Here’s Why Kamala Harris’ Visit to Atlanta Matters

But she will also remember the Democratic boundaries in Georgia, a state once so solidly Republican that presidential candidates didn’t bother campaigning there.

Among those expected to welcome the vice president is Stacey Abrams, who has twice failed to channel the enthusiasm and energy around her gubernatorial campaigns into a winning coalition.

And Harris will get a glimpse of the party’s potential reach. Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, one of the most prominent Republicans to endorse Harris, has become the de facto spokesman for disaffected conservatives. He is expected to be at Harris’ event.

Credits: TNS

Credits: TNS

The visit comes at a crucial moment in her nascent presidential campaign. Social media is abuzz with pro-Harris memes and her campaign coffers are bursting with new donations. Thousands of volunteers turned out for dozens of Harris events in Georgia this weekend.

But she also faces growing attacks from Trump and his allies, as well as increasing pressure to choose a running mate before the Aug. 7 deadline.

In Georgia, Harris and her allies must fight to reunite the divided coalition of Black voters, independents, suburbanites and frustrated Republicans that powered Biden’s narrow victory in Georgia in 2020.

And she must balance the delicate task of running for president on the strength of her shared record with Biden while striving to create her own policy platform that stands apart from the president’s agenda without conflicting with him.

Democrats are competing in Georgia with a vast campaign apparatus, with more than 170 staffers in 24 offices. Harris spokesman Michael Tyler calls the campaign “the largest in-state operation of any Democratic presidential campaign cycle.”

That has fueled a cautious optimism that didn’t exist before. Gov. Roy Barnes, the last Democrat to hold Georgia’s highest office, acknowledged what few party leaders would have said publicly a few weeks ago: The Georgia race was tilted firmly in Trump’s favor.

Credits: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Credits: Hyosub Shin/AJC

“At first, because of all the anxiety, if I had bet, I would have had to say Trump was going to win,” he said Monday on “Politically Georgia.” Then came Biden’s withdrawal and Republicans’ struggles to mitigate what they call the “Harris honeymoon.”

Barnes has now said he is confident Harris has more than a “fighting chance” to keep Georgia in the blue column.

Her advice to her strategists: Focus on young Georgians, “stop worrying about angry old white guys” and compare her experience as a prosecutor to Trump’s legal troubles.

“Because who’s on the other side? Someone who’s been convicted of 34 felonies and still has cases pending here in Georgia.”

Senior Republicans also say Georgia is suddenly more competitive, but for different reasons.

Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon has been crisscrossing the state for months warning conservatives not to become complacent, and he headlined a weekend event that drew more than 200 volunteers trained to be election observers.

He said Harris’ rise to the top of the ticket has “dramatically shrunk the electoral map” by shifting the focus from the Rust Belt states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to other battlegrounds.

Trump and his new running mate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, are expected to attend events this week in other competitive states: Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

Credits: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Credits: Hyosub Shin/AJC

“While President Biden had a plausible path to victory without Georgia, it seems virtually impossible that Harris would win without our state,” McKoon said. “So I expect her to campaign in Georgia to try to establish a path.”

Polls last year largely showed Trump with a lead over Biden, though the few polls released since Harris became the presumptive nominee indicate the race has tightened.

Brian Robinson, a veteran Republican Party strategist who was a top adviser to then-Governor Nathan Deal, said Harris’ success could hinge on a factor that has emerged in many polls: low support for Democrats among black men.

“I’m keeping an open mind until I see some data on it, but I have a feeling it’s not going to change the minds of those voters,” he said. “I think it’s the status quo.”

At the heart of Harris’ campaign pitch in Georgia is support for expanding abortion rights, which she hopes will galvanize both party loyalists and centrist voters, two years after Trump’s appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court helped overturn Roe v. Wade.

Sonja Adcock, an organizer for the Oconee County Democratic Party, said she was confident Harris would present a plan to restore abortion protections “so that we don’t have to live in fear of having basic human rights taken away with every transfer of power from one president to the next.”

She speaks of Harris as many loyal supporters do — in lofty terms, as a beacon of hope who could “turn the tide” against Trump. But veteran Democrats still warn that the vice president faces an uphill battle.

Rick Dent was a top adviser to then-Governor Zell Miller and other party officials, and developed a reputation as an unvarnished truth-teller. He said Democrats would be foolish to put too much stock in numbers that showed high black turnout in Georgia.

“The numbers never change. It’s the 30-30 rule, the only way a Democrat can win in the state of Georgia,” Dent said.

The rule states that Democrats must win 30 percent of the white vote and black voters must make up at least 30 percent of the overall turnout for the party to have a strong chance of winning.

“You have to energize the African-American vote,” Dent said. “But if you don’t reach that threshold of white voters, you’re not going to win Georgia.”

Harris’ campaign said it is fighting for voters on multiple fronts and has opened offices in often overlooked parts of the state, including rural Jenkins and Washington counties.

Tyler, her spokesman, noted that Tuesday’s trip would mark Harris’ 15th visit to Georgia since becoming vice president. More visits are planned in the coming weeks, he added.

“We know the next 99 days will be a marathon at sprint pace,” he said.