A historic week for the Democrats,
now presumptive nominee for president.
Vice President Kamala Harris just beginning her brutal 100 plus
day Sprint
to Election Day. Her campaign though giving a number of
Democrats New Hope that they may be able to stop
a second Donald Trump presidency.
Harris raised $126 million between Sunday afternoon and Tuesday evening.
Her campaign chair said more than
100,000 volunteers have signed up to help the campaign and
more than 2000 have now applied for jobs with the
campaign.
And while there are a number of Democrats talking about
feeling hopeful and energized,
not everyone is so sure.
John King spoke with some older Democratic voters in the
key swing state of Pennsylvania about their perception of Mr.
Biden's replacement.
Here we go. Mahjong requires focus,
patience, a clear strategy to build matching sets of tiles.
Changing course deep into the game is risky,
but sometimes even experienced players see no choice but to
try.
Can I go for your Joker,
please?
OK, heads up. See how easy it is to swap
out a candidate in the middle of the game?
This game ends in a draw.
Nobody wins. Nobody wins, and a visitor brings up another
big change.
Show of hands if you think
Harris can win Pennsylvania.
So you're more optimistic now
than you were with President Biden leading the ticket?
There's a head shake. No.
Tell me what? No, I don't think a lot of
men will vote for Harris.
I just don't. Whether you're Democrat,
Republican, whatever. I just don't think
the majority of men are ready for a female president.
These three hands went up pretty quickly.
So do you have more energy and enthusiasm about the
campaign now?
Oh, my God, yes.
One more time. Show of hands.
Who wants to see them debate?
Oh yeah,
Suddenly Democrats like retiree and mahjong instructor Darrell Ann Murphy
are bursting with energy.
Suddenly, they see at least a chance to win battleground
Pennsylvania and keep Donald Trump out of the White House.
I don't even like to hear the word
Trump. What do you call him?
The monster At this same table five months ago,
three of the four thought President Biden was up to
the job,
and they called criticism of his age unfair.
But they began to see things that worried them.
Biden's debate debacle left no doubt.
From experience, I know how quickly things can go downhill
when you are an older person.
Now a new challenge. You know,
she's she's at the perfect age.
She's committed, She's vigorous.
And I, overwhelmingly, the women I talk to
are, Let's go, let's go.
Civil rights activist Marvin Boyer organized the Black history display
at this museum in Downtown Easton.
The debate changed his mind,
too. And in Harris, Boyer sees what was missing in
Biden.
You have to be aggressive because he's coming after you.
And
I think she's up to the challenge in that regard.
The winner here in Northampton County tends to be the
winner statewide.
Every vote matters. It also re energizes a strong constituency
of the Democratic Party meeting black females.
So I think it's a good thing in that regard.
You think America's ready to elect a a woman of
color?
It's president. There's still racism,
misogyny in this country in
2024, no question. Well, can we overcome it with this
election enough that she can be elected?
I hope so. Geology professor Lawrence Malinconico changed his mind
after the debate,
too. His wife donated to Harris as soon as the
news broke,
and Malinconico believes students will be much more energized now.
There's an acceptable choice now
when before I think there was
real skepticism about the viability of
President Biden for another four years.
Think she could win Pennsylvania?
I hope so. I I think part of it will
depend on her choice of vice president.
Do you think the country is ready for that?
A woman of color is President.
I,
I hope so. I'm a little nervous about that.
Are you looking forward to Harris debating Trump?
Absolutely. Why? I'm hoping she'll just eat him alive.
Pat Levin became politically active in the
1940s during FD Rs third term.
So no, I've never seen anything like this.
She's just a few weeks from 95.
Performance, not age is Levin's test.
And she sadly came to see President Biden couldn't pass
it anymore.
I love him. I think he's a husband.
Just wonderful. But he is definitely impaired in terms of
his thinking,
in terms of his presentation,
in terms of his energy.
Simple advice for Harris, get into those,
into those swing States and show her enthusiasm and her
stamina and her strength
and be able to communicate strongly.
And one defining issue, if anyone seeks her wisdom,
it's democracy. It's our. Actually,
this might be our last free and and fair election
if we don't win it,
we cannot afford to lose this election
for the American people. A big twist at crunch time
in what for Pat Levin will be presidential vote
#19.