The battle to represent the Democratic Party in the 2020 presidential election is heating up, with one candidate campaigning in another’s home territory while her rival was out of town.
2020 hopeful and California Sen. Kamala Harris is finishing up a two-day trip to Texas this weekend. The Lone Star State is the home of fellow 2020 candidate and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke.
Meanwhile, O’Rourke was doing some campaigning of his own in South Carolina, a reported stronghold for Harris, who has already made several trips there.
Harris infiltrates rival territory
Harris appears to have spent her time in Texas vying for the African American vote, a central strategy to her campaign that O’Rourke dropped the ball on in 2018.
She began her two-day stay holding a discussion with voters and a private fundraiser in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. That was followed by a breakfast with black women judges in Houston.
The high point of the trip, however, was a 2,400-person rally at Texas Southern University (TSU), a historically black school.
“We are here to fight,” Harris told supporters at the school.
She went on to touch on the usual Democratic planks in her speech: immigration, gun control, climate change, criminal justice, and so forth. But there was one little surprise.
Finally distinguishing herself
On a recent edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Harris suffering a humiliating blow when she was unable to name a single policy on which she differs from her countless 2020 Democratic opponents. Now, however, she appears to have come up with an answer.
During the TSU rally, Harris revealed a plan — her first major policy — to bridge the teacher pay gap in America using federal funds. Those in the crowd seemed to respond positively to the idea.
Whether this is enough to earn her some of Texas’ 200 electoral college delegates remains to be seen. But according to experts, even a third-place spot in the Lone Star state, behind O’Rourke and Julian Castro, another Texas Democrat, would be a win for Harris.
The Texas primary will be held next March on Super Tuesday.
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