CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump are back on the campaign trail after meeting for the first time Tuesday in a high-stakes debate.
The presidential hopefuls, taking jabs on the debate stage, bashing each other's policies on everything from abortion to the border and foreign affairs.
"The worst Vice President in the history of our country," Trump said of Harris. "For 52 years they’ve been trying to get Roe V. Wade into the states. … We were able to do that.”
"This is so rich coming from someone who’s been prosecuted," Harris said. "Pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care. … She didn’t want that.”
With less than two months until Election Day, both camps are hoping to catch the eye of undecided voters and rev-up their base in what pollsters say is a neck-and-neck race.
“There are some in the middle, very, very slim middle who are unaffiliated as registered voters and are truly independent and can be swayed," Dr. Scott Huffmon, Director of the Center for Public Opinion & Policy Research, said. "Campaigns are aimed at them.”
From South Carolina to California, presidential ad buys have exploded. AdImpact, a data company, estimates Democrats spent over $500 million on ads since the Biden-Trump debate alone. Republicans spent nearly $350 million in the same timeframe, AdImpact said.
Battleground states like North Carolina are seeing a lot of that money with the Tar Heel State estimated to receive $31 million from Democrats and $16 million from Republicans in ad support following the debate.
Campaigns are hoping battleground wins could be the answer to winning the White House.
"If they don’t turn out their base, they’re not going to win," Huffmon said. "So, there’s going to be a lot of money spent in North Carolina. Number one, making sure those unaffiliates turn out for your side, and number two making sure your base shows up at the polls.”
Vice President Harris will get another chance to woo voters Thursday at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte. It's the same place Former President Trump held a rally in July.