Harris is reaching out to Republicans. Some progressives feel abandoned

ATLANTA – Brian Ramirez is voting for Vice President Harris – he’s even campaigning for her. But he’s not happy with what she’s saying as she tries to sway moderate Republicans and independent voters in the final days of the campaign.

Harris has courted voters outside the traditional Democratic coalition to try to win tight races in swing states by appealing to their concerns about former President Donald Trump.

But the strategy has dampened enthusiasm among some progressives, who say it is too far right-leaning.

“It just hurts when she says, ‘I have Republicans in my cabinet,’ or when she campaigns with Liz Cheney” said Ramirez, who works with the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition, and was part of a small group of grassroots organizers that NPR convened last week.

“When she speaks at the border, she talks a lot about drugs, crime — things like that — when it’s much more than that,” said Ramirez, who was previously undocumented.

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They still vote for her, but they don’t feel good about it

In the latter part of the campaign, Harris has stepped up to describe the former president as a threat to democracy, following Trump’s former chief of staff who described him as fascist.

Progressives also see Trump as dangerous, says Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, a group that emerged from Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign. But he doesn’t think that argument alone is enough to seal the deal. He worries that some progressives won’t vote at all or will consider third parties, he said.

Geevarghese said he wished Harris paid more attention to tackling kitchen-table issues to appeal to working-class voters as her closing argument.

“The question is: which candidate will improve my standard of living? Which candidate is going to give me a better chance to live the American dream?” he said.

“It’s important to remember that Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016 by running for the working class. He promised more jobs and better wages.”

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The Harris campaign has questioned some of this criticism, pointing to efforts to reach undecided or wavering voters of all kinds — even if it courtes moderate Republicans and independents.

This includes an interview with the Vice President Charlemagne is Godstops with former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, and events with union workers in Blue Wall states. The campaign has run ads about corporate price gouging and campaigned on a promise to eliminate college degree requirements for some federal jobs.

The war in Gaza has been a major problem for progressives

In May NPR met Brian Ramirez and many from the same group from activists in Atlanta – a group that helped organize and campaign for Democrats in 2020 in Georgia, a state the party won by a very narrow margin.

At the time, they were frustrated by President Biden’s support for Israel and the high number of civilian deaths in Gaza, and had broad reservations about Biden’s re-election bid.

Adrian Consonery Jr. did not feel comfortable voting for Biden. He said he is still upset by the images of suffering in Gaza he sees on social media, but with Harris he is more optimistic about change.

“I wanted the Democratic party to earn my vote,” he said. “Right now, they’re doing much better than before.”

Some activists said they feel Harris may be more willing to listen to other, younger perspectives. But they don’t like her continued unconditional support for Israel as it wages war in Gaza and now Lebanon.

“It’s not like I’m that excited,” Weonhee Shin said. “I don’t even have a sign in front of my house because I’m not super excited. But it’s better than Trump.”

Shin, who works with the Asian American community, hasn’t been able to bring himself to knock on doors for Harris. “If I’m struggling, how can I convince others to do so? It just feels very unfair,” she said.

Marisa Pyle described her vote for Harris as “damage control.”

“The reality is that one of these two people is going to be president, and I would like the one who is not going to engage in fascism,” she said.

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Harris introduced a new message for young voters in her stump speech

On Saturday, former first lady Michelle Obama used her first appearance at a Harris rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to express her frustration with potential Democratic voters who are reluctant to support the election.

“I recognize that there are a lot of angry, disillusioned people out there, angry about the slow pace of change,” Obama said.

“But for anyone thinking about sitting out this election or voting for Donald Trump or a third-party candidate in protest because you’ve had enough — let me warn you that your anger does not exist in a vacuum,” she said specifically. warning of the risk of further restrictions on reproductive care if Trump wins.

This week, Harris added a new phrase to her stump speech at the massive rallies she held in Atlanta and Houston, and again in Kalamazoo with Obama — a phrase aimed squarely at young voters who feel strongly about climate change and preventing gun violence, but who is disappointed in politics.

‘I see you. I’ll see you,’ she said. “I’ve seen what you do, and I see how you do it, because you’re right to be impatient for change.”

That’s a sentiment the Rev. Gerald Durley, 82, shares as he talks to voters across Georgia as he works to vote for Harris — that change takes time.

“This is what I say to young people,” the civil rights leader said, showing off a black T-shirt he had custom-made with the words: “If I can do it, so can you.”

“If I can vote for 65 years, you can still vote for 15 days. If I can stay in the movement for 65 years, so can you,” he said.

NPR’s Kai McNamee contributed to this story.

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