In the predominantly Black area of West Philadelphia, Harris met residents at the Philly Cuts barber shop and visited the historic Hakim’s Bookstore & Gift Shop…reports Asian Lite News
In the final days of an intensely close U.S. presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris hit the streets of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s largest city and a key battleground, engaging directly with voters in a grassroots push for support
Her campaign efforts, aimed at securing critical votes in a state that could decide the election, brought her through a diverse range of Philadelphia neighbourhoods on Sunday.
In the predominantly Black area of West Philadelphia, Harris met residents at the Philly Cuts barber shop and visited the historic Hakim’s Bookstore & Gift Shop.
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Connecting with voters on a personal level, she embraced local patrons, held babies, and even quoted scripture at the Church of Christian Compassion, where she encouraged early voting and civic engagement.
Her approach was both intimate and hands-on, emphasizing the importance of each vote in the high-stakes election.
Philadelphia native Myrda Scott, who runs a financial firm, shared her appreciation for Harris’s on-the-ground approach, noting that Philadelphians value face-to-face interaction with their leaders.
At a community rally, Scott highlighted how Harris’s presence resonates with locals, while other residents like Rosa Jones expressed some nervousness about the election outcome despite her support for Harris.
In the working-class Puerto Rican neighbourhood, Harris visited Freddy and Tony’s Restaurant, meeting voters and sharing photos, where locals appreciated her efforts to connect on a personal level.
Closing remarks: Harris in Washington, Trump in NY
Vice President Kamala Harris has chosen the Ellipse in Washington DC as the venue for her campaign’s closing argument on Tuesday as former President Donald Trump returns to New York, his former hometown, for his final pitch.
Harris’s choice of the Ellipse on the ground of the US Capitol, which is home to the US Congress, is intended to serve as a reminder to American voters of a rally Trump addressed there on January 6, 2021.
From the rally, his supporters had marched on to the US Capitol in a bid to prevent a joint sitting of the two chambers from certifying Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election and the next president.
“On Tuesday, October 29, with just one week until election day, Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver a major closing argument address in Washington on the Ellipse,” the campaign said in a coverage guidance for media on Saturday.
Harris will use the venue to reinforce one of her campaign’s key issues, that the former president presents a threat to democracy and the constitution. She called him a “fascist” in a recent town hall hosted by CNN.
The former president has bristled at being called a threat to democracy and has blamed these allegations as the reason for the two assassination attempts on him.
“They’re saying I’m a threat to democracy,” he has said. “They would say that as it is the standard line, just keep saying it, and you know that can get assassins or potential assassins going. That’s a terrible thing … Maybe that bullet is because of their rhetoric.”
Trump’s own closing argument later Sunday is likely to reinforce key issues of his campaign — economy and immigration. But the choice of venue is interesting — Madison Square Garden, the stadium that is known to host major sporting events, concerts and in 2014 a rally addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“This epic event, in the heart of President Trump’s home city, will be a showcase of the historic political movement that President Trump has built in the final days of the campaign,” the Trump campaign said in an announcement on Friday.
Trump was born and raised in New York City and lived and thrived there until he moved to Washington DC after his election in 2016. After leaving the White House in January 2021, he has lived in his Mar-a-Lago club resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
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