by Ross Williams for the Georgia Recorder
Vice President Kamala Harris bought a heat welcome in Savannah Thursday when she stumped for votes within the coastal metropolis not often visited by Democratic presidential candidates.
“Georgia, for the past two election cycles, voters in this very state, you, Georgia, have delivered.” she mentioned. “You sent two extraordinary senators to Washington. You sent President Biden and me to the White House. You showed up. You knocked on doors. You registered voters to vote and made it happen. You did that. You did that. And so now we are asking you to do it again.”
Harris’ speech hit acquainted notes. She sought to color Republican nominee former president Donald Trump as solely caring for himself and the rich elite and pledged to struggle for a fairer economic system, to revive reproductive freedom and to guard democracy from Trump, who she characterised as a would-be dictator.
“Understand this is not 2016 or 2020,” she mentioned. “Things are different. A lot is the same when we think about the issues, and then there is significant difference. The stakes in 2024 are even higher.”
Betting on south Georgia
On Wednesday, Harris and Walz dropped in on a highschool band in Liberty County and then the Sand Fly barbecue joint simply outdoors of Savannah. It was a uncommon go to by a Democratic presidential candidate to an space of Georgia that’s distant from vote-rich metro Atlanta, and it conjured up recollections of former President Invoice Clinton’s south Georgia bus tour in 1992—dubbed “Bubbas for Bill”—that blazed a path by means of the center of south Georgia three many years in the past.
Harris additionally briefly visited Dottie’s Market and The Gray restaurant within the metropolis’s historic district earlier than taking the stage Thursday.
The coastal metropolis was additionally the setting for Harris and Walz’s first in-depth interview since changing into the official Democratic nominees. The 2 had been interviewed Thursday afternoon by CNN’s Dana Bash at Kim’s Café, an area Black-owned restaurant, whereas a whole lot of supporters gathered within the rain a few mile away for the rally. The section aired after the rally.
Harris was pressed on a few of her altering positions over time, reminiscent of on whether or not to ban fracking, and she or he defended Biden’s psychological health.
“I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed,” Harris mentioned.
She additionally stuffed in additional specifics on her plans, together with saying she would appoint a Republican to her cupboard. The Democrats’ nominating conference in Chicago featured a shocking string of conservative voices, together with a speech from former Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan.
“I have spent my career inviting diversity of opinion. I think it’s important to have people at the table when some of the most important decisions are being made that have different views, different experiences,” Harris mentioned. “And I think it would be to the benefit of the American public to have a member of my cabinet who was a Republican.”
The go to to Savannah is the primary for a normal election presidential candidate since Clinton’s, the marketing campaign mentioned.
Democrats say campaigning in southeast Georgia will likely be crucial to their election efforts to courtroom suburban and rural voters, and so they tout practically 50 full-time employees throughout seven workplaces in south Georgia.
Aside from Savannah and Liberty County, southwest Georgia is beet purple, mentioned College of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock.
“What I think the purpose of this tour is going to be is not that they think they’re going to flip some of those red counties, but to chip away at the size of the Trump margin in them,” he mentioned. “And again, we’re talking about, you know, 10,000, 15,000 votes determining the outcome in the state. If Democrats can indeed peel off, say, some football fans who like the coach (a nickname for vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz) or something like this, it’s a gain for them.”
“The most valuable commodity that any candidate has is the candidate’s time,” he added. “You can raise more money, you can get more volunteers, you can hire more staff. You can’t create more time, and so this is a huge investment.”
Thursday’s rally got here every week after the Republican candidate for vice chairman, J.D. Vance, delivered a speech on immigration and border safety in Valdosta close to the Florida state line.
Vance’s south Georgia backdrop will be seen as a nod to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s technique of attempting to run up the rating in rural elements of the state, mentioned James LaPlant, a political scientist and dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Valdosta State College.
However the Harris-Walz marketing campaign seems to even be taking a web page from the playbook of U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. The pair of Georgia Democrats flipped the state’s two Senate seats in early 2021, partly by energizing communities throughout the state which have usually been ignored by Democratic candidates.
“That was, I think, an important flip to Democratic strategy that, ‘Hey, we’re not going to ignore south Georgia. We’re not going to ignore places like Valdosta. We’re not going to ignore the southeast quadrant of the state,” LaPlant mentioned.
Georgia is now lumped right into a tier of swing states branded the Solar Belt states, however LaPlant mentioned he nonetheless sees Trump as having an edge right here. That is a bonus, although, that may proceed to slide away from him if he doesn’t discover his footing within the dramatically remodeled presidential race, says LaPlant.
“The cold reality is that Trump is struggling in terms of how to message his campaign with Harris-Walz as the ticket,” LaPlant mentioned. “If those struggles continue over the next 70 some days, then I think Georgia is very much in play.”
The Trump marketing campaign was not impressed with Harris’ southern technique, mentioned RNC spokesperson Morgan Ackley
“While our highly engaged and energetic operation in Georgia is focused on turning out votes across the entire state, Democrats in Georgia are finally learning an important lesson… there is more to Georgia than just Atlanta,” Ackley mentioned in a press release. “Republicans from Catoosa to Camden County and everywhere in between are fired up and ready to re-elect President Donald J. Trump because his message of putting America first again resonates with Americans of all backgrounds.”
Vibes
An enthusiastic crowd packed into Enmarket Enviornment in Savannah with most seats showing full.
Some individuals within the crowd had been soaked to the bone whereas ready in line to enter the world after a sudden afternoon bathe drenched the realm. Latecomers had the other downside because the clouds parted and the parking zone outdoors the world turned scorching and humid.
However regardless of climate woes, the group was usually smiling. Individuals huddled beneath umbrellas or cooled themselves with followers studying “Georgia for Harris-Walz” as retailers hawked barely damp Kamala Harris T-shirts and hats.
“You’re gonna see a lot of happy people out here, because they—especially a lot of Black women, a lot of Black women—finally get a chance to see somebody running for the highest office in the land who looks like them,” mentioned Thomas McCormick, a Dublin resident who mentioned he’s voting for Harris to cease Venture 2025.
Venture 2025 is a virtually 900-page proposal that units forth a sweeping conservative agenda if Trump is elected. Regardless of Trump distancing himself from the platform, some former members of his administration helped write it.
McCormick known as President Joe Biden a “great civil servant,” however he mentioned there was no query his departure from the race and Harris’ elevation helped contribute to the festive ambiance.
“No disrespect to Joe. He’s been a servant for years, and that’s perfectly fine. But there’s a different vibe because there’s a different atmosphere. We have a different candidate,” he mentioned.
Not distant, Paris Corridor, a Georgia Southern College scholar initially from north Florida chatted with a bunch of buddies as they waited in line. Corridor mentioned the ambiance was electrical.
“It’s a lot of pride, the fact that people can just come out here and show up and express their views and their beliefs and their opinions and to do it together as a community,” she mentioned. “I love being around everyone here. I’ve seen several people doing interviews, and everybody has their signs, you see a lot of the different sororities, all the organizations just coming up together as a community and showing for the people that they support.”
One other issue seemingly bolstering the temper was current polling, together with a Fox Information ballot displaying Harris main by two factors in Georgia—an encouraging signal for Democrats, however inside the margin of error. Harris urged the group to not take victory as a right.
“This is going to be a tight race until the very end, so let’s not pay too much attention to the polls, because we are running as the underdog,” Harris mentioned. “And we have some hard work ahead of us, but we like hard work, hard work is good work. And with your help, we are going to win this November.”
Georgia Recorder Deputy Editor Jill Nolin contributed to this report.
Georgia Recorder is a part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit information community supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: information@georgiarecorder.com.
