Montgomery County Democrats seeing uptick in excitement over Vice President Kamala Harris
LOWER MERION, Pa. (CBS) — With the presidential election 99 days away, Democrats and Republicans in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, have been hitting the pavement to get out the vote.
On Monday, volunteers were busy writing postcards to voters and decorating the Democratic Committee of Lower Merion and Narberth office.
Daniella Weinberg, the communications chair of the Democratic Committee of Lower Merion and Narberth, says she has seen new excitement in the party since President Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to run for the White House.
"Especially the work that she's doing to protect women's rights and to restore reproductive freedoms," Weinberg said. "It's really been an amazing time right now. The energy — it's a groundswell that we're seeing."
According to PA.gov, Montgomery County has nearly 98,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans, but Weinberg said the party must win the more than 100,000 unaffiliated or undecided voters to secure victory for the Democratic ticket in November.
"And if Montgomery County goes blue," Weinberg said, "so does Pennsylvania."
Richard Kosich, chair of the Conshohocken Borough Republican Committee, is also talking to voters. He said that since President Biden dropped out of the race, there is fresh energy in the Republican Party.
"Good. It's been high," Kosich said. "It's been really exciting to see what's been going on these last two weeks. As you know, it's been unprecedented times."
Kosich said the key to winning the election applies to both former President Donald Trump and Harris.
"How well they are going to do, in the chances of winning Montgomery County and Pennsylvania, are largely dependent on how they do with that unaffiliated population of voters, the independent voters," Kosich said.
With all this work being done to win over undecided voters, others already have their minds made up.
Dr. Zeke Taylor of Wynnewood said his work as an anesthesiologist moves him to vote for Harris in November. He believes Harris will protect doctors he says are now vulnerable in states with strict laws against abortion.
"They could be litigated, they could be thrown in jail, they could lose their licenses," Taylor said. "We work so hard to become doctors, and we don't want to have to choose between breaking our oath and breaking the law."
Bill in Conshohocken has also chosen his candidate. He would not share his last name but shared that he believes his vote for Trump will eventually lead to lower food prices.
"So I think if he gets in there, inflation gets down, I think prices will come back down," Bill claimed.
So, until November, volunteers and party staff said they will keep working hard to reach every voter they can.