Dem
49
GOP
51
If you want to know what the campaigns really think is important, don't bother asking them. They will make up some random story. What you need to do to discover their real priorities is to follow the money. Money talks. One straightforward way to follow the money is to see where the campaigns are spending money on ads. AdImpact does that. Here is what their research shows:
Wow. It is not exactly right to say that Trump's campaign is betting the farm on Pennsylvania, but they are sure worried about it. Pennsylvania is also the top priority for the Harris campaign, but not so extreme. Harris is apparently more nervous about Michigan than Trump, possibly due to the modest Arab-American population in Dearborn. Trump also sees Georgia as a priority, more so than Harris. Also keep population in mind. Nevada is a low-population state with only two major media markets (Las Vegas and Reno). It wouldn't be possible to spend $20 million there, even if a campaign wanted to.
But remember, ad spending isn't the whole game. What the chart does not show is spending for running field offices in a state and GOTV operations. Harris has 50 offices in Pennsylvania, staffed by 150 people. That doesn't show up in the chart. Trump opened his first office there in June and certainly doesn't have the ground game there that Harris does. That stuff also matters. (V)