In the US state of Pennsylvania, the Democratic Party’s switch to Kamala Harris as its presumptive nominee for president has re-energized its campaign for the White House in a key battleground state, grassroots party activists say.
“I believe we’re going to have a blue landslide,” said Bill Leiner, a volunteer with the Democratic presidential campaign in Allentown, a city of about 125,000 residents.
“People are energized,” he added.
In an unprecedented development in modern US electoral history, President Joe Biden on Sunday announced he was dropping his bid for reelection, and endorsed Vice President Harris’s candidacy in the November poll.
In Allentown, 70-year-old Leiner said he wasted little time in amending his existing Biden/Harris sign to show his support for the vice president.
“The minute I heard Harris is going to be the person, I cut it off, and then kind of taped it up, and I got the first Harris sign in my town,” he said.
Leiner, who works as a nurse, is “optimistic” about the Democratic Party’s odds now that Harris is headlining the ticket.
“It has to be Kamala Harris because if we don’t pick Kamala Harris, we will lose,” he said.
Leiner believes Harris has the right tools to take on Republican Party nominee Donald Trump, especially in light of Biden’s disastrous debate performance in June.
“She’s going to carve him up,” Leiner said.
A few yards away, in his garden shed, dozens of signs from previous election and social awareness campaigns pile up.
‘Uncle Joe’
Unlike Leiner, some Allentown Democrats found the change in ticket harder to swallow.
Jimmy Spang Jr, a 66-year-old retired security officer, came to know Biden personally over the years, referring to him as “Uncle Joe.”
“I’ve picked him up several times at the airport when he was a senator,” he told AFP. “I consider him a friend.”
Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Allentown, earning him the nickname “Scranton Joe.”
“Joe is a good man,” Spang said, his throat tightening before he burst into tears.
“I’m upset… because this man did nothing wrong,” Spang continued. “He didn’t deserve how he was treated.”
Although “Uncle Joe” has bowed out of the race, Spang plans to continue to support the Democratic cause.
One way he does so is by overseeing event security for the local Democratic Party chapter.
“If Joe supports Kamala, I will support Kamala,” he told AFP.
Spang said he is fearful of a second Trump presidency.
“If Trump wins, I think the country is in deep trouble because of the divisiveness (of) the people that control his campaign,” he said.
Vice President Shapiro?
Although both Democratic Party workers approached the change at the top of the ticket differently, they share the same pick for Harris’s running mate: Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.
The Democrat was elected in 2022 over a far-right candidate backed by Donald Trump, proving he can sway voters in the purple state.
A “Kamala and Josh” ticket is a “marriage made in heaven,” said Spang.
Even Democrats who are not actively involved in local outreach appear enthusiastic about the shift.
“With the news that came out yesterday, I’m very hopeful and excited,” said J. Marc Rittle, the executive director of New Bethany, a nonprofit that assists residents facing economic and social hardship.
“I’m personally for Harris… I really believe that a Harris administration will get us far,” he said.
