Vice President Kamala Harris said in North Carolina on Thursday that the 2024 election is a “fight for our future.” She was trying to make herself known as the candidate who is looking to the future and as “the underdog” in the race.
Harris spoke to tens of thousands of people at Charlotte’s Bojangles Coliseum on Thursday afternoon. It was her first campaign event since the first presidential debate, where she debated Trump. She held a second rally later that same day in Greensboro, which drew thousands of fans once more.
The event is part of Harris’s “New Way Forward Tour” after the debate. Harris, her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and their families will also be at events in other swing states this weekend.
In both places, the Democratic nominee talked about issues that were brought up in debates and at the Democratic National Convention. These included access to abortion, her economic policies, and the need to work with people from other parties in a “very tight race.”
“Know that we are the underdog,” Harris said. Since taking over the Democratic ticket, Harris has built a small lead across the country and in some key states.
Harris leans in on economic proposals, abortion and Trump
Harris talked about the support she’s gotten from past Republicans in office on Thursday, including former Vice President Dick Cheney. She said it was a sign of what a second Trump administration would mean for the country, especially after the Supreme Court made a decision that changed the law on presidential protection.
“Across our nation, we are seeing a full-on assault on other fundamental freedoms that have been fought for and won with great sacrifice,” she said. “These include the freedom to vote, the freedom to be safe from gun violence, the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water, and the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride.”
The crowd in Charlotte kept chanting “we’re not going back” as Harris spoke. She said that she represents a new group of leaders, which is different from what Republicans say about her. In a news release issued hours before her Charlotte rally, Republicans said she has “no vision, no solutions, and no answers on how she’d be different” from President Joe Biden.
19-year-old Khadijah Barry, who is a student at the historically black college North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, said that Harris’s campaign gave her hope.
“I think it’s a great time to be alive,” she said as she waited for the Greensboro rally to start. “I’m excited to see (maybe) the first Black female president.” “This is a big deal for me because I want to get into politics and run for president one day.”
Harris said that if she were elected, she would work with Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, a law banning assault weapons, and a bill bringing back the rights for abortion that were in place before the very important case Roe v. Wade was overturned.
A joke has been made out of Trump’s comment during the debate that he has “concepts of a plan” for what he would do to replace the Affordable Care Act if he got rid of it.
She said again that she wanted to give small businesses that are just starting out a $50,000 tax credit and that the child tax credit should be increased for some families. To fix the lack of homes, she promised to “cut red tape and work with the private sector to build 3 million new homes” during her first term.
Harris talked about her own mother, who saved money to buy her family’s first home. “I will always put the middle class and working families first—I know where I came from,” Harris said.
Harris also brought up a study from Goldman Sachs economists that came out earlier this month and said that if she won, the U.S. economy would grow faster than if Trump won. Reuters reported that the study said Trump’s plans to raise tariffs and crack down on immigration would slow down the economy.
Peggy Thomas, who was there, said that Harris has done a good job of explaining her views during the campaign.
“She did a good job of giving us a general idea,” she said of Harris’s plan for the economy. Thomas said she would rather a candidate not say as much and let their views change over time than make “false promises.”
“It’s tough to speak deeply about something until you’re in it…” She said, “I’m impressed by how well you can learn and grow.”
Milton Mathis, another guest, said that Harris stands for “moving forward.” He said Harris cares about middle-class families, but he wanted to know more about her plans to make it easier for kids to find child care.
“I have grandchildren…” He said, “That’s important.”
State of the presidential race
Harris said in both cities that she wanted to face Trump again, but Trump said on social media that he wouldn’t take part in another debate. 63% of people who watched the debate on CNN Instant thought Harris won, while only 37% thought Trump did. That’s a bigger margin of victory than other candidates have had in the past, according to data provided by CNN.
According to the most recent figures from RealClearPolitics, Trump only leads by 0.01% in the Tar Heel State, and Harris only leads across the country by 1.5%.
Nate Silver, a pollster, now says that North Carolina is the second most likely “tipping point state” in the race for president. In 2020, Trump won this state with the smallest margin of any he has ever had. Democrats haven’t won the state since 2008.