'Time for a new generation of leadership in America,' Harris tells supporters at final Philly rally
'Whoever wins Pennsylvania is likely the next president of the United States,' political consultant says
Kamala Harris took the stage at her final campaign stop in Philadelphia on Monday night, addressing voters in a swing state that may very well hold the key to tomorrow's historic election: "You will decide the outcome of this election, Pennsylvania," she told the tens of thousands of people who gathered to hear her speak.
After TV personality Oprah Winfrey introduced her as the next President of the United States, Harris delivered a speech that stressed political unity, alluding to her opponent Donald Trump only in shrouded terms. But she also seemed eager to turn the page on the Biden presidency.
"We are all in this together," Harris told the crowd. "We know it is time for a new generation of leadership in America."
But she reminded supporters and undecided voters that they weren't yet at the finish line — "Every single vote matters," she said, imploring those in the crowd to get their families, friends and colleagues to vote in an election that could be decided at the margins.
"This could be one of the closest races in history," said Harris.
The vice-president reminded the crowd of her record as a former prosecutor, saying she won fights against big banks, exploitative universities, drug traffickers and gangs.
"It is my pledge to you that if you give me a chance to fight on your behalf as president, there is nothing in the world that will stand in my way."
Sticking to issues with a few shots at Trump
Harris never mentioned Donald Trump's name in her speech. But she alluded to him several times, saying that if she became president she'd be checking off her to-do list rather than "stewing over an enemies list."
Trump has made repeated references to "enemies from within" in recent weeks. Harris snapped back during her speech, saying that "real leaders" give people who disagree with them a seat at the table.
She led the crowd in chanting what is now a signature campaign slogan — "we're not going back" — after addressing Trump's attempts during his presidency to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
The vice-president said the U.S. was ready to turn the page on a decade of "fear and division." And well before she took the stage, some supporters were clearly still trying to shake the memory of her opponent Donald Trump's first presidency.
"I want dignity and decency brought back," said Michael Cianchetta, who was attending the rally with his wife Nancy from Quakertown, Penn. "So sick of what we had for those prior four years."
And while Cianchetta said he's a little bit anxious going into election day — "I know the margins are gonna be narrow." — he's hopeful that Harris will come out on top.
Asked what she thought Harris would have to say to undecided voters to convince them, Nancy Cianchetta wants her candidate "to continue that idea that we work together, that we don't divide the country. We work with everyone."
Huge crowds attend Harris rally
Calling herself a child of the civil rights movement, Harris spoke about her mother's immigrant background and the community values she said were instilled in her as a young child.
"I have lived the promise of America, and today I see the promise of America in everyone who is here," she said.
She touched on issues that have been central to her campaign, devoting time especially to reproductive issues and abortion rights, and economic issues like the cost of living, housing and grocery price gouging.
"Tonight, we finish as we started. With optimism, with energy, with joy. Knowing that we the people have the power to shape the future and that we can confront any challenge we face if we do it together."
"God bless you, and God bless America," she signed off.
The Democratic nominee addressed voters and supporters tonight on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Many will recognize the building from an iconic scene in the 1976 film Rocky, where the underdog hero bounds up its steps, pumping his fists in the air as he finally reaches the top.
Harris made reference to those "famous steps" in her own speech, leaning into her underdog narrative: a late entrant who was still unfamiliar to many Americans when she was suddenly thrust into a tough race against a former president.
Tens of thousands of people were present for the final Harris rally, where celebrities including Lady Gaga and Will.i.am performed onstage.
The campaign had staged a multi-city event around the Philadelphia rally, with similar "concert rallies" in Pittsburgh, Detroit, Raleigh, N.C., and Las Vegas live-streamed on big screens to connect Harris's supporters and political allies.
Harris's supporters gathered in the thousands on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, wearing campaign gear and holding signs. Earlier in the evening, the line into the event stretched by more than a kilometre in both directions, with separate crowds hovering on the perimeter of the official line.
Steve Jarding, former professor at Harvard University and political consultant, said that in her final speech, he expects that Harris will stick fairly close to what her message has been in the final days of the campaign: touting her economic policies and attacking Trump.
And it's no surprise that she's in Pennsylvania, with its 19 electoral votes, to make her final appeal.
"It illustrates this is ground zero of the 2024 campaign," said Jarding. "Whoever wins Pennsylvania is likely the next president of the United States. And she knows that, and that's why she's there."
'It's really nerve-wracking'
Harris has spent the last day of the campaign in the swing state of Pennsylvania, visiting areas including working-class Allentown, a majority-Latino city, and delivering an evening speech in Pittsburgh before jetting to Philadelphia. Donald Trump will end his campaign in Grand Rapids, a city in Michigan, another swing state.
In Pittsburgh, beyond the security checkpoint, supporters watched that rally on large screens and lined up for food trucks. Some wore brat-green hats with Harris's name on them; others wore keffiyehs; a lot of people wore Philadelphia Eagles gear.
Grace Arbago, a 21-year-old student living in Drexel, Penn., told CBC she hopes Harris's speech focuses on how her policies will help the middle class.
As a first-time voter, Arbago said she's feeling the pressure.
"It's very nerve-wracking, especially because the stakes are so high and I wasn't able to vote in the last few. So it's a big one. It's really important for the United States."
Harris ends campaign where U.S. was born
Many supporters in Philadelphia noted the significance of Harris ending her campaign in the city, which she referred to in her speech as the place where the foundation of U.S. democracy was formed.
"I'm elated. This is history," said Stephanie Dalce, a Haitian ex-Montrealer, standing near Independence Hall prior to the rally.
History, indeed: Independence Hall is where the United States of America was born. There, the country's founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the U.S. Constitution in 1787 — well before women and Black people were defined as full U.S. citizens, let alone had the right to vote.
It's fitting, then, that potentially the first Black female president in U.S. history is holding her final campaign rally in the city where the country was founded.
And while Harris herself has downplayed the historic nature of her candidacy, on the evening before election day, her supporters told CBC News the parallels are important to them.
"It makes me feel like our country has made great progress," said Dalce. "And that this city, in general, is where history begins for this country."
Deanna Harrington, a 20-year-old Philly resident and first-time voter, said she was excited by the prospect of Harris winning the presidency.
"I feel like it's a great movement," she said. "I feel like it'll inspire other little girls, especially Black girls, to maybe one day go [into] office and become president also, and make changes in the world."
The election has been "really overwhelming" for a lot of voters, said Samantha Hansen, a registered voter in Philly and a Harris supporter.
She hopes Harris will focus more on policy than on denouncing Trump in her final address to voters on Monday evening.
"I think that that's where a lot of those undecided voters are really struggling."
Follow the results from the U.S. election live on CBC's results page on Nov. 5 starting at 5:50 p.m. ET just before the first polls close.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Alex Panetta