Biden, Obama and Trump converge on Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA — President Joe Biden and his two immediate predecessors are descending on Pennsylvania Saturday in a last-minute push to turn out their midterm voters — and possibly set the stage for the 2024 presidential race.

Biden is set to campaign with Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman and the party's gubernatorial nominee, Josh Shapiro, in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon, alongside former President Barack Obama, who has leaped onto the campaign trail to serve as a key Democratic surrogate in the past few weeks.

In the evening, former President Donald Trump will hit the campaign trail 200 miles west in Latrobe, outside Pittsburgh. It's an attempt to boost Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor locked in a tight battle with Fetterman in the Senate race, as well as Doug Mastriano, the controversial state senator running for governor — who has trailed far behind Shapiro in public polls amid fundraising struggles and ties to far-right figures.

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

Fetterman and Obama are also rallying in Pittsburgh on Saturday morning. The lieutenant governor has the best chance of any Democratic Senate candidate of flipping a seat this election, with GOP Sen. Pat Toomey's retirement spawning a nasty and expensive race to replace him.

But a once-large Democratic polling lead in the race has narrowed following a barrage of Republican attacks on the issue of crime — 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 campus of Temple University in Philadelphia in the afternoon. Biden’s appearance is notable in part because the Democratic president, whose national approval rating hovers in the low 40s, has largely campaigned in blue states this fall, including Oregon and California, while mostly avoiding the places that he won only narrowly two years ago.

The visit also comes hours before the Philadelphia Phillies are set to 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, roughly an hour east of Pittsburgh, on Saturday evening along with Oz and Mastriano, who have seldom appeared together while taking 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 has trailed Shapiro significantly in public polling, while Oz has looked to appeal to suburban voters in an attempt to put together a winning coalition.

Trump has a lot riding on Republicans’ success in Pennsylvania, particularly after he endorsed Oz in the wide-open GOP primary earlier this year. His super PAC, MAGA Inc., has also spent millions on ads supporting Oz in the past few weeks.

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