In a tight election where every vote counts, Harris is trying to squeeze a few out of Trump’s base.

WASHINGTON — With this year’s presidential election likely to be close, Kamala Harris is hunting for votes in even the most unlikely places. One of her latest targets is Donald Trump’s demographic base – white people who didn’t go to college.

“This is a tough situation,” said Dan Kanninen, state director for the Harris campaign. “But showing up is how you win the votes you need to win.”

Kanninen and other members of the Democratic vice president’s team point to what they see as positive signals from public polls that Harris may be making modest gains. Such shifts are difficult to measure, especially in polls where subgroups of voters may have large margins of error.

But any erosion that does occur could be significant, since white voters without college degrees make up a large share of the electorate. About 4 in 10 voters fell into this category in 2020, according to AP VoteCast.

So Harris’ campaign ran ads on sports betting site DraftKings calling Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, “the strongest lineup.” Another version on Yahoo Sports includes “stats” such as tax cuts for the middle class and $25,000 down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers.

An advertisement on the video game website IGN introduces Harris as a character in the role-playing saga. Her ratings for “charisma” and “intelligence” are high, but “deception” and “collateral damage” are low. “Elect this President,” it says.

During football games, there were more advertisements emphasizing Harris’ promise to become President of All Americans, as well as sports talk radio. Walz is a former high school football coach, so he also attends sporting events.

Off-air, Harris relies heavily on unions to make the case to their members and communities. And she often talks about economic issues such as price gouging, which she hopes will appeal to working-class voters.

“People need someone to be on their side,” Kanninen said.

Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster, doubted Harris was in any way trying to appeal to white working-class voters. If anything, he said, her strategy was more a reflection of her wealthy financial position.

“When you’re flush with money, as the Harris campaign appears to be, you’re chasing everything that’s even remotely possible,” he said.

Of course, Ayres said, “in a dead heat race, any voters you can squeeze out of anywhere can make a big difference.”

Anna Kelly, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, rejected Harris’ efforts.

“Kamala Harris is on the defensive because she is losing ground among longtime Democrats like black men,” Kelly said.

Kanninen said the Harris campaign was undeterred.

“Sometimes there were difficult conversations,” he said. “But tough conversations can get results, and in a very close race, those results can make all the difference.”