The messaging is critical to Harris' White House hopes. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll this week found that Trump's longstanding advantage on the question of who voters trust on the economy is eroding.
I'm James Oliphant, part of the Reuters team covering this year's presidential, congressional and other races.
Asked in the poll which candidate had the better approach on the economy, unemployment and jobs, some 43% of voters picked Trump and 41% selected Harris. Trump held an 11-point lead over Harris on that question in late July shortly after she launched her campaign.
Trump's ability to weather the storms that have tossed his campaign has largely been reliant on voters believing that their lives were better when he was president. That voters increasingly are viewing Harris as a solid alternative on that front may be the best indicator that the race is going to go down to the wire.
Harris' aides characterized her speech Wednesday in Pittsburgh as an opportunity for her to persuade voters that she is fighting for the middle class and that Trump favors billionaires. In her remarks, Harris talked about providing incentives for companies to keep their operations in the U.S. and promised new investments in industries like bio-manufacturing, aerospace, artificial intelligence and clean energy.
While Harris favors carrots, Trump, fittingly, prefers the stick. He has threatened to ramp up tariffs on foreign importers of goods – as high as 60% on products from China – and punish U.S. employers who send jobs offshore.
In a speech in Georgia on Tuesday, Trump said he wants to "take" jobs away from other countries, including allies such as Germany and South Korea, by making the U.S. a more attractive place to do business.
Trump, like any good retail politician, also knows how to sweeten the pot. Lately, he has been promising a round of tax breaks that experts say could blow out the federal budget deficit even further.
Trump would slice the corporate tax rate for businesses that manufacture goods in the country, end taxes on tips and overtime for hourly workers, restore the so-called SALT (state and local) tax deduction for high-income earners and extend the tax cuts he pushed through in 2017 as president.
The federal debt already has forecasters in a gloomy mood. Ratings agency Moody's said this week that the country's fiscal profile is likely to deteriorate next year no matter who wins the election.
Don't expect Harris and Trump to debate their economic visions on stage anytime soon. Trump has ruled out another debate.
On Tuesday, however, their vice presidential picks, Tim Walz and JD Vance, will tussle before a national TV audience in their only debate. And because it may be the final one of the presidential campaign, it could carry some extra significance.
Cats and dogs watching at home may want to avert their eyes.
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