Ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to Atlanta on Tuesday, her first as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, her campaign is blitzing the Peach State while also looking to capitalize on a surge in enthusiasm among young voters.
Harris’ campaign is opening three offices across the state and holding dozens of events over the weekend. Key to her victory, her campaign says, is capitalizing on the surge of enthusiasm among younger voters that has defined the early days of her bid.
Voters of Tomorrow, a Gen Z organization, heard from several Harris surrogates during its two-day summit in Atlanta on Friday and Saturday. The event was capped by a speech from Harris campaign youth director Eve Levenson, as well as a pre-recorded message played for attendees.
In the roughly three-minute clip, Harris spoke on abortion, climate change and LGBTQ+ rights.
“In this election, we know young voters will be key. And we know your vote cannot be taken for granted. It must be earned,” Harris said.
In the week since President Joe Biden announced he was ending his presidential bid and endorsed Harris, social media has been taken over by a wave of organic Harris memes, many of which are supercuts of out-of-context soundbites in which Harris shows love for Venn diagrams and buses.
Users have overlayed songs of artists whose albums have become summer anthems, including Chappelle Roan and Charli XCX, the latter of which gave Harris a quasi-endorsement last week.
Then there’s the prolific coconut memes — a play on a soundbite from a speech Harris gave in 2023.
Early polling conducted after Biden got out of the race suggest the social media fervor has tangible roots. An Axios poll released this week found Harris had a 20 point lead over her opponent, former president Donald Trump, among 18- to 34-year-olds — a notable difference from Biden.
On Friday, Voters of Tomorrow and 16 other youth organizations formally endorsed Harris:
“As members of the most diverse generation in our nation’s history, a Kamala Harris presidency would be one in which we see ourselves.”
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