Harris and Trump focus on Sunbelt states during final weekend push for votes
UNB
Publish: 03 Nov 2024, 11:20 AM
CHARLOTTE,
N.C. Nov 3 (AP/UNB) - Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump zeroed
in on the Sun Belt on Saturday as they embarked on one last weekend quest to
sway every undecided voter in the battleground states. They pitched rival
agendas on the economy - and more - that each insisted is what Americans want.
"We have overcome
every attack, every abuse and even two assassination attempts," Trump said
at a rally in Gastonia, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. "And now it all
comes down to this."
Later, Trump headed to
Virginia, which isn't considered a battleground state, but offered a similar
message, telling supporters that there is no way he can lose and is on the cusp
of "the greatest political victory in the history of our country."
Trump predicted he would
win not just the Electoral College count, but a majority of votes cast across
the country, which he failed to do in two previous tries.
"We're going to win
the popular vote," Trump told the crowd. "I think we have a really
good chance to win the popular vote."
Harris, meanwhile, has
been urging her supporters to vote early so she can be elected and provide the
"new generation of leadership" that she argues she represents.
"I am ready to
offer that leadership as the next president of the United States of
America," she said during remarks in a rally at the Atlanta Civic Center
parking lot. She had to pause a few times to allow medics to attend to people
who had fainted after spending hours in the heat.
"It's hot out here,
Atlanta," the vice president said.
It was unclear whether
Harris herself had voted early. Campaign spokesperson Michael Tyler said
Saturday that Harris plans to vote by mail, but he could not say whether she
had returned her ballot to her home state of California. Trump confirmed
Saturday that he'll vote in person on Tuesday in Florida, despite saying
previously he'd vote early.
"Anybody here
already voted?" she asked the Atlanta crowd, which cheered loudly in
response. "Oh wow. Oh my goodness. Thank you, thank you."
It was part of a final,
frenzied push by Harris, Trump, their running mates and their high-profile
stand-ins to encourage people to vote early or in person on Tuesday, Election
Day.
Harris' campaign hoped
for a "high-impact" moment with a two-minute spot to air Sunday
during NFL games on CBS and FOX, including the Green Bay Packers against the
Detroit Lions, two swing state teams. It shows Harris interacting with people
during the campaign and talking directly to viewers.
"Now I'm asking for
your vote because as president I will get up every day and fight for the
American people," she says at the end.
Harris Campaign manager
Jen O'Malley Dillon projected confidence Saturday on a conference call with
reporters as both sides embarked on that final sprint to get out the vote.
"If you can hear the joy in my voice it is because we are in GOTV
weekend," she said.
Trump, meanwhile, spoke
wistfully, as he has at some of his recent rallies, about how after nearly a
decade of campaigning, his final race is nearing its end.
"We're going to
meet again many times I hope," the former president said in the first of
two North Carolina rallies. "This has been the thrill of a lifetime for me
and for you."
At the second rally, in
Greensboro, he said he'll do two more days of rallies "and then we shut it
down, never to happen again." He said he'll then have "a different
form of rally - a rally for our country."
Planes carrying Harris
and Trump met on the tarmac in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the vice
president ended her campaign day.
She was joined there by
actress Kerry Washington and rocker Jon Bon Jovi, who played a newer song
"The People's House" that he said he wrote shortly after the January
6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump insurrectionists.
"We still have work
to do," Harris told her Atlanta rally, adding, "Make no mistake, we
will win."
She also called her
campaign and supporters "the promise of America."
President Joe Biden, who
dropped out of the race this summer when it became clear he could not win, was
doing his part for the Democrats by making what could be his final 2024
campaign stop. Biden, who turns 82 this month, struck a nostalgic tone as he tried
to help get out the vote for Harris and running mate Tim Walz during an event
at the carpenters' local in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
And, as he's done
frequently lately, Biden also went off script to offer some especially blunt
statements. After slamming Trump and his supporters on policy issues, the
president added, "I know some of you guys are tempted to think he's this
macho guy ... but, I'm serious, these are the kind of guys you'd like to smack
in the ass."
Walz joined actress Eva
Longoria at a get-out-the-vote event in Las Vegas before the Minnesota
governor's events in Flagstaff and Tucson, Arizona. GOP vice presidential
nominee JD Vance was also in Arizona and Nevada. First lady Jill Biden was
campaigning in Georgia and Hillary Clinton was appearing for Harris in Tampa,
Florida.
Walz visited a few homes
in the Las Vegas suburbs. He and Democratic Rep. Dina Titus spoke with a couple
who were excited to see both politicians - and were hopeful.
"We're gonna
win," Walz said. "These last days matter and it will be on the
margins."
Elsewhere, other voters
sounded notes of cautious optimism about the election outcome.
Marzella and Darrell
Pittman said they canceled weekend plans after learning that Harris would be in
Atlanta and drove four hours from Alabama to attend.
Marzella thinks Harris
will win, but Darrell is nervous because many of the young Black men in his
life support Trump and are hesitant to vote for a woman for president.
"It's tight, and
the other side, they got a lot of our people believing in that side, just like
we believe in Kamala," he said.
Until the election,
"we have nothing but voting on our mind and we're talking to
everybody," Marzella Pittman said.
Trump supporters were
equally passionate about their candidate.
"Mr. Trump came in
a garbage truck. I came in a garbage bag," said Elmer Baber, who lives in
Gastonia, North Carolina and attended Trump's rally. It was a reference to
Trump riding in a garbage truck after Biden said Trump's supporters were "garbage."
Biden later said he was talking about rhetoric from a speaker at Trump's recent
event at Madison Square Garden.
End/UNB/AP/SU