After Their Lone Debate, Harris and Pence Campaign in Battleground Arizona

Vice President 👤Mike Pence and Democratic challenger 👤Kamala Harris will hit the campaign trail in two battleground states on Thursday, the day after a sedate debate marked by disagreements over the administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Pence’s campaign swing comes as he acts as proxy to President Donald Trump, who is at the White House being treated for COVID-19, a diagnosis that refocused the race on Trump’s management of a crisis that has killed more than 210,000 Americans.

Pence on Wednesday defended Trump’s record on the pandemic and other issues under sharp attack by Harris, who said Trump’s failures had cost American lives. But the quiet, mostly civil debate was a sharp contrast to last week’s combative encounter between Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

With less than four weeks to go until the November election – and more than 5 million votes already cast – the vice presidential debate was unlikely to change many minds in a contest dominated by voter reactions to Trump and Biden.

Biden has led Trump consistently in national polls, but polls show a tighter race in many of the states that will decide the election – including Arizona, which Harris, Pence and Biden will visit on Thursday.

Harris will be joined by Biden for an event with Native American leaders and a bus tour to meet with small-business owners and voters in Phoenix and Tempe on the second day of early balloting in the state.

Pence also will travel to Arizona, for a campaign event in Peoria, after beginning the day with an airport hangar rally in Boulder City, Nevada.

Nevada and Arizona are critical swing states in the Nov. 3 election between Biden and Trump.