Trump targets hardcore partisans, Harris goes after moderates: Inside the campaign's final sprint

WASHINGTON (AP) — In battleground Pennsylvania, Kamala Harris warned that democracy and reproductive rights were at stake as she campaigned alongside a former Republican congresswoman.

Going to the same state the day before, Donald Trump served French fries at a closed McDonald's.

As the 2024 presidential contest speeds to its conclusion on Nov. 5, Harris and Trump are embracing wildly different strategies to energize the coalitions they need to win. Both are making bets that will prove prescient or ill-advised.

Trump's team has largely abandoned traditional efforts to broaden his message to target moderate voters, focusing instead on energizing his base of fiery partisans and turning out low-propensity voters — especially young men of all races — with tough talk and events aimed at getting attention online.

Harris is leaning into a more traditional all-of-the-above playbook targeting the narrow slice of undecided voters that remain, especially moderates, college-educated suburbanites, and women of all races and education. More than Trump, she is going after Republican women who may have supported rival Nikki Haley in this year's GOP primary and are dissatisfied with the former president.

“It’s all pieces of a very complex puzzle,” Harris senior campaign adviser David Plouffe said this week. “This would all be a simpler exercise if you can focus just on one voter cohort. You can’t. And you got to make sure you know you’re doing well enough with all of them so that when you put all that together it adds up to 50%.”

Trump's team sees it as a much simpler equation.

His aides insist that efforts to maximize turnout from Trump’s hardcore base do not mean he's ignoring swing voters, even if he's not tailoring a different message to reach them.

“I just think that there’s a misunderstanding on what’s motivating those people," Trump political director James Blair said. "I mean, the fact is the economy’s motivating those people. Those people overwhelmingly think that they’re worse off than they were four years ago ... So then the question becomes: Who’s better equipped to fix it?”

The divergent strategies underscore the stark differences between the candidates themselves, in personality and policy.

Harris, a former California senator who would be the first female president, has promised to include a Republican in her Cabinet, while prioritizing efforts to protect democracy, reproductive rights and the middle class. Trump, a former president, has vowed to fight for the working class as well. He also has promised a campaign of retribution against his political enemies with an administration packed with loyalists.

One point on which both camps agree: The election will be decided by voters in just seven swing states, a political map that has not shifted significantly or narrowed as Election Day speeds into view. They are Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.

One Harris adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy, described the situation as “still terrifyingly close in all seven.”

Trump is speaking largely to his loyal Republican base at the expense of moderate voters, especially suburban women. He peppers his rallies with profanity, personal insults against Harris and ominous talk of “enemies within.”

He has said repeatedly over the last week that Democrats like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., represent a more serious threat to the United States than China and Russia do.

Trump has also rejected recent opportunities to speak to more traditional audiences, turning down an interview with CBS' popular “60 Minutes” and refusing to debate Harris for a second time unless it was moderated by Fox News, home to several of his favorite conservative hosts.

Instead, his campaign is scheduling appearances on podcasts and online shows geared towards young men — especially working-class Hispanic and Black men, who typically vote less frequently and tend to favor Democrats.

He’s attended sporting events including mixed-martial arts fights and football games, putting him in front of audiences who don’t typically engage with traditional media outlets.

Josh Rouse, a 28-year-old Black man and registered Republican, said he’s only recently been drawn to politics. He didn’t vote in 2016, but voted for Trump in 2020.

“If anything, I think it’s important to remember we’re all people, regardless of whether you’re white or Black,” said Rouse, who works in roofing and attended Trump’s rally in Greenville, North Carolina, this week. “It doesn’t matter who you are. He speaks to all of us.”

Trump's team has also created viral moments in non-political settings like his trip to McDonald’s on Sunday, part of an extended campaign to cast doubt on Harris' work history at the fast-food franchise. Trump also went to Coachella, California, and will host a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday — both in heavily Democratic states but where the related media attention and online content would surely reach swing-state voters.

Trump has kept an aggressive schedule. He is set to visit every battleground state this week save Wisconsin.

Backed by an avalanche of campaign cash, Harris is holding in-person events but also launching a sprawling door-knocking operation, hyper-targeted online ads and a carefully designed media strategy to reach specific voting blocs.

Harris’ team believes that roughly 10% of voters in the battleground states are still persuadable, either because they are truly undecided or because their support for Trump is soft. The campaign vows to keep trying to persuade such voters until the final minutes of in-person voting.

Her team sees the possibility of significant growth among Republican, college-educated, suburban women alienated by Trump’s extreme rhetoric. Even small shifts in swing states could have massive electoral implications.

The Harris campaign quickly produced digital ads last week highlighting Trump’s description of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection as “a day of love.” And Harris spent most of Monday campaigning in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin alongside Liz Cheney, a Republican House leader during Trump's presidency who swung sharply against him after Jan. 6.

Harris is scheduled to visit Houston for an event Friday with women who have been affected by the state’s ban on all abortions, which took effect after the Supreme Court, including three justices nominated by Trump, overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. She’ll be going there after spending time in Georgia, which banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

Nicolette Milholin, 45, of Mont Clare, Pennsylvania, said she considered herself a political independent until Trump was elected in 2016.

“To me, democracy is at stake,” Milholin said at a Harris event this week in Chester County, Pennsylvania. “We have a party that was built for a family and a dynasty. And then we have a party here represented by Kamala Harris, that was built for our country.”

Peoples reported from New York. Colvin reported from Palm Beach, Florida. AP writers Colleen Long in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and Gary Robertson in Greenville, North Carolina, contributed to this report.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Washington Crossing Historic Park, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, in Washington Crossing, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Williams Arena at Mignes Coliseum, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Greenville, N.C. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

An attendee wears patriotic shoes to the roundtable of Latino leaders with Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

A couple cheers at the end of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris' speech during a campaign event at Lakewood Amphitheatre, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

A supporter listens as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Williams Arena at Mignes Coliseum, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Greenville, N.C. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris listens as Stevie Wonder performs "Redemption Song" during a church service and early vote event at Divine Faith Ministries International, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Jonesboro, Ga. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Latino leaders pray with Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump as he participates in a Latino leader roundtable, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, uses a frier as an employee looks on during a visit to McDonald's in Feasterville-Trevose, Pa., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney speaks as Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris listens during a town hall at the Royal Oak Theatre in Royal Oak, Mich., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Supporters cheer before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Greensboro Coliseum, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Greensboro, N.C. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican-born phenom for the Los Angeles Dodgers who inspired “Fernandomania” while winning the NL Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year in 1981, has died. He was 63.

The team said he died Tuesday night at a Los Angeles hospital, but did not provide the cause or other details.

His death comes as the Dodgers prepare to open the World Series on Friday night at home against the New York Yankees. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Valenzuela would be honored during the series at Dodger Stadium.

Valenzuela had left his color commentator job on the Dodgers’ Spanish-language television broadcast in September without explanation. He was reported to have been hospitalized earlier this month. His job kept him as a regular at Dodger Stadium, where he held court in the press box dining room before games and remained popular with fans who sought him out for photos and autographs.

“God bless Fernando Valenzuela!” actor and Dodgers fan Danny Trejo posted on X.

Valenzuela was one of the most dominant players of his era and a wildly popular figure in the 1980s, although he was never elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. However, he is part of Cooperstown, which features several artifacts including a signed ball from his no-hitter in 1990.

“He is one of the most influential Dodgers ever and belongs on the Mount Rushmore of franchise heroes," Stan Kasten, team president and CEO, said in a statement. “He galvanized the fan base with the Fernandomania season of 1981 and has remained close to our hearts ever since, not only as a player but also as a broadcaster. He has left us all too soon.”

Valenzuela's rise from humble beginnings as the youngest of 12 children in Mexico and his feats on the mound made him hugely popular and influential in Los Angeles’ Latino community while helping attract new fans to Major League Baseball. Their fondness for him continued for years after his retirement.

“He consistently supported the growth of the game through the World Baseball Classic and at MLB events across his home country,” Manfred said in a statement. “As a member of the Dodger broadcasting team for more than 20 years, Fernando helped to reach a new generation of fans and cultivate their love of the game. Fernando will always remain a beloved figure in Dodger history and a special source of pride for the millions of Latino fans he inspired.”

In 1981, Valenzuela became the Dodgers’ opening day starter as a rookie after Jerry Reuss was injured 24 hours before his scheduled start. He shut out the Houston Astros 2-0 and began the season 8-0 with five shutouts and an ERA of 0.50. He became the first player to win a Cy Young and Rookie of the Year in the same season.

His performances created the delirium known as “Fernandomania” among Dodgers fans. The ABBA hit “Fernando” would play as he warmed up on the mound.

He was 13-7 and had a 2.48 ERA in his first season, which was shortened by a players’ strike.

Valenzuela was an All-Star selection every year from 1981-86, when he recorded 97 victories, 84 complete games, 1,258 strikeouts and a 2.97 ERA. He was 5-1 with a 2.00 ERA in eight postseason starts. He earned two Silver Slugger Awards and a Gold Glove.

Valenzuela’s no-hitter on June 29, 1990, a 6-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium, was an emotional career highlight. He struck out seven and walked three.

“If you have a sombrero, throw it to the sky!” Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully exclaimed in his game call.

Nicknamed “El Toro” by the fans, Valenzuela had an unorthodox and memorable pitching motion that included looking skyward at the apex of each windup. His repertoire included a screwball -- making him one of the few pitchers of his era who threw that pitch regularly. It was taught to him by teammate Bobby Castillo after the Dodgers felt Valenzuela, who wasn’t known as a hard thrower, needed another pitch.

Early in his Dodgers career, Valenzuela spoke little English and had trouble communicating with his catchers. Rookie Mike Scioscia learned Spanish and became Valenzuela’s personal catcher before becoming the team’s full-time catcher.

Valenzuela was a better-than-average hitter, with 10 career home runs.

Eventually, his pitching was compromised by nagging shoulder problems that kept him out of the 1988 postseason, when the Dodgers won the World Series.

The team released Valenzuela just before the 1991 season. He also pitched for the former California Angels, Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals.

He retired in 1997, going 141-116 with a 3.31 ERA in 11 seasons with the Dodgers. Overall, he was 173-153 with a 3.54 ERA in 17 seasons.

Valenzuela’s rise from his tiny hometown of Etchohuaquila in the Mexican state of Sonora to stardom in the U.S. was improbable. He was the youngest child in a large family who tagged along when his older brothers played baseball.

He signed his first pro contract at age 16, and soon began overpowering older players in the Mexican Central League.

In 1978, legendary Dodgers scout Mike Brito was in Mexico to watch a shortstop when Valenzuela entered the game as a reliever. He immediately commanded Brito’s attention and at age 18, Valenzuela signed with the Dodgers in 1979. He was sent to the California League that same year.

In 1980, Valenzuela was called up to the Dodgers in September and soon made his big league debut as a reliever.

He remains the only pitcher in MLB history to win the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards in the same season. The left-hander was the National League’s starting pitcher in the All-Star Game in 1981, the same year the Dodgers won the World Series.

He is the all-time major league leader in wins (173) and strikeouts (2,074) by a Mexican-born player.

During his career, he made the cover of Sports Illustrated and visited the White House.

In 2003, Valenzuela returned to the Dodgers as the Spanish-language radio color commentator for NL games. Twelve years later, he switched to the color commentator job on the team’s Spanish-language TV feed.

He was inducted into the Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014. Five years later, the Mexican League retired Valenzuela’s No. 34 jersey. The Dodgers followed in 2023 after keeping his number out of circulation since he last pitched for the team in 1991. The team has a rule that requires a player to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame before having the Dodgers retire his number, but they made an exception for Valenzuela.

The Dodgers named Valenzuela as part of the “Legends of Dodger Baseball” in 2019 and inducted him into the team’s Ring of Honor in 2023.

He became a U.S. citizen in 2015.

Valenzuela served on the coaching staff for Mexico during the World Baseball Classic in 2006, 2009, 2013 and 2017. He was a part-owner of the Mexican League team Tigres de Quintana Roo, with son Fernando Jr. serving as team president and son Ricky serving as general manager. Fernando Jr. played in the San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox organizations as a first baseman.

In addition to his sons, he is survived by his wife, Linda, who was a schoolteacher from Mexico whom he married in 1981, and daughters Linda and Maria as well as seven grandchildren.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

FILE - Los Angeles Dodger pitching sensation Fernando Valenzuela tips his hat to the crowd celebrating his equaling the major league record of eight shutouts by a rookie during a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Sept. 18, 1981, in Los Angeles. Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican-born phenom for the Los Angeles Dodgers who inspired “Fernandomania” while winning the NL Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year in 1981, has died Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.(AP Photo/Molenhouse, File)

FILE - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela blows bubbles as he passes the time in the dugout during the rain delay before Game 3 of the National League playoffs with the Expos at Montreal, Oct. 18, 1981. Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican-born phenom for the Los Angeles Dodgers who inspired “Fernandomania” while winning the NL Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year in 1981, has died Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.(AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy, File)

FILE - Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela throws the ceremonial first pitch during the MLB All-Star baseball game, July 19, 2022, in Los Angeles. Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican-born phenom for the Los Angeles Dodgers who inspired “Fernandomania” while winning the NL Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year in 1981, has died Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.(AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)

FILE - Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Fernando Valenzuela tips his sombrero at a news conference after he was named National League Rookie of the Year, Dec. 2, 1981, in Los Angeles. Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican-born phenom for the Los Angeles Dodgers who inspired “Fernandomania” while winning the NL Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year in 1981, has died Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.(AP Photo/Wally Fong, File)

FILE - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela pitches against a San Francisco Giants batter during the first inning at Candlestick Park, Oct. 3, 1982, in San Francisco. Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican-born phenom for the Los Angeles Dodgers who inspired “Fernandomania” while winning the NL Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year in 1981, has died Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela speaks during a news conference ahead of his jersey retirement ceremony at a baseball game between the Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies, Aug. 11, 2023, in Los Angeles. Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican-born phenom for the Los Angeles Dodgers who inspired “Fernandomania” while winning the NL Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year in 1981, has died Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun, File)

FILE - Fernando Valenzuela throws to the plate during the Old-Timers baseball game, June 8, 2013, in Los Angeles. Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican-born phenom for the Los Angeles Dodgers who inspired “Fernandomania” while winning the NL Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year in 1981, has died Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)