ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Election Day is now right around the corner. While the candidates are still working to persuade the sliver of undecided voters, the parties are working at full force behind the scenes - checking lists of voters, making calls, knocking on doors - to make sure people get out to the polls. But the two campaigns are taking different strategies this year to getting out the vote. Two of our correspondents who've been watching this are here to talk about it. And I want to start with NPR's Asma Khalid, who's been covering the Harris campaign. Asma, what does the Harris get-out-the-vote effort look like?
ASMA KHALID, BYLINE: Well, it is an ambitious effort. The campaign says it has roughly 2,000 staffers and 250 offices across the key swing states. Now, in terms of what that operation looks like, it's a combination of traditional phone banking and door-knocking - you know, volunteers just making cold calls. And then it's also about relational organizing - people texting, say, friends and family.
One thing I think that is worth pointing out is that when Harris became the Democratic nominee and replaced Joe Biden at the top of the ticket, there was this sudden surge of organic enthusiasm among different demographic groups. You probably remember those Zoom calls, right? It was like, white women for Harris, Indian Americans for Harris. And even though these are ostensibly unaffiliated with the campaign, they are an extremely powerful organizing tool that, you know, frankly, Democrats did not have before.
SHAPIRO: You mentioned those demographic groups. Who exactly is the Harris campaign trying to reach in these final days?
KHALID: Yeah. I mean, the campaign has a three-pronged vision in the key states, and it's pretty similar whether you're talking about Georgia or Pennsylvania. First off, the goal is to solidly win the cities. Secondly, they're trying to win the suburbs convincingly, and they think they have an edge on issues like reproductive rights and the threat that they believe Trump poses to democracy. They think that this could really resonate with college-educated voters in the suburbs. And lastly, they are trying to lose by less in rural areas. And to me, Ari, this is really interesting because to this point, you know, as an example, the campaign says about a third of their Pennsylvania offices are in counties Trump won by double digits last time.
SHAPIRO: So that's the Democratic strategy. And Republicans and the Trump campaign are trying something different with their voter outreach. So let me bring in NPR's Stephen Fowler to tell us, what does that effort look like, Stephen?
STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: So, Ari, it's hard to directly compare the offices and staff and resources in these swing states. There's no direct comparison because Republicans don't share those numbers to the same degree. But it is less than the Democrats, partially because Republicans' key focus is on this program - it's called Trump Force 47. They're relying on grassroots volunteers with a lot of enthusiasm to be the ones doing the door-knocking, talking to their own neighbors and friends in their communities and also talking to people who don't often vote instead of primarily using paid canvassers. Now, the canvassers are still there, but those are handled mainly by third-party groups, run by people like Turning Point's Charlie Kirk and billionaire Elon Musk. Here's Musk speaking at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ELON MUSK: So thank you. And honestly, you want to just be a pest. Just be a pest to everyone you know. People on the street, everywhere - vote. Vote. Vote. Fight. Fight. Fight. Vote. Vote. Vote.
FOWLER: But, as you hear, these groups are inexperienced, and some Republicans I've talked to are worried about voters falling through the cracks.
SHAPIRO: How much does the ground game actually matter, Stephen?
FOWLER: Well, Republicans are seeing some of the fruits of their labor. There's been a surge in Republican turnout in many states so far, both of people who normally wait until Election Day to vote and those who may be early voting earlier. That, in theory, is going to free up more time and resources for Republicans to target those harder-to-convince voters to show up between now and Tuesday. It's also the third time Trump has run for president, and the campaign feels like Trump himself is the only get-out-the-vote effort they need to get them across the finish line.
KHALID: You know, to that point, Stephen, you mentioned this is the third time that Trump is running. It's also the third time Democrats are running against Trump. And so they feel like they've got experience here. You know, I recall covering the 2016 election cycle, and the Democrats were essentially sort of blindsided by the organic enthusiasm for Trump. Ben Wikler is the chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, and he told NPR that after that shocking loss in 2016, they started a year-round organizing effort.
BEN WIKLER: We have never let up. We organize 12 months a year. We organize in school board elections all the way to presidential elections. When there's no election, we have kind of mock dry runs and go knock on people's doors and check in with them about what they're thinking. This is how we win - is by showing up all the time.
KHALID: Democrats feel they have really learned their lesson, and they know this election could be decided by just a few thousand votes in a couple of states.
SHAPIRO: NPR's Asma Khalid and Stephen Fowler. Thank you both.
KHALID: Good to speak with you.
FOWLER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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