Donald Trump's campaign has turned over its get-out-the-vote operations to outside groups, but some Republicans see little evidence they're doing what they promised.
More than a dozen Republican strategists and operatives in battleground states expressed serious concerns about the former president's ground game, which they believe could cost him a chance to win re-election as Kamala Harris pours more and more money into her door-knocking operation, reported Politico.
“They are out-matching us in money, in enthusiasm and in the ground game," said a Michigan-based Republican strategist.
The Trump campaign is relying on super PACs and other outside groups to coordinate voter turnout after a Federal Election Commission decision earlier this year opened up that avenue, but Republicans say they haven't seen many Trump canvassers out on the streets in swing states.
“It’s almost like a timeshare scheme," said one GOP operative from a battleground state. "You have to go in and do the training, and you get the swag and the hat and the yard sign. That’s what you have to do to go get it. It doesn’t seem like people are really being activated, and the campaign’s not very forthcoming on whether they’ve been activated.”
ALSO READ: Senate GOP leaders refuse to commit to allowing Harris SCOTUS nominees up or down vote
Democrats are still rebuilding their ground operation after the Covid-19 pandemic decimated the party's infrastructure, but Harris attracted more than 170,000 new volunteers and held more than 2,300 events in battleground states since taking over the campaign from president Joe Biden.
“Nobody wanted to talk about Joe Biden at the doors, so now, they’re trying to do this quickly and that’s hard, going from zero to one hundred,” said one national Democratic strategist. “The campaign is making up for lost time, and so much money was slower to get into the field because of Biden, so everyone’s still catching up.”
The Harris campaign has 142 staffers dispatched in Nevada, the state with its smallest operation, and a GOP operative familiar with Trump campaign staffing levels say there only 16 there, which a campaign officials disputed but declined to share specifics.
“There’s really no organization,” said one Republican operative in Nevada. “He comes out, they scramble to do a rally … but after that, there’s just really nothing else.”
Some veteran political operatives also questioned the Trump strategy of chasing low-propensity voters.
“I just don’t think there’s a lot of juice in those oranges. It’s not a good place to go,” said Arizona political operative Chuck Coughlin, who left the GOP under Trump. “But it’s logical, given the fact that they’re not giving the other segments of the electorate any place for buy in.”