BERWYN, Pa. — With only four days remaining until election day, Donald Trump’s campaign is launching an all-out bid to turn Pennsylvania red for the first time since 1988 as an avalanche of surrogates and campaign assets flood the state.
Thursday marked the first of a five-day sprint in the state for the Trump campaign as Melania Trump gave her first speech since the Republican National Convention, delivering it to supporters on the Main Line in the Philadelphia suburbs. The GOP nominee himself is slated to hold one of his rallies before more than 10,000 in Hershey Friday night, coupled with key surrogates making stops throughout the state ahead of Tuesday. The campaign also announced $25 million ad blitz during the final week, which Pennsylvania is included in.
In the wake of last week’s announcement that the FBI is re-examining the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails, the Trump campaign has prioritized the state, pointing to encouraging poll numbers. Specifically, they are making a play in Suburban Philadelphia, an area where Trump has consistently struggled to attract support since winning the GOP nod in May.
“I always worry about the suburbs, but we know this. This is my third presidential election, and so I understand that and I know that. But we are starting to see a crack in the Clinton facade, especially with these latest FBI revelations,” Rob Gleason, the chairman of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, told the Washington Examiner prior to Melania Trump’s speech. “The people in the suburbs are supposedly college-educated, the smart voters — they know all of this. they read these things. I think that’s going to depress turnout for Mrs. Clinton. I think it will push a bunch of people over towards Mr. Trump.”
On Tuesday, Trump held a policy speech on Obamacare in Valley Forge, followed up by his wife’s event down the road from Villanova University on Thursday. Additionally, Rudy Giuliani campaigned in South Philadelphia Thursday night, while Tiffany Trump campaigned throughout the suburbs on Wednesday. More events are also on deck over the pre-election push, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Saturday and Ivanka Trump on Sunday, according to a campaign spokesperson.
As Gleason noted, Trump’s weak spot in the “collar” counties (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery) is with white college-educated voters, especially women. A Bloomberg poll taken in mid-October showed that Clinton was leading Trump by nearly a 2-1 margin in the region, which would dwarf President Obama’s victory in the region over Mitt Romney in 2012. Obama won by nearly 120,000 votes in the area four years ago, which represented 22 percent of the state’s overall turnout — all of which has forced the campaign to play catch-up in the final weeks.
However, the Trump team is adamant that they have a real shot in the region and for the state’s 20 electoral votes. Gleason even revealed Thursday that the state party’s internal polls show Trump down only 2 points.
“Our chances are excellent. We know Pennsylvania could be won or lost right here in the suburbs,” Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told the Examiner Thursday, noting she grew up in South Jersey and is a Philadelphia Eagles season ticket holder. “It’s a place where Donald Trump gets a great reception. We’ve taken Pennsylvania very seriously … I was just looking at the 26 or so stops Donald Trump has made in Pennsylvania and we want to make sure that our message is being heard through the silence and through the noise.”
“We look at the suburbs here no differently then we look at many other Americans in that people are doing well, but some people are struggling, some people have been left behind,” Conway continued. “Donald Trump’s entire movement is really to give voice and visibility and solutions to the forgotten man or the forgotten woman.”
Some Trump campaign surrogates are even more bullish than Conway about the campaign’s expectations for Tuesday in the Keystone State.
“We are going to win Pennsylvania,” Boris Epshteyn, a top adviser to the campaign, declared to the Examiner.
However, despite the uptick in the polls, they still trail as Clinton holds a 3.4-point lead, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average. Trump’s planned Frideay rally in Hershey is set for 7 p.m.
