As Election Day draws nearer, the campaigns of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump will be intensifying their efforts to turn out voters in battleground states. They are competing for the votes of people who will decide which political party holds the presidency and a number of seats in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber in Congress.
After winning the Electoral College, the winner of the presidential race is sworn in on January 20 (unless it happens to fall on a Sunday, in which case the next day). If no one gets an electoral majority, the U.S. House selects the president from among the top contenders, and if no one gets a majority in the Senate, it chooses the vice president from the highest-ranked candidates.
The candidates begin the campaign trail, traveling to rallies and other events in order to gain support from voters and raise money for their cause. They will also participate in televised debates. During the debates, candidates are asked to address questions regarding their policies and their views on various issues.
A common view is that a presidential landslide entails large margins of victory in both the popular vote and the Electoral College, which predict whether a new President will have the ability to introduce enduring changes in policy and politics. However, as John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Benjamin Harrison can attest, it is possible to become president without a large popular or electoral mandate.