The intense focus on Pennsylvania comes days before the state can determine which party controls the Senate 50-50. And the state is set to become a focal point of presidential politics for the next two years, particularly if Biden and Trump square off again.

Fetterman and Obama will also demonstrate in Pittsburgh on Saturday morning. The lieutenant governor has the best chance of any Democratic Senate candidate to win a seat this election, with the withdrawal of Republican Senator Pat Toomey creating a nasty and expensive race to replace him.

Caution: We think Republicans are likely to win control of the House. But the Senate is still a toss.

Senate control will be reduced to a few key states: Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Plus, five takeaways from what the latest Senate poll tells us about the battle for control.

But the once-great Democratic poll lead in the race has shrunk after a barrage of Republican attacks on the crime issue, and a difficult debate performance by Fetterman, who is recovering from a stroke he suffered this spring.

Obama and Fetterman will join Biden and Shapiro on the Temple University campus in Philadelphia in the afternoon. Biden’s appearance is notable in part because the Democratic president, whose national approval rating hovers in the 40s, has largely campaigned in struggling states this fall, including Oregon and California, and has mostly avoided places where he won. for just two years ago.

The visit also comes hours before the Philadelphia Phillies play the Houston Astros in Game 6 of the World Series in Houston. First lady Jill Biden attended an earlier game in Philadelphia.

Trump will be in Latrobe, about an hour east of Pittsburgh, on Saturday night along with Oz and Mastriano, who have rarely appeared together as they take very different approaches to campaigning in the swing state.

Mastriano has leaned into the party’s base while making few attempts to reach moderate voters and trailing Shapiro significantly in public polls, while Oz has sought to appeal to suburban voters in an attempt to put together a winning coalition.

Trump has a lot to do with the Republicans’ success in Pennsylvania, particularly after he endorsed Oz in the open Republican primary earlier this year. His super PAC, MAGA Inc., has also spent millions on Oz-supporting ads in recent weeks.

The former president also hinted at a rally in Iowa on Thursday night that he could announce a 2024 presidential bid in the coming weeks. Pennsylvania is among the states that would hold special significance in a rematch between Biden and Trump, as it was the state that put the Democratic president over the 270-vote threshold in the Electoral College two years ago.

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