Kamala Harris, Joe Biden's dynamic asset in his discreet campaign
Speech to cheers, visit to the local café, "surprise" to students and bursts of laughter: Kamala Harris, 56, the first black candidate for the vice-president of the United States, gives a dynamic air of "prepandemia" to the muted campaign of septuagenarian Joe Biden.
"I am very happy to be back in Atlanta, Georgia": as soon as she gets off the private plane, onto the tarmac, the tone is set.
Usually more reluctant to speak to the press, the Democrat obviously wants to communicate in the home stretch of the presidential election against Donald Trump.
Black suit, pumps and mask in the autumn heat of the Southern United States, jeans and Converse on other occasions, the first black running mate and of Indian origin with a real chance of being elected must represent youth and diversity. of the Democratic base alongside the 77-year-old presidential candidate. In addition to her strong resume as a senator and former California prosecutor.
During her stay in Georgia, she chained campaign meetings at a pace that is almost whirlwind after months of Democratic campaigning paralyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But we are still far from the presidential campaigns before the coronavirus, when the candidates crisscrossed the United States in one day. Or that of Republican Donald Trump, who is increasing the number of meetings despite the health crisis.
Targeted visit
In the name of the precautionary principle, the Biden-Harris ticket limits travel. And only a handful of journalists accompany the candidates, with few opportunities to ask questions.
A strategy of dodging which makes their speeches hardly audible in the national media, dominated by the omnipresent Republican billionaire.
But the race for the White House is played out across certain key states. And a quick, well-targeted visit, widely reported in the local media, can hit the mark.
A southern state marked by the plagues of slavery and segregation, Georgia has not voted for a Democratic president since Bill Clinton in 1992.
This time, the polls are tight between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, in particular thanks to the record mobilization of voters from the early vote, in this state where a third of the inhabitants are African-American.
And Democrats find themselves dreaming.
"The stakes are so high," Kamala Harris tells students at universities founded decades ago to accommodate black students in segregation.
Herself a graduate of one of the most famous, Howard University in Washington, she has just surprised them during a meeting.
The candidate then goes to a round table, at a distance and always masked, with African-American men.
“Donald Trump wants to convince 20% of black men to vote for him. Donald Trump, who defended, to make himself popular, the theory that the first black president of the United States was not there legitimately ”, indignant the senator, in reference to the doubts spread by the ex-man of case on the origins of Barack Obama.
The one whose tone often sounds metallic finds passionate accents here.
"When we vote, we win"
New departure in the procession of shiny SUVs, stuffed with Secret Service agents responsible for the safety of personalities.
New stop in front of the small Busy Bee restaurant. Founded in 1947 and run by women, it is said that Martin Luther King, a native of Atlanta, tasted his famous South American “ soul food ” there.
COVID obliges, the meeting at the café, a classic of the American countryside, is in the parking lot with the owner.
I am there "to remind everyone to vote", launches the Senator from California to the people gathered in front of the storefront, mostly blacks.
A whirlwind restart for another classic redefined due to the pandemic: the meeting now organized in front of a reduced number of spectators by car, in the pure tradition of the drive-in.
The idea seems impersonal, but on this hot day at the end of October, the music on hold at full volume enlivens the supporters who come out of a hundred vehicles.
“To see a black woman become vice president is something very, very special, so I also took my mom,” says confident Jacinda Jackson, 34.
In a concert of honking and shouting despite the small crowd, Kamala Harris climbs onto the stage decorated with the design of a peach, emblem of Georgia.
“Donald Trump must leave,” she insists.
Denouncing the particular difficulties (long waits, few offices) that minorities sometimes encounter to vote, the candidate launches: “They know that when we vote, things change. They know when we vote we win. ”
