Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to a rapturous crowd in Georgia on Tuesday, where Democrats are buoyed by her rise to the top of the ballot and what they see as a fresh opportunity to oust former President Donald Trump from the White House.
“The path to the White House runs through this state,” Harris told a packed Georgia State Convocation Center in downtown Atlanta. “And all of you helped us win in 2020, and we’ll do it again in 2024.”
It was Harris’ first visit to Georgia as the presumptive Democratic nominee after President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race upended the presidential race. But Harris has visited Georgia frequently as vice president, making Tuesday’s rally her 15th stop here since being sworn in less than four years ago.
The changes at the top of the candidate list have transformed the presidential race, which was previously characterized by low voter enthusiasm and, for some, downright fear.
The fresh energy was already palpable Tuesday, with Megan Thee Stallion performing and pre-Harris speeches from a number of prominent Democrats and Atlanta rapper Quavo.
Supporters filled the arena with deafening cheers and chants of “I’m not coming back” and “too scared” in reference to Trump withdrawing from the second presidential debate, but first against Harris. The energetic crowd at times drowned out the speakers. Harris left to thunderous applause and chants of “Kamala.”
Harris mocked Trump for backing out of the debate schedule, which he agreed to when Biden was still the expected Democratic nominee.
“Well, Donald, I hope you’ll consider meeting me on the debate stage,” she said. “Because as the saying goes, if you’ve got something to say, say it to my face.”
Harris campaign aides told reporters Monday that they were seeing actual signs of enthusiasm in the wave of volunteers and donations, but they knew the narrow victory in Georgia in 2020 would be a challenge to replicate. Biden won Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes, making him the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state in three decades.
“Let’s even it up, friends, let’s even it up,” Harris told the raucous crowd. “We have a fight ahead of us, and we are the underdogs in this race.”
The crowd seemed eager to take on the challenge, and the possibility of electing a candidate whose presidency would go down in history electrified the crowd even more.
“We will do our utmost to ensure that Kamala Harris is not only a disruptor in the Senate, but also a disruptor in the Oval Office,” said Stacey Abrams, the former House minority leader who in 2018 came close to becoming the first black female governor in the nation’s history.
But Harris’ campaign also hopes moderate and disgruntled Republicans will support deny Trump another term in the White House.
Former GOP lieutenant governor Geoff Duncan, who has been a vocal critic of Trump since the 2020 election, was seen on the sidelines of Tuesday’s rally. Duncan previously endorsed Biden and has since backed Harris as a way for the Republican Party to move beyond Trump.
Duncan said Tuesday that party lines today “are blurrier than ever.”
“This is a historic event that’s going to happen,” Duncan said in an interview. “I think this country has a chance to even hit the reset button. That means we have to vote for someone we don’t agree with 100 percent on their policies.”
Trump responded to Harris’ Georgia visit by announcing his own appearance this Saturday at the same venue in downtown Atlanta. The GOP candidate will campaign with his vice presidential running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance.
Former GOP congressman Doug Collins said Georgia Republicans are mentally adjusting to Harris as their fresh rival. Collins said the shuffle at the top of the ticket is about Democrats trying to regain ground after Biden’s disastrous debate performance in Atlanta a month ago.
“She can’t run from the administration, and that’s something that most people, especially those on the left, have forgotten,” Collins said Tuesday.
Sure, Democrats are excited to have a candidate they believe can take on Trump, Collins said. But he said he thinks the media portrayal of Harris’ influence in the race has been “overblown.”
Georgia Democrats, however, would disagree.
“I’m so excited I can’t sleep at night,” said Gloria Jenkins, 82, chairwoman of the Georgia Democratic caucus, who is excited about potentially helping elect the first black woman president.
Before Harris became a likely candidate, Jenkins acknowledged that Georgia was running out of steam. But she said that had changed and that her consistently low cellphone battery — drained by all the campaign chatter — was as good a barometer as any.
For Diahann Fulwider, Harris’ success inspired her to vote in November after she decided not to enter the election this time around when her disappointment with Biden turned to consternation as she watched the president struggle in a CNN debate last month.
Fulwider, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., called the response to Harris’ presidential candidacy a “movement.” Harris is also a member of AKA.
“It energized middle-class black women,” Fulwilder said of Harris’ presidential campaign.
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