Texas will see end-of-campaign drama on Friday typically typical of Georgia or Pennsylvania: dueling presidential candidate visits.

Kamala Harris is heading to Houston for an afternoon campaign rally. She will be joined by Senate Democratic candidate Colin Allred, where they will reportedly focus on and be overshadowed by the state’s strict abortion laws. Beyonce and Willie Nelson.

Donald Trump will get ahead of them by landing in Austin for a news conference on border and immigration issues, one of Harris’ biggest weaknesses of the campaign. Republican Senator Ted Cruz told the Houston Chronicle: We can get support from TrumpHe will be there along with popular podcaster Joe Rogan.

Politics enthusiasts, especially hopeful Democrats, could be forgiven for wondering if this is the moment when Texas is finally up for grabs, perhaps even turning blue and changing the presidential landscape.

But this is not so. For candidates, trolling the other side is almost as important a priority as winning.

Harris and Trump certainly want to empower their Senate counterparts. Democrats face long hurdles Keep control of the Senatecompetitions in other states were awarded. But an upset in Texas would give them a better chance, along with the psychological boost of winning statewide here for the first time since the “Friends” were in their rookie season and the Cowboys were competing for Super Bowls.

But texas presidency And Senate contests Both are leaning in the GOP’s direction, according to polls and voter bases. Therefore, the main purpose is to nudge the other side and perhaps give voters a new perspective on ideas that have been discussed for months.

Just a different way to send the same message. Harris wants women in Michigan and Wisconsin to consider what might happen if Republicans win their states and enact an abortion ban or have the votes in Congress to do so. Trump wants more attention to be paid to the Biden administration’s failure to control illegal immigration and for voters in Georgia and Pennsylvania to consider how soon the effects will hit their states.

If Texas was truly up for grabs, you would have known about it long ago just by turning on your television. In a true state of affairs, you’re unlikely to find an ad for dog food or beds in the fall because campaigns buy up available slots months in advance. We need to see a lot of Cruz and Allred here.

Campaigns like to nudge the opponent. A former reporter who made the news Ronald Reagan’s 1984 reelection campaign He would tell me how the president made a surprise visit to Minnesota in the final days of the campaign. This race was so out of control that Reagan could afford to fall into the home state of his rival, Walter Mondale.

Even the Gipper couldn’t win in Minnesota, but the move let everyone know where the campaign stood. While Reagan suffered one of the biggest landslides in American history, Mondale won only his home state and Washington DC.

We won’t see anything like this this year. But trolling the other side is on the ballot in every campaign.