What the two swing voters will be watching in tonight’s debate

In today’s issue …Meet the two swing voters who will be watching tonight’s debate…Biden vs Trump on the economy…But first…

What Atlanta voters will see on debate day

First wave of early releases: of Democratic National Committee Welcome the former president Donald Trump They will head to Atlanta for the first presidential debate with stationary and mobile signs highlighting Trump’s prosecution in Georgia, including signs blaming Trump for his election loss. Roe v. WadeThis allowed Georgia to make abortions illegal after about six weeks of pregnancy.

Mobile billboards carrying two-minute advertisements will circulate around the debate venue. CNNIn its Atlanta studio, the group played a video in which a narrator said, “Donald Trump is a threat to our freedoms.”

The video includes a recording of Trump telling election officials after the 2020 election, “I just want to find 11,780 votes.” The narrator then says Trump is “responsible for the attacks on reproductive freedom.” It also includes footage of Trump saying during the 2016 campaign that women who have abortions “need to be punished in some way.”

“While Donald Trump plans to lie for the full 90 minutes on this debate stage tonight, the DNC is coming together in Atlanta to remind voters how he is trying to dismantle Georgia’s democracy, leave the working class behind and take away reproductive freedom,” a DNC spokesperson said. Abhi Rahman “Tonight, voters across the country know they have a clear choice before them and will once again prove Trump a loser in November,” the statement said.

Five billboards will also be installed along major highways in Atlanta.

“I could kill Roe v. Wade” Donald. Welcome to Atlanta for the first time since your conviction. Congratulations… or whatever it is,” one message quoted Trump as saying.

“The Democratic Party cannot be saved. Joe Biden From being forced to defend his own dismal record on inflation and out-of-control border invasions and President Trump’s unquestioned record of success in his first term.” Stephen ChanA Trump campaign spokesman said in a statement:

Meet the two swing voters who will be watching tonight’s debate

Of the millions of Americans expected to watch tonight’s debate, only a small fraction will be undecided voters in the six states that are likely to decide the election: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

We spoke to two of them about what to see from Biden and Trump tonight.

(You can watch tonight’s debate on The Washington Post’s website.)

• “Honestly, I don’t like either of them, and I don’t like either of them.” Jenna Samson21 years old, student Michigan State University“But we’ll just have to see what they say.”

Samson described Trump, who was convicted in New York last month on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments to porn actresses during the 2016 election, as a “criminal” but worries Biden is too old to be president.

Samson will be watching to see what Trump and Biden say about abortion (she supports abortion rights), the economy and student loan debt. She wants to know if Trump, if elected, will try to reverse the $167 billion in student loan debt forgiveness announced by Biden.

Samson, who is not yet of voting age in 2020, said she is leaning toward supporting Biden but the debates could change which candidate she supports.

“I haven’t decided yet, but Biden is probably the lesser of two evils,” she said.

Forest Berry are also leaning toward Biden.

Berry, 31, who works as a security guard at a casino in Reno, Nevada, and runs his own cybersecurity business, said he voted for Biden in 2020 and is likely to support him again this time, but he said he might change his mind if Biden moves to the right on Israel and the border.

He’s also looking to see how Biden will respond during the 90-minute debate.

• “I think people are unsure whether Biden has the energy and focus to get through not just the campaign but the next four years,” Berry said. “By the time he’s done with his presidency, he’ll be four years older. What’s that aging curve going to look like?”

Berry said he’s not too worried about Biden’s stamina, but he’s hopeful that Biden’s debate performance will be good enough that he can use it as evidence to convince friends to support the president.

“That’s a convenient way of explaining why it’s not a wasted vote, why it’s a better vote for Trump,” Berry said. “If there’s a gaffe, if there’s low energy, if Trump goes on the offensive in any way and really puts himself on the defensive, that makes the conversation much more difficult for me.”

Berry and Samson’s votes matter more than most because they live in swing states: Trump leads Biden by 3 points in Michigan and 5 points in Nevada, according to a Washington Post average of recent state polls.

They are also part of a small group of voters in six battleground states known as “deciders” who are expected to have an outsized influence on the election outcome.

According to a Post-Scher School poll of “decision makers,” more than 60% of voters consider the economy “extremely important” to determining their vote, giving Trump a big lead on the issue.

• Fifty-three percent of voters said Trump could do a better job of dealing with the economy, while 21% said Biden could do a better job.
• 6% said they both work equally well, and 20% said neither would work.

Polls show that Trump also leads among this demographic on how he deals with threats to American democracy, crime and immigration, while Biden has an edge on how he deals with racism and abortion.

Some Democrats representing battleground states said they wanted Biden to deliver a strong economic message.

“The economy is an issue in Nevada.” Congressman Dina Titus (Nevada Democrat) represents a district that Biden won by about 8 points in 2020. “We’ve had a great comeback since COVID, but prices are still high.”

“I will say we understand that the economy is still recovering from the turmoil and we’re not out of it yet, but we’re getting there,” he said. Congressman Daniel Kildee (Democrat, Michigan), who represents a battleground district. “I know that’s a hard message to understand, but that’s the reality.”

On the floorThe House of Representatives today voted on dozens of amendments to the Department of Defense appropriations bill, beginning consideration of a Department of Defense bill that includes as many as 193 amendments.

As our colleagues Jacob Boggage The House’s partisan bill is likely to set up a fierce Senate battle in the fall, according to the report, as House Republicans “broken up on a spending cap agreement that congressional Republicans made with President Biden last year that included dozens of combative social policy provisions known as ‘riders’ because they were attached to unrelated bills.”

“These are not the final products.” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told Jacob, “These are negotiating positions.”

In the committeeThe House Energy and Commerce Committee is considering 12 bills, including a bipartisan bill called the American Privacy Rights Act of 2024, to protect consumers’ online data.

This bill is a big priority for retirees. chairman Cathy McMorris Rodgers She is under pressure from Republican leaders to change the bill (R-Wash.), and it will be interesting to see whether she gives in to their demands or pushes through.

The Supreme Court has nine cases remaining this term, with more due to be decided today and tomorrow. It is still waiting on a decision on Donald Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution for any acts he did while in office. Yesterday, we got a preview of another high-profile case. Idaho v. United States The decision was released prematurely. According to a copy of the decision hastily downloaded by Bloomberg Law before it was removed from its website, the court is poised to allow hospitals to perform emergency abortions in states where abortion is restricted or banned. The decision did not rule on the merits of the case, which means future litigation on the same subject is possible. The official decision may differ from the one released yesterday.

You can read about cases that haven’t been decided yet, as well as all of the other cases this term, on The Washington Post’s Supreme Court Tracker .

Biden and Trump’s economic policies

Biden and Trump This election presents very different views on what the economy should look like and what our vision for the future should be. Rachel Siegel Let’s analyze what both candidates said.

• “Biden’s platform is focused on being pro-consumer and pro-union, targeting the middle class hurting from high inflation and soaring home prices. He’s also putting the spotlight on wealthy Americans who he claims aren’t paying their fair share of taxes, and he plans to implement many of the landmark bills passed during his first term, including on infrastructure and clean energy,” Rachel wrote.

Biden’s campaign has focused on persuading Americans that the economy is, in fact, strong. Despite many indicators of economic success, such as falling unemployment and declining inflation, consumers continue to express concerns about the economy.

Trump expressed that belief during his election campaign. He has made possible tariff and tax reform a centerpiece of his plan and has promised to revive the economy. He also wants to tighten immigration restrictions and end subsidies for green energy.

• “In campaign speeches and off-the-cuff remarks, Trump has rarely been specific about how he would achieve his campaign promises — and some of his proposals may not be popular in Congress or hold up in court — but he has outlined economic priorities, some of which experts say would increase inflation or hurt the labor market,” Rachel writes.

On Thursday, Leigh Anne Andrew Burke, Rural Utilities Services Manager Director of Virginia’s Broadband Office, Tamara Holmes, About a nationwide effort to provide broadband to Americans who don’t have it.

“According to the current FCC maps, there are still 6 million locations that don’t have access to 25% download speeds and 3% upload speeds. We’re trying to get all locations to 100% with speeds above 20%. This is part of President Biden’s promise to connect every American to the internet and provide internet for everyone. These projects take years, but over the past few years we’ve connected about 620,000 Americans,” Burke said.

See the full program here.

• The top Senate Republican super PAC pulled a major ad buy in Pennsylvania to support McCormick. Politico’s Allie Mutnick.
• Biden is attracting attention at the debate for his promotion of “Project 2025.” Zachary Basu of Axios.

If you’re here in Congress today, you know where we are.

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