Harris is warning against being overconfident in her campaign after her performance in the debate lifted Democrats' spirits.

On national television, Kamala Harris just scorched her opponent. The biggest music star in the world finally gave her his endorsement after months of waiting. She is afloat in an enormous amount of money.

So why is Michigan Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell still feeling nervous about November’s election?

Like every other Democrat, I was giddy with excitement as I watched the debate. Dingell said Thursday on "CNN This Morning," "I thought she got under his skin," before describing the reality check she'd received from a state official over the phone early in the morning.

Dingell remarked, "I got a call at six-fifty this morning from one of my township supervisors asking what I thought." “That discussion brought me right back down to Earth.”

Having been burned once by overconfidence, Democrats have two opponents this cycle. Yes, Donald Trump is the name opposite of Harris’s on the ballot. However, in the final run-up to Election Day, many of Harris's backers are just as focused on guarding against complacency among their own ranks.

For one thing, polls explain why. Surveys conducted in states that are considered battlegrounds show an incredibly close race—possibly the closest in recent memory—which many allies of Harris worry is being overshadowed by the surge of support for him.

Another is the grip Trump has on his own followers. Harris's supporters are very driven, according to his advisers, and he is more popular now than he was when he lost the 2020 election.

But the most powerful incentive, ingrained in the memories of countless operators currently striving for Harris's election, may be the recollection of 2016, when Hillary Clinton's campaign thought it was coasting to victory only to watch support for the so-called "blue wall" disintegrate.

Democrats are scarcely in despair. The Chicago convention last month was almost ecstatic with the arrival of a new nominee who, in contrast to President Joe Biden, does not appear destined to lose. Furthermore, Harris has welcomed the renewed happiness inside the party and presented it as a counterbalance to Trump's polarizing remarks.

However, in almost all discussions, whether they are private or public, Harris's assistants and the candidate herself have chimed in with a reality check. They have lowered expectations, suppressed confidence, and declared themselves the underdog—despite their seeming success in arranging a historic candidate switch one hundred days prior to the election and igniting fresh Democratic hope.

The day following the debate, Harris's campaign staff convened at their Wilmington, Delaware, headquarters and concluded that the event would probably not have a significant impact on the general course of the election.

They haven't changed their earlier predictions that the outcomes in November would come down to a razor-thin margin, probably as close as the ones in 2020.

Instead, they have devised a strategy that would put Harris in front of voters in battleground states over the next few days and weeks, starting on Thursday in North Carolina and moving on to Pennsylvania on Friday.

The "New Way Forward" tour is making stops in more than just battleground states. These are the states where the election is almost ready to start. CNN is informed by a campaign official that this is not a coincidence.

With the ruling on Monday by the state's Supreme Court to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has withdrew from the race, North Carolina, a purple state where Harris and running mate Tim Walz will make two appearances on Thursday, is hurrying to reprint and send out mail-in ballots. The NC Board of Elections reports that almost 161,000 people have already requested mail-in ballots. In 2020, Trump won the state with a margin of fewer than half of those votes.

Harris is scheduled to take part in a roundtable next week with ordinary members of the powerful Teamsters union, which is not endorsing anyone for the first time in many years. In late July, during an appearance with members of the National Association of Black Journalists, Trump said that Harris had "turned Black." She will also take part in a Q&A session with them.

According to those familiar with the campaign, millions more in funding are anticipated for it thanks to upcoming high-profile events that include an Oprah-led virtual event next week, a Harris-led fundraiser in Washington on Saturday, and numerous other planned high-profile events. According to the campaign, this money needs to be counted and disbursed as soon as possible in places where voters are starting to cast their ballots.

In addition to speaking at rallies, Harris intends to do more in-person visits with voters and interviews with local media in the swing states.

Officials from the campaign combed through debate video for moments that might work well as television commercials for a portion of Wednesday. Harris frames the campaign as a decision between "two very different visions for the country, one that is focused on the past, one that is focused on the future" in the opening commercial.

However, even as they praised Harris's performance in the debate, supporters and advisers were hesitant about announcing victory too soon.

"Nothing has been won by us yet. Doug Emhoff, Harris's spouse, said the following to supporters at a Philadelphia debate watch party just after she exited the stage.

Such a message is hardly novel for a campaign trying to keep up its funding, inspire its volunteers, and persuade its committed voters that they still have to cast a ballot. In 1999, when he was running for the Democratic nomination, Al Gore even dressed up as a "underdog" for Halloween.

However, it seems that this time's messaging goes beyond just a motivating ploy.

In battleground states like Dingell’s, where a small slice of undecided voters is expected to determine the next president, Harris and Trump are in a neck-and-neck struggle.

Dingell indicated the results might be an illusion, despite studies conducted in Michigan suggesting Harris has a slight advantage.

She declared, "Michigan, in my opinion, is a tie." "It's just a sea of people in the middle. Just closer than most people think.

Not all Democrats who support Harris appear to be exercising caution.

"In my entire life, this election has been the simplest. California Governor Gavin Newsom rejected the term of "underdog" for Harris during the discussion on "CBS Mornings" on Tuesday. "I love where we are," Newsom added. "She isn't. It bothers me to learn about that.