CNN —
Vice President Kamala Harris said Sunday that her path to the White House would pass through Philadelphia, making several stops in the city that could determine her fate in Pennsylvania and, with it, the race for 270 electoral votes. He said there is a possibility.
Harris accompanied Mayor Sherrell Parker during an afternoon visit to Hakim’s Bookstore and Gift Shop, a Black-owned store in West Philadelphia. Addressing voters there, she expressed confidence.
“We’re going to do it,” Harris said. “Victory will run through Philadelphia, and victory will run through Pennsylvania.”
The vice president also attended services at a majority-black church that day, stopped at a barbershop and stopped at a Puerto Rican restaurant, all in a concerted effort to woo black and Latino voters. It was part of.
The commonwealth, along with Michigan and Wisconsin, is at the bottom of the Democratic Party’s “blue wall,” which Donald Trump won in a landslide in 2016 before Joe Biden did the same four years ago. Harris stopped by local businesses and visited with a youth basketball team to promote a new campaign.
The spot aired during Sunday’s Eagles football game and featured a clip of President Trump’s 2020 statement that “bad things happen in Philadelphia.”
“They don’t like us,” the narrator interjects. “We don’t care.”
The ad, which paid special homage to notoriously hostile sports fans and pitted President Trump against the city, quickly went viral and prompted a warning from the former president.
“What people like Donald Trump don’t understand is that we’re Philadelphia. We’re talking about Philadelphia,” the narrator says. “And when you fight us, we fight back. Years 4 and 26 since 1776. So tell me anything, Donald. The vote is almost here.”
Harris’ message Sunday, appearing in various parts of the vote-rich region, was simple and consistent.
“The election has begun, and the choice is truly in your hands,” Harris said at a separate event. “The path to victory runs through every leader here and through all of you.”
She also spoke about the campaign’s efforts to build a broad coalition. In some cases, that means embracing conservative Republicans like former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming. In Philadelphia, that means convincing the overwhelmingly Democratic but racially, culturally and economically diverse city to almost uniformly support her.
“I would say to all of my friends here: let’s be intentional about building community. Let’s be intentional about building coalitions,” Harris said. “Let us consciously understand that we all have much more in common than what separates us.”
Harris also spoke directly to young voters. Young voters are another demographic that could be crucial in determining the races that are shaping the coin toss both nationally and in swing states.
“It’s understandable that you’re looking forward to change,” Harris said. “You who have only known the climate crisis are leaders in what we must do to protect the planet. You who grew up with active shooter training are leaders in what we must do to protect our planet. You know what you have to do.”
She went on to reiterate the impact this election will have on the future of reproductive rights in America.
However, just after taking the stage at the Philadelphia event, Harris was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters, and she paused from her usual acknowledgment of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.
“We can and must seize this opportunity to end the war and bring the hostages home,” Harris said. “And I will do everything in my power to achieve that goal.”
