In most American states, the outcome of the presidential vote is almost certain. But seven key battleground states will decide these elections.

However, not all battleground states are equal. Each candidate has a three-state “wall” that offers the most direct path to the White House.

Harris’ so-called “blue” wall, named after the color of the Democratic Party, extends across Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, in the Great Lakes region. This has been the subject of much political discussion since 2016, when Trump narrowly carried all three traditionally Democratic states on his way to victory.

Joe Biden flipped these states in 2020. If Harris can hold them, she doesn’t need any other battlegrounds, as long as she also wins a congressional district in Nebraska (which has a slightly different system in how it allocates its votes to the electoral college). ).

This explains why she spent most of her time in these blue wall states during the latter part of the campaign, with full field days in each of them.

On Monday evening, she held her final rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, atop the 72 steps to the city’s Art Museum, which Sylvester Stallone’s fictional boxer Rocky climbed in the film of the same name – before to narrowly lose to his opponent. , Apollo Creed.

Trump’s “red wall” is located on the eastern border of the United States. We talk about it less but it is just as important for his electoral chances. It begins in Pennsylvania but extends south to North Carolina and Georgia. If he wins these states, he will prevail by two electoral votes, regardless of how other battlegrounds vote.

That explains why he held five events in North Carolina last week.

The overlapping point on each of these walls, of course, is Pennsylvania – the biggest electoral battleground. Its nickname, Keystone State, has never been more appropriate.