Thousands of Republican and independent voters picked Nikki Haley or other Republican candidates in the presidential primary race, and Vice President Kamala Harris is trying to win them over to break the logjam that has her tied with former President Donald Trump in the battleground states.
The Harris campaign launched a “Republicans for Harris-Walz” blitz on Wednesday. It features Republican luminaries, lesser-known party officials and longtime Republican voters who dislike the former president so much that they are willing to support Ms. Harris despite her liberal record.
With so few votes separating Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump, this narrow bloc of voters could tip the race.
“No group is too small to matter, especially in swing states that are nearly tied,” said nonpartisan political analyst Ron Faucheux. “Harris’ campaign is throwing endorsements at every shaky voter group to see what sticks.”
Ms. Harris campaigned Wednesday in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, alongside voters who said they supported Mr. Trump in past elections but are now backing the vice president.
The event was part of Ms. Harris’ aggressive pursuit of Republican voters in battleground states. Last month, she hosted an event in Wisconsin with former Rep. Liz Cheney, perhaps Mr. Trump’s fiercest Republican opponent. Ms. Cheney’s father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, also endorsed Ms. Harris.
SEE ALSO: Harris dodges questions in Fox News sit-down, sticks to anti-Trump script
After the Bucks County event, Ms. Harris made a rare appearance on Fox News to reach out to independents, moderate Democrats and Republicans who have soured on Mr. Trump.
She told interviewer Bret Baier that she represents a new generation of leadership.
“Let me be very clear. My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency, and like every new president that comes into office, I will bring my life experiences, my professional experiences, and fresh and new ideas,” she said.
She did not specify how her policies would differ from the Biden-Harris administration. She often pivoted to criticisms of Mr. Trump and references to the Republicans who support her.
The Trump campaign called the interview a “train wreck.”
“Kamala was angry, defensive, and once again abdicated any responsibility for the problems Americans are facing. She couldn’t give a straight answer to a single question because she has no answers. Kamala’s entire campaign is based on lies about President Trump. Kamala can’t handle the pressure of an interview with Fox News — she certainly can’t handle the pressure of being president of the United States,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
Mr. Trump and Ms. Harris are neck and neck in Pennsylvania polls, which means anti-Trump Republicans such as Bob and Kristina Lang could make a difference.
The Langs, who own a farm in Malvern, appeared on stage at the Bucks County event and told the crowd they voted for Mr. Trump in past elections but changed their minds with the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“I thought he’d fight for people like us, but it’s clear Donald Trump doesn’t care about helping hardworking people, and he certainly doesn’t care about our commonwealth and our Constitution. He only cares about what’s good for him,” said Mr. Lang, who cut a political advertisement for Ms. Harris in September.
The event also featured several Never Trump Republican luminaries, including former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, former conservative writer Bill Kristol and former Rep. Barbara Comstock.
Ms. Harris steered her speech away from her liberal policy proposals and instead zeroed in on Mr. Trump, who she said poses a danger to the U.S.
She promoted herself as a uniter who would embrace “good ideas from wherever they come” and promised to appoint a Republican to her Cabinet and pursue bipartisan policy solutions “that build consensus.”
Ms. Harris recounted her efforts to work across the aisle in the Senate, even though her voting record shows she was one of the most liberal lawmakers while serving in Congress.
She said democracy was on the line in the election and accused Mr. Trump of refusing to engage in the peaceful transfer of power when he lost in 2020.
Ms. Harris said Mr. Trump sent a violent mob to the U.S. Capitol and “violated the oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and, if given the chance, will violate it again.”
If elected, the vice president said, Mr. Trump “will sit in the Oval Office plotting retribution, stew in his own grievances and think only about himself and not you.”
The Harris campaign has plenty of potential anti-Trump voters to mine in Pennsylvania, considered one of the election’s most crucial battlegrounds.
In the state’s April 23 closed Republican primary, which does not permit Democrats or independents to participate, Mr. Trump won with more than 83% of the vote. He was the only major candidate remaining in the race. Ms. Haley, who dropped out in early March, was still on the ballot. She picked up more than 158,000 votes, or nearly 17% of the Republican total in the state.
Some interpreted the results as a warning sign for Mr. Trump, who has long lacked the support of a sizable chunk of his party’s voters.
The Harris campaign sees an opportunity to recruit disaffected Republicans in the state, which Mr. Biden won in 2020 by 80,000 votes.
A New York Times/Siena College poll found Ms. Harris ahead of Mr. Trump, 49% to 44%, in Pennsylvania, although the poll oversampled those who reported voting for Mr. Biden in 2020.
The respondents included 3% of likely voters who said they did not know whom they would support.
Berwood Yost, director of the Franklin & Marshall College Poll, told the Washington Times that the presidential race in Pennsylvania remains tight, so it makes sense for Ms. Harris to target disaffected Republicans.
“The data we’ve gathered in recent polls shows that there is a segment of traditional Republicans who say they are still thinking about their vote choice. Having fellow Republicans they’ve known and supported say they are voting for Harris gives these Republicans permission to vote for her, too,” Mr. Yost said. “If the Harris campaign has the resources to pursue this strategy, it seems reasonable to try it. I’ll add that it also seems to be a strategy that could help them with independent voters, too, since these voters tend to value bipartisanship and problem-solving over ideology.”
On Monday, the campaign announced a $370 million advertising buy in swing states featuring Republicans who support Ms. Harris, including John Giles, the mayor of Mesa, Arizona. The ads will run on television networks, including Fox News, in swing states.
Ms. Harris, 59, invited several Republicans to speak at the Democratic National Convention in August, and her campaign hired a director of Republican outreach.
Ms. Haley, who during the primary said Mr. Trump, 78, was too old and mired in legal trouble to lead the U.S., offered her “strong endorsement” of Mr. Trump in July.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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