, where Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear won re-election last year in a race dominated by abortion rights.
- And second gentleman Doug Emhoff will deliver remarks Wednesday at a Get Out the Vote rally in Florida, where Democrats hope a statewide abortion referendum will help juice turnout.
Zoom in: Harris senior adviser David Plouffe told reporters the campaign has no illusions about winning Texas, but that the goal of the VP's visit is to "paint the picture of what could happen in this country — in the rest of the states — if Donald Trump is elected president."
- "We're diverting out of the battlegrounds because we think it'll help us in battlegrounds," Plouffe said, calling Texas the site of "the most horrific and tragic stories" enabled by the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade.
- Harris will be joined at the rally by Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), whose long-shot campaign to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has gained some momentum in recent weeks.
The other side: Trump has made use of the same strategy, campaigning in deep-blue New York, California and Colorado in a bid to steal national headlines and draw attention to his immigration message.
- On Sunday, Trump will hold a rally at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan.
