Harris could win these three Southern states if late deciders show up

More than a million Americans have already cast their ballots in the presidential election, but the ones who may prove decisive may not have even started paying attention. For political junkies like me who have been following every twist and turn in this election for the last two years, the next 32 days are the most stressful as we wait to see what voters will decide. If you already know which candidate you’re supporting in the presidential race between Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris — not to mention everything from governor down to local school board — it can be frustrating to wait for these seemingly indecisive, procrastinating Americans to get to it. Harris may have a chance to win Georgia, North Carolina and Florida. But late deciders are important, and this year, I think they are the reason that Harris may have a chance to win Georgia, North Carolina and Florida. No, that’s not a typo. It’s still close enough that a late-breaking group of Harris voters could make a difference. Now, it’s important to understand who these voters are. I think of them as intentional voters, because they’ll usually tell you what they think of the candidates and the race or that they don’t intend to vote at all. Months out from the election, if you were to ask whom they’d vote for, they’ll give a reflexive response. But, as we get closer to Election Day, these voters become more engaged. Their intentions begin to shift and may even harden into support as they read up on the two candidates, listen closer to their arguments, and shift their attitudes. That’s especially likely in the 2024 election, which has seen a lot of tumult so far. That’s a 700% increase in the site’s daily registrations, and young voters accounted for 80% of them. That’s a large group of potential voters who were quickly activated and are not likely to be casting their ballot for Trump. Those signs aren’t coming from polls, but from his actual performance in the primaries as his own voters shift in their intentions since the Republican convention, as career political adviser Mike Madrid recently noted. Finally, there’s the potential for local issues to have a dramatic effect on turnout. Trump has distanced himself from Robinson but not pulled his endorsement, and it’s not clear if that would even help at this point. In past elections there, we’ve seen controversial voting policies be met with determination and expanded turnout due to the resilience of Peach State voters, pushing Democrats to statewide victory in a presidential election and three Senate races. It’s possible some of the last-minute, ham-fisted changes to election rules by the state Board of Elections will also provoke a backlash. And in Florida, voters will also be considering ballot measures to legalize recreational cannabis and codify abortion rights — popular policies that align with the Harris-Walz agenda. To be clear, I’m not saying that Harris will outright win Georgia, North Carolina or Florida — or even that she’ll win at all. It happened in 2016 when Trump won unexpectedly, in 2020 when Biden won even as down-ballot Republicans did well, and in 2022 when a much-prophesied red wave failed to materialize. Yeah, those late voters can be pretty intentional So, as you’re going over the polls and casting about for some kind of clue as to what may happen, remember that there’s still a lot of uncertainty. The only thing you can do is cast your own ballot, encourage your friends and family to do the same and volunteer to help out a campaign and persuade as many intentional voters as you can along the way. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/kamala-harris-florida-georgia-north-carolina-rcna173735