Vice Presidential Pool Reports of May 12, 2023

VP travel pool report #1 - wheels down

The vice president landed at 1:48 p.m. at Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. She was greeted by U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and Rep. Nikema Williams, who also chairs the state Democratic Party. They talked for a few minutes -- your pooler couldn't pick up their conversation over the drone of the jet engine - before the VP departed for the next event.

VP travel pool report #2 - first stop

Vice President Harris just finished speaking a fundraiser at the home of Stephen and Arnika Dawkins, who own a medical services company and a fine art gallery.

Among the guests at their southwest Atlanta home was former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who recently left a post at the White House, and Quentin Fulks, the president's Georgia-born deputy campaign manager.

Harris spoke from the Dawkins' towering two-story living room flanked by two American flags as light rain pattered outside arching windows. Behind her was a striking painting that was all black, inscribed at the bottom with the word "beauty" in cursive.

"Here's how I think about the election … I think about it in the context of what everyone here did in 2020," Harris said of Democratic successes in Georgia in that election cycle.

After asking the room of dozens of donors which had loved ones suffering from diabetes — almost all raised their hands — Harris highlighted Democratic efforts to cap the monthly cost of insulin at $35, expand broadband internet and bolster infrastructure.

"This is what happens when people step up," she said during her roughly 15-minute remarks, adding: "We've seen the evidence when people believe in our democracy, they will participate."

Harris was critical of what she called "a full-on assault of fundamental freedoms," and took aim at Georgia's Republican-backed election overhaul in 2021. She highlighted the provision that bans outside groups from giving food and water to people standing in election lines.

"What about love thy neighbor?" Harris said, going on to criticize people who don't have "compassion for those in need."

She closed by paraphrasing a quote from the late Coretta Scott King, the Georgia civil rights icon and wife of Martin Luther King Jr.

"The fight for freedom and justice and equality should be fought by every generation," Harris said, then added:

"Don't despair. That's the nature of it. Do not be overwhelmed or distraught … This is the time to roll up our sleeves."

VP travel pool report #3 - Georgia Democratic event

The second and final Kamala Harris stop was at the state Democratic party's "Spring Soiree," held at a venue in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood. Several prominent Democrats opened for the vice president, each emphasizing Georgia's swing-state status.

Harris was introduced by U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, the state Democratic party chair, who attended with her husband Leslie and her son Carter. Williams used her address to energize voters in a state she said would continue to be one of the nation's premier battlegrounds.

To a crowd of several hundred officials, donors and activists, Harris spoke of her love for Atlanta – a "historic home" of some of the nation's most prominent Democrats. She offered prayers for former President Jimmy Carter, who is in home hospice in Plains, and his wife Rosalynn.

"It's a sign of a strength of a leader if you have empathy," she said.

Harris said she views the 2020 election as a clear message from voters who declared "it is time to invest in America." In a shout-out to locals, she mentioned new bike lanes, airport improvements and road projects that went to the metro Atlanta region through the infrastructure bill.

She said the federal climate change and tax measure has already spurred investment in Georgia, including a Hyundai plant that's under construction near Savannah and will soon begin manufacturing electric vehicles.

"They will now hire 8,000 workers because of our investment," said Harris.

Throughout her remarks, she invoked high-profile state Democrats, including former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young and Stacey Abrams, the party's gubernatorial nominee in 2018 and 2022.

Pivoting to voting rights, she said "extremists have made it more difficult to vote, in state after state."

"Extremists in the Georgia state Legislature went so far as to limit drop boxes, reject mail-in ballots and make it a crime to give people food and water that are standing in line to vote. What happened to love thy neighbor?"

She then criticized Republican lawmakers in Georgia, Florida and Texas who backed abortion limits as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.

"And, by the way, most women don't even know they're pregnant at six weeks," she said. "Why, by the way, tells me most of these men don't even understand how pregnancy works."

Her voice lowering, Harris brought up the recent mass shootings in Atlanta and Texas and questioned why Republicans haven't supported new restrictions on firearms. And then she entered her closing message.

"These extremists have a plan to take their agenda national through the courts and blocking access at the ballot box," she said. "These extremists have a national plan to silence the voices of the people and to roll back our progress."

Then, to rising applause: "But here's the thing, the people will not be silenced … We will not be divided, we will stand united. We will stand on the shoulders of the giants like those from Georgia."

VP travel pool report # 4 — wheels up

The vice president took off at 7:34 p.m. from Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport headed north. That’s a wrap!