SAN FRANCISCO – Riding the momentum of a tour of the country's swing states alongside her newly minted running mate Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to her home state on Sunday to talk at a fundraiser before a crowd of major Bay Area donors and California politicians.
“There are two very different visions for our nation. One that focuses on our future and one that focuses on the past,” Harris told 700 people on the Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill. “Our fight is a fight for the future, and it is a fight for freedom.”
The sold-out event, the primary fundraiser Harris has attended within the Bay Area since she ascended to the highest of the Democratic Party in July, raised greater than $12 million, in response to a campaign official. Tickets ranged from $3,300 to $50,000, and donors of $500,000 could possibly be named as event chairs.
In her speech, the Vice President took aim at her opponent, former President Donald Trump, and his “Project 2025,” a comprehensive package of policy proposals from conservative groups that will reshape the federal government and expand the president's powers if he’s re-elected.
“Can you believe they put that in writing?” she said.
Harris received thunderous applause when she mentioned abortion rights and promised to enact Roe v. Wade protections as president. She also told the gang, “We trust women to know what is in their own best interest.”
Her speech was all about domestic politics. Harris made no mention of the war in Gaza, regardless that around 120 protesters gathered within the streets outside the Fairmont and demanded that she “stop the genocide.”
Inside, lots of California's leading Democrats were in attendance, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, whom Harris thanked for being “an extraordinary leader for California,” in addition to U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland, Attorney General Rob Bonta and Evan Low, a California Assembly member and candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. Local San Francisco politicians, including Mayor London Breed and her challenger, Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, were also within the audience. Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-founder of DreamWorks and co-chair of Harris' campaign, was among the many donors in attendance.
Harris was led onto the stage by House Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi, who has been working behind the scenes to get Biden to step down and clear the best way for the vice chairman to rise. Pelosi urged the gang to “take the ground with our mobilization.”
“We don't want to regret the day after the election that we could have done so much more,” she said. “Democracy is on the ballot.”
As Harris finished her speech, the gang streamed toward the stage and held out their cellphones to snap a photograph with their hometown candidate. One of the lucky few who got close enough for a handshake clutched her wrist as she left the ballroom.
“I will never wash this hand!” she said, beaming.
Harris has raised numerous money in recent weeks and 310 million US dollars in July, fueled by a flood of donations after President Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid. In addition, she raised $36 million within the 24 hours after announcing Minnesota Gov. Walz as her running mate. (Walz didn’t attend Sunday's event, despite earlier reports that he might appear alongside Harris.)
Polls show the vice chairman has a small lead over former President Trump. New York Times/Siena College A poll conducted this week found Harris leading Trump 50% to 46% in the important thing swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania – but those leads are throughout the poll's margin of error.
Here within the Bay Area, Harris' rapid rise to the nominee position has energized Democratic supporters and donors who had grown weary on the prospect of one other Biden-Trump rematch.
Earlier this week, a gaggle of Silicon Valley investors called “VCs for Kamala” received nearly $150,000 in pledges to Harris' campaign. Among the donors were LinkedIn co-founder and chief executive Reid Hoffman, who was also present at Sunday's fundraiser, and billionaire investor Ron Conway, the New York Times reported.
With lower than three months to go before the November election, Harris' campaign has shifted its campaign efforts into high gear. The night before her fundraiser in San Francisco, Harris spoke to greater than 12,000 people in Las Vegas—her fifth rally in five days—where she promised to abolish the federal tax on suggestions if she is elected. It followed an identical suggestion made by Trump two months earlier – a fact he was quick to indicate on social media, calling her a “copycat Kamala.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign schedule is comparatively quieter. On Thursday, he said he wouldn’t appear at any rally until after the Democratic Party Convention, which ends on August twenty second.
The convention will cap off a turbulent August campaign schedule for Harris and Walz, however it stays to be seen whether the candidates can maintain Democratic enthusiasm into November.
In the Bay Area, one other fundraiser is planned for August 17 in Mill Valley, but neither Harris nor Walz are expected to seem.
Originally published:
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