Will Hail Mary Efforts In Swing States Make A Difference For Kamala Harris? Let’s Hope So.

Election Day is less than one week away, and no one knows that more than swing state voters. As a Georgia resident myself with a mailbox full of voting reminders and a phone full of texts from canvassers, I know this intimately. With this race so close and the electoral college poised to play a defining role yet again, both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have spent the last few weeks bouncing between Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and more. Harris appeared in Wisconsin’s capital alongside singer Gracie Abrams and beloved rock band Mumford & Sons – her seventh visit to the state this cycle – while Trump rallied in a Green Bay suburb, accompanied by NFL quarterback Brett Favre. In Pennsylvania, where Harris has lagged most behind Trump, a crude “joke” has outraged the half a million Puerto Rican voters who call the state home. At a New York rally, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage”; prominent Latinos everywhere have decried the remarks, including Puerto Rican reggaeton artist and former Trump supporter Nicky Jam who pulled his endorsement immediately after. 

Few places have consumed as much of the campaigns’ attention and resources as Michigan. The state has 15 electoral votes up for grabs and both candidates have been relentless in courting them. “I love your generation,” Harris told University of Michigan students. “You are rightly impatient for change.” Kamala Harris has pulled out all stops with rallies from Detroit and Dearborn to Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo featuring Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and former First Lady Michelle Obama. Celebrities like Beyonce, Eminem, and Maggie Rogers have also graced the Harris for President stage, with others like Cardi B, GloRilla, The Isley Brothers, MC Lyte, and more still cued up for upcoming rallies. Trump hasn’t had the same level of star power behind him, but he’s been making his rounds just the same with podcast interviews and an alternative media blitz. 

As the aforementioned moments consume the media cycle, it begs the question: does any of this have an impact on actual voters? That the election is this close speaks to how divided and unsatisfied most Americans are with the way things have been. Will strong speeches and star-studded events shift that indecisiveness? We are days away from Election Day and millions of ballots have already been cast. With hundreds of millions more projected to come in, we spoke to experts, advocates, and community members across several swing states to see what people are hearing and seeing on the ground.

Joshua Hoe is a Lansing, MI resident and Dream.org’s Senior Policy Manager where he manages the organization’s legislative projects. “There are clearly undecided voters and people who are protesting for whatever reason who deserve to be engaged,” Hoe shared. Over the last few weeks, Hoe felt the uptick in Democratic efforts to win the state’s electoral votes and sees them as in response to two different protest votes. During the primaries, many Republican voters rejected Trump with a vote for Nikki Haley instead and Harris has been on a mission to present herself as a meaningful alternative. “Kamala Harris seems to have been working hard to earn disaffected Republican voters,” Hoe reflected based on his observations of Harris’ strategic decisions in Michigan. 

Ironically, as Harris cozies up to Republicans, she continues to lose progressive and Arab voters in the state by remaining noncommittal on an arms embargo to Israel. Trump has taken advantage of Harris’ weakness in Michigan, not by offering a better foreign policy in Palestine but by securing key endorsements including from Dearborn Heights’ Mayor and local Imam. For some, Trump’s record is unforgivable. “Donald Trump has called for a Muslim ban, the arrest and deportation of 11 million hard-working immigrants who contribute to our economy and internment camps... He has not demonstrated any compassion for Palestinians, has not called for a cease-fire and has, instead, urged Netanyahu to “finish the job,” reads a statement by high profile Arab American leaders. But clearly there's not unanimity around voting against Trump as recent polling and local endorsements suggest.

As can last minute losses. Since the fallout of the Puerto Rico comment at his Madison Square Garden rally, Trump and senior Republicans have been working overtime to save face with Latino voters and turn the controversy around. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris has leveraged the opportunity to tout her campaign as the antithesis of what Trump represents. In Pennsylvania, community advocate Gina Vazquez describes feeling a major shift in the last few days. “I was at a Kamala Harris rally in Harrisburg and the Puerto Rican flag was all up in there,” Vazuez said. She continued to describe seeing campaign signs that “I’m a Republican But I’m Voting for Kamala.” Puerto Rican Americans living on the mainland make up a community that Vazquez describes as not often reached by the campaigns particularly because Puerto Rican migrants from the island are used to having the right to vote in presidential primaries but not general elections. “Now there are bilingual campaign volunteers and Trump’s remarks caused a lot of people to shift gears,” she says. 

Diego Rodriguez, a Wisconsin-native and community activist, has similarly seen renewed excitement for the Presidential election even in the conservative city of Waukesha. “The mayor of my city, a former Republican who left the party after January 6th, endorsed Harris,” Rodriguez said. “If I was a betting man, I’d say Harris will take Wisconsin by a few points.” Rodriguez acknowledged that the competitive House of Representative races and redistricting will also spur greater turnout on both sides of the aisle. He also noted that the racist remarks about Puerto Rico are creating new energy in Wisconsin where Latinos make up the largest minority group in the state. “A friend who was recently hospitalized — and who I didn’t even know planned to vote at all — asked me for help making a voting plan,” Rodriguez remarked. She wanted to be sure she cast her vote to get Trump out. “A Latino community member told me he’s voting for ‘the woman like Mexico just did.’” 

Votes can’t be taken for granted. Nothing and no one is “in the bag” until the ballot is actually submitted and each one is counted. Even then, the chances of violence and refusal to accept the will of the people is also looming. “We’ve had an exorbitant amount of close elections,” Joshua Hoe mentions, “and several swing states have large populations of formerly incarcerated voters who are largely being ignored.” Longterm, Hoe hopes to see more innovative approaches to meeting every voter where they’re at. With so little time now, that will mean leaving no stone unturned in the states that will likely carry the deciding votes. 

I hate that such a consequential moment will come down to a handful of counties and that presidential elections seem to be getting more and more tight with time. We are a divided nation staring into an abyss where even if Trump is defeated electorally, his supporters may defy results and unleash their anger on the most vulnerable amongst us.  So much is riding on Trump (and his supporters) not taking back the White House. If you, like me, want to defeat fascism so we can turn our eyes toward ending neoliberalism and embracing substantive change, then you know everything that can be done must be done. Though we are all exhausted by the endless stream of texts, calls, and events, undecided voters will be weighing their options up until the last moment. The campaigning and get out the vote efforts may not be for you, but the hope is that they will  reach someone who hasn’t yet made up their mind.