Staff Reports
Vice President Kamala Harris seems to be thinking that “Pennsyltucky,” the wild and wonderful rural region of Pennsylvania, is the key to her hopes of ousting Donald Trump in the upcoming election. As the campaign trail heats up, Harris is attempting a bold move into the redder parts of the state, far away from her comfy liberal havens of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The vice president is trying to convince those who are more likely to support a coon dog than a Democrat that she’s really just like them.
The Harris campaign has established a rather strange strategy dubbed the “margins strategy.” They aim not only to pile up votes in their blue strongholds but also to poke some holes in Trump’s support within the more Republic-leaning areas. Interestingly, the campaign believes that even a small group of conservative voters in Pennsylvania may make a substantial difference come November. It seems they’ve set their sights on swaying traditional Republicans who haven’t quite made up their minds, which is as puzzling as trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube while blindfolded.
Harris seeks to convince ‘Pennsyltucky’ voters she’s not the ‘radical’ Trump claims (Premium) #news https://t.co/gPMVPQdoOC via @dcexaminer
— Filtered News (@filterednews) October 4, 2024
In a spirited move that raises eyebrows across the spectrum, Harris is not shy about wooing these “deep red” counties, where some of Trump’s strongest electoral support lies. She’s opened 16 field offices in regions that Trump claimed by double digits back in 2020. Adding to the bizarre circus act, Harris is relying on former Republican officials to rally behind her, including a former Georgia lieutenant governor and a Virginia congresswoman who once filled the House with their not-so-memorable presence. Because surely that’s what every Trump voter wants to hear: a cavalcade of politicos who lost to the likes of them.
To broaden her appeal, Harris has kicked it up a notch by courting independents and even Republicans into the fray, trotting out the ghost of Liz Cheney on stage to lend her support in swing-state Wisconsin. Cheney’s presence, alongside prominent alumni of failed Republican presidential campaigns, must set Trump’s supporters’ hairs on end. Nothing screams “traditional Republican values” quite like former national security staffers endorsing a vice president who couldn’t even secure the top spot of her own party.
Polling indicates Pennsylvania is a nail-biter, with Trump and Harris neck and neck, which sends shivers down the spines of conservatives everywhere. While Biden had the advantage of local roots as a Scranton native, Kamala seems to be falling flat on her face trying to chase after centrist and disgruntled Republican voters. In a clever bit of shifting, she has even changed her tune on fracking, which previously made her sound like she was on an environmentalist crusade. Now, she’s all for it if it means winning over some coal-loving voters who might wrestle their way back into her camp.
With all this attempted charm offensive, one must wonder just how many former Trump supporters she’ll successfully convert. It appears that Harris and her team are betting heavily on convincing a handful of conservatives that she’s worthy of their allegiance, even as many Trump fans seem to prefer the original recipe over the imitation brand. Regardless, the vice president is diving deep into enemy territory, hoping to court the votes of those in Erie, Lehigh, Northampton, and perhaps even Bucks counties. Her challenge remains significant, as many still think that the best thing about Harris is that she’s on the other ticket.
