Leapfrogging

Kamala Harris pole-vaults to the finish line.

Ann Selzer, right, “the best pollster in politics”

Yes, I promise, I’m going to post some weird strategies for keeping calm—but not yet! Today: one more about being confident.

So Harris is leading in 4 of the 7 battleground states that are most likely to determine the outcome of the election. This is according to the Washington Post.

According to Times/Siena, Harris is ahead in Nevada, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and…Georgia. That poll has Pennsylvania and Michigan tied.

I canvassed in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on Saturday. For a purple county that went for Trump in 2016, the preponderance of Harris-Walz yard signs—as well as TV ads and billboards for Harris—was astounding.

“We all understand Pennsylvania is going to pick the president,” Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman says. “And Democrats are in a position to carry Pennsylvania.”

There was enormous enthusiasm for the Democratic ticket in the people I talked to. Sometimes it was enthusiasm about Harris; sometimes it was enthusiasm for voting against Trump. One of the Harris enthusiasts was a chain-smoking white woman sitting on her stoop. She said she and her family of five have already voted against Trump because she’s sick of how divisive he is. I thought she was going to spit.

I met a white couple; she’s voting Harris and he’s voting Trump. She was loud and proud about it.

And then I met three Puerto Ricans who said they didn’t like that Trump “called us garbage.” They’re all in for Harris. Another man, 21, said he couldn’t vote because, “like Trump,” he’s a felon. But he made his girlfriend and sister register—and they’re both voting for Harris. I also learned that the big public high school in Bethlehem held a mock election, and it went 60%-40% for Harris.

Then, just as I was home and resting up, this came out in The Des Moines Register: “Kamala Harris leapfrogs Donald Trump to take lead near Election Day.”