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It’s been a surprising three weeks in American politics, to say the very least. After President Biden announced his decision to step aside as the Democratic nominee on July 21st and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, she informally secured the nomination through party support in fewer than 32 hours.
Ever since then, Trump and J.D. Vance and the Republican Party have been perpetually on the back foot, seemingly unable or unwilling to take common sense steps to stabilize their campaign.
Meanwhile, the energy for Vice President Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has been off-the-charts: hundreds of millions raised through grassroots fundraisers, packed rallies in swing states with tens of thousands of people—many of them driving hours to see the Democratic Party’s ticket in person—and a remarkable swing in polling.
And my goodness, the affinity groups. It all started with Black Women for Harris (organized by Win With Black Women), which was organized within hours of President Biden’s announcement. They organized more than 44,000 Black women and raised more than $1.5 million in under three hours, a jaw-dropping achievement.
The following night, Black Men for Harris picked up the baton, organizing 53,000 Black men on their own Zoom call and raising $1.5 million.
Quick reminder: this was all done within two days of Pres. Biden’s endorsement of VP Harris. Soon, other groups followed their lead: White Women for Harris, Latinas for Harris, AAPI Voters for Harris, White Dudes for Harris, and so many more, all featuring elected officials and celebrities.
They raised boatloads of money, signed-up hundreds of thousands of volunteers, and made it clear that the joy and enthusiasm for VP Harris is undeniably evident and contagious.
But arguably the most surprising support has come from Republicans and conservatives who have announced their support for the Harris-Walz campaign. A group called Haley Voters for Harris, led by former supporters of Nikki Haley, announced their endorsement of the Vice President.
This so angered Nikki Haley that she publicly ordered Haley Voters for Harris to “cease and desist.”
Their response: “Our rights to engage with voters and encourage them to vote for Vice President Harris – who in our view is the clear better choice for the country – will not be suppressed.”
Amazing.
A group named Republicans for Harris has made significant waves, topping 100k followers on Twitter. They’re organizing a Zoom chat at 9pm *tonight* and will feature Mark Hamill, who is not a Republican but was so moved by their efforts that he agreed to join.
Okay, so, that’s all fantastic. We love to see it. But are you sitting down? Because this may blow your mind.
There’s now a group called Evangelicals for Harris, who have broken away from the well documented base of support Trump has among evangelical voters, rejecting his candidacy as the opposite of Christ’s teachings.
Y’all know that there has been no group more supportive of Donald Trump than white evangelicals, who have overwhelmingly backed him over the past eight years, propelling his campaign in 2016 from joke to contender. He would not have been elected without them.
But this group? They’re tired of his nonsense. They’re exhausted with his meandering incompetence. And they’re being loud about it. Check out these tweets the group has put out recently:
This really riled up Laura Loomer, the infamous pro-Trump agitator, who publicly accused the group of “black supremacy” (???). The group responded with far more grace than she deserved:
Anyway, y’all, a lot of unprecedented and wonderfully strange things are happening in American politics at the moment, and Evangelicals for Harris might be the most underrated storyline in all of it.
Let’s make sure we have their backs. Go follow them on Twitter (click here), Facebook (click here), and Instagram (click here).
Tomorrow night, they’ve scheduled a Zoom rally at 7pm ET (register here), and among the number of pastors and advocates will be Jerushah Duford, an energetic evangelical leader and the granddaughter of the late Rev. Billy Graham.
Send the link and their social media to your family, friends, and other folks in your life who are evangelicals on the fence. It might just be the thing that gets them into this joyous movement for Vice President Harris.
Wonderfully strange times, indeed.
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