Democrats Are Suddenly Feeling Great About Philadelphia. Will It Be Enough?
In the past two weeks, members of the Democratic apparatus have talked to over 175,000 Philadelphia voters, including about 25,000 who aren’t considered solid Democratic voters, a party official told NOTUS. They expect canvassers to knock on over 250,000 doors and make a million phone calls in the next five days.
Regarding mail ballots, the official said, they are bullish about exceeding expectations, pointing to the return rate in wards with high numbers of Black voters — especially those wards with higher educational levels — that are outpacing rates in previous elections. Meanwhile, whiter, more progressive wards that generally lead return rates are toward the middle of the pack and require less-frequent engagement.
In Pennsylvania broadly, the Harris campaign expects the vast majority of the vote to come in on Election Day, in part because the commonwealth has one of the clunkier in-person early voting methods. A senior campaign official said Thursday that the Harris team is seeing a 65%-75% ballot return rate from voters it expects to vote Democrat, a number a senior campaign official said puts Harris “in a strong position.”
But numbers are one thing. To report on Philadelphia one week from Election Day is to be inundated with a mound of anecdotal evidence too.
There are voters gushing about a quintessentially Philly get-out-the-vote “rave” on Monday featuring Bill Nye The Science Guy, the rapper Quavo and 76ers point guard Reggie Jackson. And other Philadelphians who will be DJing at a polling station on Tuesday to liven up the mood as people stand in lines.
https://www.notus.org/harris-2024/democrats-feeling-great-philadelphia