Pool Reports by Emily Goodin, Daily Mail
| Sent: | Reports: |
| October 12, 2024 09:54 MST |
FLOTUS pool report #1 - canvass event in Phoenix FLOTUS kicked off an Educators for Harris-Walz event this am. Lots of college students here wearing blue Educators for Kamala and Tim t-shirts. About 125 people are in the room at the Arizona Education Association Hall. They will head out canvassing today. Early voting has started in Arizona. FLOTUS is also wearing the blue t-shirt that reads Educators for Kamala and Tim and had the NEA logo. "My name is Jill Biden and I'm a proud card-carrying member of the NEA," she said to cheers. "You know the first time I voted I almost didn't vote for my future husband. It's true. Can you imagine if I hadn't? I mean, thank God I did." She recalled she was a student at the University of Delaware at the time and her parents were Republicans. "Actually, Joe won that election by only 3000 votes, so it could have easily gone the other way. So for most people, who are still making up their minds in this election, the people that you're going to go out today and talk to, politics likely isn't part of their daily lives. You know, they're so busy they don't pay attention, and they might not know how their vote could help determine their own future and the future of our country. So let's remember that in 2020, we won Arizona by only 10,457 votes." She then put on her teacher cap and gave out talking points for them to discuss on their rounds: about how Kamala Harris will help lower prices, help home buyers, and support reproductive rights. "So prices spiked during the pandemic, but now corporations are keeping those prices high just to make record profits, while families, all of our families, are paying more for groceries. And Donald Trump wants to give those same corporations a tax cut so that they can make even more money, and that's unacceptable, isn't it? Well, Kamala will lower prices. She will fight back against greedy corporations and crack down on price gouging." "Kamala is going to fight back against corporate greed that has driven up housing costs, and she'll give first time home buyers $25,000 to help with their down payment." "Donald Trump's abortion bans have taken away that ability for women to make their own health care decisions. Our health safety and freedoms shouldn't hinge on the state you live in. So Kamala has a long record of defending reproductive freedom. ... She will proudly sign a national law to restore reproductive freedom for every woman in every state across this country." "Another Donald Trump presidency would lead to more chaos, more greed, more division. He still wants to lower taxes for rich guys like him, while costs are going up for everyone else." "We have to work harder than we've ever worked before. We have to push further than we ever pushed in the past. We have to meet this moment as if our rights are at stake because they are, as if our freedoms are on the line because they are." She then worked the room, going around and shaking hands. Background from the Harris-Walz campaign:
Motorcade left the RON at 8:48 am PT and arrived at event at 9:03 am. Motorcade left event at 9:34 am and returned to the RON at 9:48 am. One more event later today so more to come... |
| October 12, 2024 18:04 MST |
FLOTUS pool report #2 - Reproductive Freedom event FLOTUS is at an event space in downtown Phoenix where she greeted the Harris-Walz campaign's Reproductive Freedom bus tour. Lots of Arizona Democratic politicians and a few celebs at this event, which started about 5 pm PT and lasted about an hour. A group of about 50 volunteers were in front of the bus cheering FLOTUS arrival. FLOTUS hugged Sen. Mark Kelly and Gabby Giffords, Senate candidate Rep. Ruben Gallego, Governor Katie Hobbs and Rep. Linda Sanchez. Actors Bryan Cranston and Sophia Bush were also part of the tour and got hugs. It was a chaotic scene with FLOTUS, the officials and the actors walking down a line of volunteers to thank them. Lots of cheering. Lots of selfies. There was a big group pic at the end. The bus tour began in Tucson, has three events in Phoenix tomorrow and then moves on to Sedona and Flagstaff. Then there was speaking portion of the program. Lots of energy inside the event. Loud music playing with people dancing ahead of FLOTUS remarks. There are 400+ people per the campaign. FLOTUS' speech focused on reproductive rights and she called out Donald Trump several times by name. FLOTUS: "Today our daughters and granddaughters are living with fewer rights than we had." She notes after Roe was repealed, she was "shocked, devastated, but looking back, I knew I shouldn't have been so surprised. I knew that Donald Trump had hand-picked three justices to restrict reproductive freedom." She noted women of her generation remember what is was like pre-Roe. She told a story she has told before about helping a friend recovery from an abortion pre-Roe. "Secrecy, shame, silence, danger, even death. That was the reality back then, and that's where Donald Trump has left women today - less safe and less free right now in America. Abortion bans are in effect in more than 20 states across our country. This is really important. The next president will likely choose new Supreme Court justices. Senators will decide whether to confirm them." She encouraged people to vote for Proposition 139, an amendment to the Arizona Constitution to add a fundamental right to an abortion. More FLOTUS: "The government shouldn't be telling women what to do. So let's elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz." She said this so for the "generations of women who have fought for our rights and for all the men who understand that this is their fight too." "Young girls will grow up in the world we will decide this November." FLOTUS spoke for about seven minutes and then introduced Kate Cox, a reproductive rights advocate from Texas who discussed her experience trying to get an abortion when she was pregnant and needed an abortion to save her health. Cox was FLOTUS' guest at this year's State of the Union Address. Background from the Harris-Walz campaign: The First Lady is speaking at the Harris-Walz campaign's Reproductive Freedom Bus Tour in Phoenix, Arizona. Remarks program
FLOTUS departed the event after her and Cox remarks. That's it for today. More tomorrow. |
Jill Biden, First Lady Pool Reports of October 12, 2024 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/374642