When Hillary Clinton made her last-minute visit to Arizona last week before the 2016 presidential election, Democrats worried – plausibly, it turned out – that the candidate’s political adventurism can come at a high price.
Four years later, Biden’s election campaign is meeting the high stakes of the red state of Clinton and elevating her by the second largest prize in the Electoral College.
In the surest sign that Texas is indeed joining this electoral cycle, the Biden campaign sent California Sen. Kamala Harris, the vice presidential candidate, to a three-city tour. by Lone Star State on Friday, the last day of first in-state voting.
“It̵
7;s nice to be in Texas,” Harris told Houston supporters, her third appearance on a trip that included the affluent Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area in the suburbs and frontier cities. McAllen, where the population of Latin origin grows has made Hidalgo County the fastest growing in the country. “They did a great job in early voting and so we just wanted to remind everyone what was at stake and their vote was really important. A lot of important issues, and they have the right to decide the outcome of this race ”.For the state Democrats, who have longed for the national party to share their enthusiasm that this year is finally the year when the “demographic is destiny” rhetoric comes true, Harris’s visit predicts a future where the state is considered a potential state. instead of being dismissed as a California Republican. Or, as youth activist Clarissa Conde said before introducing Harris at an event near McAllen, “a more resilient and compassionate Texas, a more equal and just Texas”.
Even in a campaign as rich as that of former Vice President Joe Biden, time is the most valuable thing in the final week of the presidential campaign, especially time spent in direct appearances. across the nation’s second largest state by population. While the investment came late in Texas – once polls showed a neck-and-neck race, the Biden campaign started buying millions of dollars during airtime on major media markets in Texas. – forcing the Trump campaign to lack cash to allocate precious resources in a state Harris told reporters the important visit was to acknowledge hard-working party members who seldom receive a word Thanks from members of the National Democratic Party.
“There are people here who are so important, people here who are working hard, people who love their country and we need to be here and give them back,” Harris told reporters on the runway at McAllen. after first appearing in Forth Worth. “That’s why we’re here – because there are so many important people in South Texas.”
Harris’s state remarks aren’t always particularly focused on Texas, which is unusual for voting events in a pervasive state. In addition to speaking in front of the Lone Star Flag the size of a parking lot at each stop, Harris’s comments on her trio of appearances were standard speech material – geared towards boosting pushing the base rather than a last-minute victory over the Texans— though she nodded at the state’s unique demographic profile.
“When this administration leaves 545 children orphaned by the policy of separating children from their parents at the border, everything is at stake,” Harris told voters at McAllen. “When we consider the fact that our 200,000 frontline staff were DREAMS promised to protect DACA, things are at stake. Everything is at stake when we need to create a path towards citizenship ”.
Part of the campaign’s strategy may stem from the fact that Operation Biden, as necessary, executes its Texas strategy to a certain extent – when no Democrats have won the grand vote. State voters since Jimmy Carter, have not exactly been a single book to turn out to be green voters in Texas.
Campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon – who personally waged one of the most famous political battles in modern Texas history when she managed Beto O’Rourke’s campaign for the US Senate two years ago – said so much in a call with many dollar sponsors last week
“Texas is a little more difficult place for us to monitor because we have never really had to be in the presidential race before,” said O’Malley Dillon during a state call with war sponsors. top translation last week, a recording was obtained by The Daily Beast. “We’re still trying to fix that, but we are seeing a large number of voters in Texas… and I would say, continue to focus on lower bias to be sure. that they are trying to vote early to bring us more of an efficient team of people to go to election day is job number 1
If early voting is any indication, gambit is likely to succeed. Four days to go by Election Day, Texas outclassed the 2016 voter turnout, reporting 9,009,850 votes dropped Friday morning. Yes, some of that stems from an extended interest in pandemic mail voting, as well as the state’s explosive population growth – the estimated Texas population has grown by more than 7% just. in four years – and the fact that the state has a famously low turnout.
But that kind of growth has hidden benefits for the Democrats. The state’s decades-long square as a tax haven for corporate headquarters has drawn hundreds of thousands of people from freer states, with higher taxes, and those voters fail to examine their politics. they are in the state government.
The excitement over demographic changes leading to electoral change can be clearly seen.
“I can’t wait for Texas to be the decisive state in this presidential election” before introducing Harris in Houston, Tina Knowles – business woman, fashion designer and mother of Beyoncé, of Texas descent – said. . “We all know if we win Texas, the game is over.”
That dynamism arose in the inner and suburban counties, especially in Harris County, or Houston, where 1.4 million votes in this cycle broke voter turnout records. in history. Considering that Texas-interested political scientists have said that the voter turnout would need to exceed at least 1.5 million in Harris County in order to win in Biden statewide to enter field-viable, which is a very good beacon for the former vice-president’s campaign – and makes his Spouse’s Trip at least worth the cost of jet fuel.
“We are putting a lot of resources into Texas,” Harris told reporters upon landing in Houston. “Texas has a lot of risk in this election and they deserve to be heard, they deserve our participation because we intend to make every ballot. We’re not going to tell anyone that they have to vote for us – we want to earn those votes. “
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