Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday will unveil his ticket’s plans to enhance the lives of rural voters, as Vice President Kamala Harris appears to chop into former President Donald Trump’s help.
The Harris-Walz plan features a deal with enhancing rural well being care, corresponding to plans to recruit 10,000 new well being care professionals in rural and tribal areas by means of scholarships, mortgage forgiveness and new grant packages, in addition to financial and agricultural coverage priorities. The plan was detailed to The Related Press by a senior marketing campaign official on the situation of anonymity forward of its official launch on Tuesday.
It marks a concerted effort by the Democratic marketing campaign to make a dent within the traditionally Trump-leaning voting bloc within the closing three weeks earlier than Election Day. Trump carried rural voters by an almost two-to-one margin in 2020, based on AP VoteCast. Within the intently contested race, each Democrats and Republicans are reaching out past their historic bases in hopes of successful over a sliver of voters that might in the end show decisive.
Walz is ready to announce the plan throughout a cease in rural Lawrence County in western Pennsylvania, one of many marquee battlegrounds of the 2024 contest. He’s additionally starring in a brand new radio advert for the marketing campaign highlighting his roots in a small city of 400 folks and his time teaching soccer, whereas attacking Trump and his operating mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
“In a small city, you don’t deal with the politics, you deal with taking good care of your neighbors and minding your individual rattling enterprise,” Walz says within the advert, which the marketing campaign mentioned will air throughout greater than 500 rural radio stations in Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. “Now Donald Trump and JD Vance, they don’t assume like us. They’re in it for themselves.”
The Harris-Walz plan calls on Congress to completely prolong telemedicine protection below Medicare, a pandemic-era profit that helped tens of millions entry care that’s set to run out on the finish of 2024. They’re additionally calling for grants to help volunteer EMS packages to chop in half the variety of Individuals dwelling greater than 25 minutes away from an ambulance.
It additionally urges Congress to revive the Reasonably priced Connectivity Program, a program launched by President Joe Biden that expired in June that offered as much as $30 off dwelling web payments, and for lawmakers to require tools producers to grant farmers the fitting to restore their merchandise.
