With less than seven weeks to go until Election Day, the presidential race is getting heated. The contenders are honing their messages, fundraising, and mobilizing supporters in battleground states. They are also taking part in televised debates where they answer tough questions about their policies and how those would be implemented if they were elected president.
The presidency, with its attendant Vice Presidency, represents the ‘big prize’ for political parties seeking to gain control of government, influence domestic and international policy, and shape the future through judicial appointments. Each party conducts a process of ‘winnowing’ to identify the candidate they believe can win the General Election and secure the nomination for President.
Both the Democrats and Republicans hold state primary elections and caucuses throughout the year, where voters express their preferences for party candidates. The winners then attend party conventions to select their national presidential nominee. Depending on the rules of each party, the delegates selected at these conventions can choose to support any candidate they want, or are bound by their state’s laws to support the winner of the primary or caucuses.
Despite her poor performance in the first debate, Harris is still ahead of Trump in most polls and holds leads in many of the key battleground states that will decide the election’s outcome. Nonetheless, the race remains close, and the outcome is likely to depend on the performances of both candidates in the remaining debates and in the final stretch of campaigning in tight states.