NEW YORK (AP) – The 2024 presidential contest enters its final weekend with the Democrat Kamala Harris and republican Donald Trump locked in a razor thin contest.

At this late stage of the campaign, every day counts. And while few voters might change their minds this late in a typical election, there is a sense that what happens in the final days could swing votes.

Harris and Trump are criss-crossing the country to rally voters in the states that matter most. They try – with varying degrees of success – to stay focused on a clear and concise closing message. At the same time, each side is investing massive resources to increase turnout for the final early voting period. And in these critical days, the flow of disinformation is intensifying.

Here’s what we’re watching in the final weekend before Election Day, which is Tuesday:

You only have to look at the candidates’ schedules this weekend to know where this election is likely to be decided.

Note that schedules can and likely will change without warning. But on Saturday, Trump began with an appearance in North Carolina, followed by a stop in Virginia and planned to return to the Tar Heel State in the evening.

No Democratic presidential candidate has carried North Carolina since Barack Obama in 2008, though it has been decided by less than 3 points in every election since. Trump’s decision to spend Saturday there suggests Harris has a real opportunity in the state. But Trump is also trying to convey confidence by stopping in Virginia, a state that has been safely in the Democratic column since 2008.

There is perhaps no more important swing state than Pennsylvania, where Trump is expected to campaign on Sunday. But he also has another appearance scheduled in North Carolina, in addition to Georgia, another Southern state that has tilted Republican for nearly three decades — that is, until Joe Biden it carried her by less than half a percentage point four years ago.

Harris campaigned in Atlanta on Saturday before a rally in the North Carolina capital — signs that her team senses a real opportunity in the South. She plans to make several stops in Michigan on Sunday, moving into a Democratic-leaning “blue wall” state where her allies believe she is vulnerable.

Trump’s campaign wants voters to focus on one key question as they prepare to vote, and it’s the same question they open every rally with: Are you better off today than you were four years ago?

Harris’ team wants voters to think differently: Do they trust Trump or Harris to put the nation’s interests before themselves?

Whichever candidate can most effectively keep voters focused on their bottom line in the coming days may ultimately win the presidency. However, both candidates are off to a challenging start.

Trump opens weekend still dealing with recent fallout Rally in New York in which a comedian described Puerto Rico as “a floating pile of garbage.” Things got tough for Trump late Thursday after he raised the prospect of Republican rival Liz Cheney death by gunfire.

It was exactly the kind of inflammatory commentary his allies want to avoid at this critical time.

Meanwhile, Harris’ campaign is still working to steer the conversation away from President Biden comments at the beginning of the week who described Trump supporters as “garbage.” The Associated Press reported late Thursday that White House press officials had altered the official transcript of the call in question, drawing objections from federal workers who document such remarks for posterity.

The spotlight of presidential politics is always burning brightly. But it will burn brightest, perhaps, in this final weekend, leaving campaigns with virtually no margin for error. In what both sides feel is a real toss-up, any missteps in the final hours could prove decisive.

Trump’s graphic attack on Cheney was particularly galling given his allies’ heightened concerns about voters.

Polls show a significant gender gap in the contest, with Harris generally having a much better approval rating among women than Trump. Part of that may be the result of the GOP’s fight to curtail abortion rights, which has been disastrous for Trump’s party. But Trump’s divisive leadership has also alienated women.

Over the weekend, Trump allies, including conservative brand Charlie Kirk, warned that far more women than men appeared to be voting early. While it’s impossible to know who they’re voting for, Kirk clearly thinks it’s bad news for Trump.

Trump is not helping his cause. A day before his violent rhetoric about Cheney, the former president made headlines by insisting he would protect women whether they “like it or not.”