'People feel good': Georgia Democrats galvanize base ahead of Harris visit

ATLANTA — Georgia Democrats are operating with renewed intensity ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign rally in Georgia on Tuesday, the party now galvanized by a candidate who legislators, organizers and voters alike say has boosted their chances of keeping once ruby-red Georgia in Democratic hands in November.

The event will be Harris’ second rally since she launched her own presidential campaign after President Joe Biden decided to drop out on July 21.

“There’s an incredible amount of enthusiasm for Kamala Harris. I haven’t seen anything like this in my many years in Georgia politics,” state Rep. Sam Park said.

Park’s district is in Gwinnett County, one of the state’s largest jurisdictions. It was once a conservative stronghold but now goes to Democrats by double digits thanks to demographic shifts and a diverse base of Black, Latino and Asian voters.

Harris’ strength comes in part from the belief that she can better engage those voters, a belief already buoyed by polling that has signaled early strength from Harris among voters of color and Gen Z voters in particular.

The question, in a state that Democrats have carried several times in recent years but only by the thinnest of margins, is whether Harris can use those strengths while also holding on to wavering Republicans and independents who abandoned former President Donald Trump and Trump-like candidates in 2020 and 2022.

Republican leaders in the state maintain winning Georgia again will be too tall a task for Harris, particularly as, they say, their plans to target Democrats over immigration and the economy remain unchanged.

“It’s essentially a swap of Democratic candidates because Joe Biden could not win. The failed policies remain the same,