### Vice President Kamala Harris Courts Non-Traditional Voters in Tight Presidential Race

In a bid to secure every possible vote in the tightly contested presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris is reaching out to some of the most unlikely voter demographics. One of her surprising targets is a group typically aligned with former President Donald Trump – white voters without college degrees.

“This demographic is challenging,” admitted Dan Kanninen, the battleground states director for the Harris campaign. “Nevertheless, engaging with them is crucial if we are to win over the necessary votes.”

Public polls suggest that Harris might be making incremental progress in these efforts. Still, measuring such changes is difficult, especially when focusing on smaller voter subgroups that can introduce significant margins of error. However, any shift, no matter how minor, could be pivotal given that white voters without a college education accounted for about 40% of the electorate in the 2020 election, according to AP VoteCast.

Harris' team has crafted a targeted advertising strategy to reach this segment. For instance, ads on the popular sports betting site DraftKings promote Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, as the “strongest lineup." Similar ads on Yahoo Sports highlight key policy points like middle-class tax cuts and $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers. An ad on IGN, a well-known video game website, features a role-playing game-like portrayal of Harris, emphasizing her strengths in "charisma" and "intelligence" while keeping "deception" and "collateral damage" ratings low. The message: "Select this president."

Harris also appears in ads during football games and on sports talk radio, pledging to serve as a president for all Americans. Governor Walz, a former high school football coach, has been making personal appearances at sporting events to further this outreach.

Beyond media efforts, Harris relies considerably on labor unions to advocate on her behalf. She frequently addresses economic issues, such as price gouging, that resonate with working-class voters. “Voters want a leader who stands up for them,” Kanninen noted.

However, Republican pollster Whit Ayres remains skeptical about Harris’ success with white working-class voters. He suggests the campaign's strategy might indicate an abundance of financial resources. “When you have as much money as the Harris campaign appears to, you can afford to take chances on unlikely voter groups,” Ayres commented, adding that in a tightly contested race, every vote counts.

Anna Kelly, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, dismissed these efforts, suggesting that Harris is on the defensive due to losing support among traditional Democratic constituencies like Black men.

Despite these challenges, Kanninen and the Harris campaign remain steadfast. “Sometimes we need to have hard discussions,” Kanninen said. “But those tough conversations can lead to the results needed in a close race.”