On the eve of an historic Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris gave a reminder to her supporters in Northeast Pennsylvania.
“We are a people-driven campaign, and we love the people we see in the face of a stranger, a neighbor, right? And that's the spirit of what we are doing," she said.
Harris spoke in Lackawanna County for just eight minutes to a crowd of a few hundred excited supporters inside the lodge at Montage Mountain Resorts. The speech sounded off-the-cuff, and the vice president’s voice was raspy at times as she walked around the stage in front of rows of homemade signs.
Harris was introduced by Glen Arthur. The Northeast Pennsylvania native said he’s a “proud member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.”
“Listen, we have to put everything we've got into fighting for Kamala Harris in these final hours, because the stakes for workers in Pennsylvania are too high,” he said.
Harris shared an anecdote about her first campaign for public office as district attorney of San Francisco.
Harris trailed behind in the polls.
“No one thought we could win,” she said.
But she stood outside grocery stores with an ironing board as a desk, handing out flyers and talking to shoppers.
"What you all are signing up to do today, and what you've been doing, let's enjoy it … and I know you do. I can feel the mood in here, because it's the best of who we are as a democracy,” she said. “It is about just strengthening our country and reminding each other we are all in this together. We rise and fall together.”
As the crowd chanted “Kamala,” the vice president redirected them to chant “let’s get the vote.”
Harris did not utter her Republican opponent’s name — she just called former President Donald Trump “the other guy.”
Air Force Two touched down at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport just after 1 p.m. Harris walked off the plane and into a black SUV, and the motorcade sped to Montage Mountain. She was back on the plane by 2:30 p.m. to continue her voyage across Pennsylvania.
From Scranton, the vice president was expected to make stops in Allentown and Pittsburgh before wrapping up her campaign tonight in Philadelphia with a concert and rally.
Trump also spent part of Monday campaigning in Pennsylvania, with stops in Reading and Pittsburgh.
Harris and Trump are virtually tied in Pennsylvania, according to polls. The candidates need the swing state to win the presidency.
