Dem
48
Ties
1
GOP
51
When Democrats campaign in Georgia, they usually make a beeline for Fulton, DeKalb, and Cobb Counties in the Atlanta metro area. To them, that's Georgia. Kamala Harris is planning to break the mold, something Democrats from other states, such as Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), have long urged. She is already campaigning in deep red Georgia counties she knows she will lose and lose badly. Why is she doing something this foolish?
She is doing it because a vote is a vote. Getting 100 more votes in a red rural county is just as valuable as getting 100 more votes in Atlanta. What matters in all statewide races is the total number of votes, not where they come from. Harris, like Fetterman, knows that the absence of yard signs and bumper stickers in rural counties does not mean there are no Democrats there. It just means the Democrats there are hiding from their neighbors. They may also be demoralized and not vote. But if the campaign shows up and shows interest in them, it is possible to energize them and get them to the polls. This is how Fetterman won. This is what Harris is trying with her bus tour of Georgia and will try in Pennsylvania and North Carolina as well. It is an unusual strategy in a presidential campaign, but Harris is apparently going to give it a shot. As that famous political strategist Woody Allen said: "90% of success is just showing up." Harris plans to show up. (V)