作为前副总统乔·拜登竞选活动在周四最后一场总统辩论之前的几天里，一群来自民主党意识形态领域的代理人一直在全国各地穿梭，以在竞选的最后几天传达被提名人的信息。
拜登在与唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)总统的最后一次辩论冲突之前缺席竞选，招致了共和党人的批评，他们试图将这位候选人塑造成“躲在地下室里”。但这也给了民主党一个机会来突出一系列的声音，这些声音可以帮助他们在竞选活动的最后几天提高关键战场州的投票率。
其中一个关键人物，前总统巴拉克·奥巴马，将会首次亲自参加竞选活动代表拜登参加周三在费城举行的免下车活动，预计他将在该活动中强调这一历史意义选举并强调尽早投票的紧迫性。据奥巴马的一名助手称，他还将讨论无记名投票选举的重要性。
民主国民大会
8月19日，2020年民主党全国代表大会第三天晚上，前总统巴拉克·奥巴马通过视频讲话。2020.
本月竞选活动中一个持续的亮点来自阿朵，他可能比任何人都更了解民主党候选人——候选人的配偶。
拜登的妻子吉尔·拜登博士10月份在八个战场州(包括佛罗里达州、佐治亚州和德克萨斯州)的大约25场活动中担任主角，此外还有源源不断的虚拟活动。哈里斯的丈夫道格拉斯·埃姆霍夫(Douglas Emhoff)本月也在十几个不同的州展开竞选，许多活动都围绕着提前投票。
拜登本人在10月份访问了八个不同的战场州，包括多次访问佛罗里达州、密歇根州和宾夕法尼亚州——这三个州对他击败特朗普的机会至关重要。
拜登的几个前民主党对手也在竞选中落败，参议员也是如此伊丽莎白·沃伦，D-Mass。森。伯尼·桑德斯，I-Vt。杨安泽和皮特·布蒂吉格代表拜登和哈里斯在各州举行活动。
“我认为有很多人一生都在投票给共和党，如果没有别的原因，那就是出于习惯，他们开始说，‘等一下，这不是我，’”布蒂吉格周一在密歇根州斯托克布里奇的一次竞选活动中说，希望摆脱共和党选民。
亚当·杜威/ZUMA出版社
2020年10月5日，伯尼·桑德斯参议员在密歇根州沃伦的马科姆社区学院举行竞选集会，支持乔·拜登和卡马拉·哈里斯。
一些民主党人说，这一战略是在激烈竞选的最后几天加强统一战线思想的一种方式。在这场竞选中，现任共和党人试图在拜登的联盟中制造裂痕。
“他们正在树立团结的榜样，让所有人都参与进来。这也与特朗普形成了非常强烈的对比，特朗普没有以任何方式扩大自己的基础。此外，这一战略使特朗普很难分裂拜登建立的民主党基础，”希拉里·克林顿2016年竞选活动的国家政治主任阿曼达·伦特里亚(Amanda Renteria)对美国广播公司(ABC News)表示。
“在这一点上，动量是驱动因素。[代理人]将在每个关键地区，并在线路继续形成时保持能量。今年也是重要的一年，因为人们承受着如此多不同寻常的压力，所以额外的能量、支持、头条新闻和事件甚至更加关键，”伦特里亚补充道。
在辩论之前的几天里，拜登的代理人团队已经把注意力集中在中西部的成败型铁锈地带各州，吉尔·拜登和贝蒂吉格在辩论之前都去了密歇根州，桑德斯预计将于周日加入在宾夕法尼亚州的代理人名单。
斯蒂芬·成熟/盖蒂影像公司
2020年10月3日，明尼阿波利斯市，吉尔·拜登博士在乌特比尔斯啤酒厂的竞选活动中发表讲话。
在小路上新冠肺炎大流行拜登和他的一长串代理人面临着以社交距离的方式与关键州的选民联系的额外挑战。这场运动在很大程度上转向了驾车集会，以复制他们在20世纪90年代使用该模式取得成功后的传统竞选活动感觉民主党全国代表大会的最后一晚八月。
拜登的竞选助手指出，COVID-safe集会通常以装饰有支持民主党票的标志的汽车和几轮喇叭声而不是只接受邀请的人群的掌声为特色，这是对数月来在一个完全虚拟的国家存在的竞选的有力推动。
尽管如此，拜登竞选团队仍在竞选的一些虚拟方面取得了成功，在虚拟筹款中获得了名人的推动。
在辩论的前一周，竞选团队与热门音乐剧《汉密尔顿》的演员们举办了一场虚拟的草根募捐活动——这是迄今为止参加人数最多的募捐活动，有12万人参加——并在周二召集了《复仇者联盟》的部分演员参加与哈里斯的问答活动。
总而言之，拜登胜利基金预计将在10月30日前举行41场虚拟筹资活动，包括克林顿、贾斯汀·汀布莱克、辛迪·麦凯恩和大卫·莱特曼在内的许多代理人。
Joe Biden campaign deploys top surrogates while candidate preps for final debate
As former Vice President Joe Biden stays off thecampaign trailin the days leading up to Thursday's final presidential debate, a stable of surrogates spanning the ideological spectrum of the Democratic Party has been crisscrossing the country to get the nominee's message out in the race's final days.
Biden's absence on the trail ahead of his final debate clash with President Donald Trump has drawn criticism from Republicans, who have sought to cast the nominee as "hiding in his basement." But it also gives Democrats a chance to highlight an array of voices who could help them juice turnout in key battleground states in the waning days of the campaign.
One of those key figures, former President Barack Obama, is set tomake his first in-person campaign appearanceon behalf of Biden this cycle at a drive-in event in Philadelphia on Wednesday, an appearance where he is expected to highlight the historic stakes of thiselectionand emphasize the urgency of voting early. He will also discuss the importance of down-ballot races, according to an Obama aide.
Former President Barack Obama speaks by video feed on the third night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Aug. 19. 2020.
A consistent presence on the campaign trail this month has come from a duo that likely knows the Democratic ticket better than anyone -- the candidate's spouses.
Biden's wife, Dr. Jill Biden, has headlined roughly 25 events in eight battleground states in October -- including Florida, Georgia and Texas -- in addition to a steady flow of virtual events. Douglas Emhoff, Harris' husband, has also hit a diverse slate of over a dozen battleground states this month, with many events centered around early voting.
Biden himself has visited eight different battleground states in October, including multiple visits to Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania -- three states pivotal to his chances of defeating Trump.
Several of Biden's former Democratic rivals have also hit the trail to stump for the ticket, with Sen.Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Sen.Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Andrew Yang and Pete Buttigieg holding events across battlegrounds states on behalf of Biden and Harris.
"I think there's a lot of folks who have voted Republican their whole lives, out of habit if nothing else, who are starting to say, 'Wait a minute, this isn't me,'" Buttigieg said during a campaign stop in Stockbridge, Michigan, on Monday, hoping to peel off GOP voters.
Sen. Bernie Sanders holds a campaign rally in support for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris at Macomb Community College in Warren, Mich., Oct. 5, 2020.
The strategy, some Democrats say, is one way to reinforce the idea of a united front in the final days of a bruising campaign that has seen the Republican incumbent seek to create cracks in Biden's coalition.
"They are role-modeling a vision of unity and bringing all voices to the table. It is also a very strong contrast to Trump, who has not grown his base in any way. In addition, this strategy makes it difficult for a Trump to split the Democratic base that Biden has built," Amanda Renteria, the national political director for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, told ABC News.
"Momentum is the driving factor at this point. [Surrogates] will be in every key district and keep the energy up as lines continue to form. This year is also an important year because people have so many unusual pressures on them, so the extra energy, support, headlines and events are even more critical," Renteria added.
In the days leading up to the debate, Biden's team of surrogates have zeroed in on the make-or-break Rust Belt states of the Midwest, with both Jill Biden and Buttigieg making trips to Michigan ahead of the debate, and Sanders expected to join the list of surrogates stumping in Pennsylvania on Sunday.
Dr. Jill Biden speaks during a campaign event at Utepils Brewery, Oct. 3, 2020, in Minneapolis.
Out on the trail amid theCOVID-19 pandemic, Biden and his long list of surrogates have had the additional challenge to connect with voters in the key state in a socially distanced manner. The campaign has largely turned to drive-in rallies to replicate the traditional campaign trail feel following their success with the model during thefinal night of the Democratic National Conventionin August.
Biden campaign aides point to the COVID-safe rallies, which often feature cars decorated with signs of support for the Democratic ticket and rounds of honks rather than applause from invite-only crowds, as an energetic boost for the campaign that for months existed in an exclusively virtual state.
Still, the Biden campaign has continued to find success in some virtual aspects of the campaign, getting a boost from famous faces in virtual fundraising.
In the week before the debate, the campaign hosted a virtual grassroots fundraiser with the cast of the hit musical "Hamilton" -- the best-attended fundraiser to date with 120,000 participants -- and assembled portions of the "Avengers" cast Tuesday for a Q&A event with Harris.
All told, the Biden Victory fund is expected to hold 41 virtual fundraisers before Oct. 30 with a host of surrogates, including Clinton, Justin Timberlake, Cindy McCain and David Letterman.
