### Harris Aides Quietly Confident in Strategy Against Trump

Campaign aides and allies of Vice President Kamala Harris are becoming cautiously optimistic as the presidential race intensifies, noting a shift in their favor. This sentiment is buoyed by attempts to portray former President Donald Trump as a fascist, which appears to be resonating with voters alongside a robust battleground-state operation and solid support among women voters motivated by the erosion of federal abortion rights.

Democratic strategists feel increasingly hopeful that these combined efforts will secure a narrow victory for Harris. The strategy of labeling Trump as a budding dictator with controversial praise for Hitler could potentially sway a small, yet significant portion of undecided voters.

Harris' campaign officials are confident about her standing in the Northern "blue wall" states—Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—where internal polls show her with a slight lead, sometimes by as little as half a percentage point. There is also optimism about her competitiveness in the Sun Belt battlegrounds, with Arizona and North Carolina considered the most challenging, while prospects appear better in Georgia and Nevada.

On the other side, Trump’s aides believe he retains a strong chance of winning at least one of the blue wall states and remains competitive in all three. They express particular hope for Pennsylvania, where internal data suggests Trump is leading within the margin of error. Some of Trump’s advisers are optimistic about his ability to sweep all seven battleground states.

The analysis for this article is based on insights from over two dozen political strategists, campaign aides, pollsters, and others involved with both campaigns, who requested anonymity to discuss internal strategies and opinions.