Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to deliver remarks at a Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority gathering in Houston, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Mat Otero)
THE FUN BELT, AMIRITE
VP Harris’ burgeoning campaign is shaking up the electoral college map… and putting the Sun Belt back in play.
- In the days after President Biden’s dismal debate performance, polls showed him slipping dangerously behind in Sun Belt states crucial to his 2020 victory: Georgia, Nevada and Arizona. Without them, his narrow path to a second term seemed to lay exclusively through the northern “Blue Wall” states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. But just days after supplanting Biden, Harris is building momentum in places where Biden stumbled, and opening up new paths to winning in November.
- Harris has pulled narrowly ahead of Trump in the national polling average compiled by statistician Nate Silver, notching 44.4 percent over Trump’s 44.2 percent. Crucially, she’s also picking up momentum in the states that will decide the electoral college. In particular, new polls show her making gains in Arizona, Georgia, New Mexico, and even North Carolina. The contest, of course, remains very close. But the data suggests Harris has reset the race, thanks to a surge of Democratic enthusiasm and support from younger and more diverse voters, opening up multiple paths to victory and raising the possibility of recreating Biden’s successful 2020 map. The question now becomes how far she can ride this new momentum.
- The change was visible when Harris hit the stage for a boisterous rally Tuesday night at the Georgia State Convocation Hall in Atlanta, Georgia, backed by musicians Megan Thee Stallion and Quavo. The boisterous energy in the room was palpable. “I am very clear: The path to the White House runs right through this state,” Harris told the crowd. “You all helped us win in 2020, and we’re going to do it again in 2024.”
Harris’ team plans to stay “on offense” in all of these states, according to an internal campaign memo obtained by What A Day.
- “We continue to focus on the Blue Wall states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania — and the Sun Belt states of North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada, where the Vice President’s advantages with young voters, Black voters, and Latino voters will be important to our multiple pathways to 270 electoral votes,” the memo states. “We intend to play offense in each of these states, and have the resources and campaign infrastructure to do so.”
- The Trump campaign isn’t sleeping on the Sun Belt, either. Trump and his veep pick, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), will hold a rally on Saturday at the same Atlanta venue that Harris visited Tuesday. Vance is also scheduled to make additional campaign stops in Nevada and Arizona.
Harris will need to maintain this momentum all summer and into the fall to keep Trump out of the White House
- Vice President Kamala Harris in Atlanta, challenging Trump to actually show up for a debate.
NEWS NEWS NEWS
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