Opinion | Kamala Harris is reaching out to rural voters. That will help her win — and govern.
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ barnstorming tour of rural Georgia showed not only her plan to win the election, but also how she would govern as president.
While Donald Trump has long made clear that his only priority is “his” voters, Harris’ bus tour of Southeast Georgia with running mate Tim Walz showed that she knows the president is supposed to represent every American.
This was the first time a general election presidential nominee stumped in the coastal city of Savannah since the 1990s.
Over two days, Harris and Walz met with voters, students and business owners before Harris held a solo rally in Savannah on Thursday. The campaign says this was the first time a general election presidential nominee stumped in the coastal city of Savannah since the 1990s.
Bill Clinton and Al Gore also prioritized rural parts of the state on a similar bus tour during their successful 1992 campaign (the last time Democrats picked up Georgia in a presidential election before President Joe Biden and Harris narrowly flipped the state back in 2020). But the investment in the Harris-Walz campaign’s playbook to defend toss-up Georgia goes beyond the bus. It expands their footprint across the state, what the campaign calls the “largest in-state operation of any Democratic presidential campaign cycle.”
Earlier this month on “The Weekend,” Harris-Walz’s principal deputy campaign manager, Quentin Fulks (who led Georgia Sen. Raphael’s Warnock’s successful statewide run), said the campaign’s rural voter outreach demonstrates how Harris would run an “inclusive” administration. Fulks added that Harris and Walz are “fighting for all Americans regardless of if your county votes red or your county votes blue.”
Harris’ “inclusive” campaign strategy isn’t reserved for just the Peach State. Harris and Walz kicked off their bus tour earlier this month, meeting with voters in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, a county Trump won in 2020 by nearly 18 points. And Walz hosted his first solo rally in his home state of Nebraska. The Cornhusker State is one of two states that divides up electoral votes by congressional district. While most of Nebraska is red, Harris and Walz hope to secure the electoral vote in the state’s swing 2nd District.
That strategy is about raw vote totals, but it’s also about the ethos of Harris’ campaign.
That strategy is about raw vote totals, but it’s also about the ethos of Harris’ campaign. “I promise to be a president for all Americans,” the vice president said during her convention acceptance speech. “You can always trust me to put country above party and self; to hold sacred America’s fundamental principles, from the rule of law, to free and fair elections, to the peaceful transfer of power,” Harris declared.
Georgia voters know a thing or two about the need to preserve free and fair elections. Trump and his allies worked to nullify their votes in 2020, and Georgia Democrats are already bracing for Trump’s effort to possibly challenge election results in November.
The DNC and Democratic Party of Georgia sued the Georgia State Election Board this week over new rules they fear could interfere with the vote certification. An overwhelming win by Harris in the state would make it harder for Trump and his allies to overturn the results. That’s why the campaign is working to reach voters in every part of the state, no matter their ZIP code.
But Harris’ plan to win Georgia sends a clear message to voters in other states: She’s ready to serve every American. Listening to the voices of Americans across the political spectrum will not just help her campaign; it will help her govern.
For more thought-provoking insights from Alicia Menendez, Michael Steele and Symone Sanders-Townsend, watch “The Weekend” every Saturday and Sunday at 8 a.m. ET on MSNBC.
