Standing near a symbolically powerful place in Philadelphia, some voters couldn’t shake the feeling that they were witnessing a seismic moment.
“I’m elated. This is history,” said Stephanie Dalce, a Haitian ex-Montrealer who now lives and votes in the city.
History, indeed: Independence Hall is where the United States of America was born. There, the country’s founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the U.S. Constitution in 1787 — well before women and Black people were defined as full U.S. citizens, let alone had the right to vote.
It’s fitting, then, that potentially the first Black female president in U.S. history is holding her final campaign rally in the city where the country was founded. And while Harris herself has downplayed the historic nature of her candidacy, on the evening before election day, her supporters told CBC News the parallels are important to them.
“It makes me feel like our country has made great progress,” said Dalce. “And that this city, in general, is where history begins for this country.”
Stephanie Dalce, a Haitian ex-Montrealer who now lives and votes in Philadelphia. (Jenna Benchetrit/CBC)
‘I feel like it’s a great movement’
Deanna Harrington, a 20-year-old Philly resident and first-time voter, said she was excited by the prospect of Harris winning the presidency.
“I feel like it’s a great movement,” she said. “I feel like it’ll inspire other little girls, especially Black girls, to maybe one day go [into] office and become president also, and make changes in the world.”
Deanna Harrington is a 20-year-old Philly resident and first-time voter. (Jenna Benchetrit/CBC)
The election has been “really overwhelming” for a lot of voters, said Samantha Hansen, a registered voter in Philly and a Harris supporter.
She hopes Harris will focus more on policy than on denouncing Trump in her final address to voters on Monday evening.
Samantha Hansen is a registered voter in Philly and a Harris supporter. (Jenna Benchetrit/CBC)
“I think that that’s where a lot of those undecided voters are really struggling,” she said. “I think they’re not hearing enough from her on her policies, they’re just hearing that negative rhetoric from her around Trump.
“And so I really hope that she focuses on the policies that she’s going to bring into office and how that’s going to impact everybody as a whole and individually.”
The ‘ground zero of the 2024 campaign’
Harris has spent the last day of the campaign in the swing state of Pennsylvania, visiting areas including working-class Allentown, a majority-Latino city. Donald Trump will end his campaign in Grand Rapids in Michigan, another swing state.
The Democratic nominee is addressing voters and supporters tonight on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Many will recognize the building from an iconic scene in the 1976 film Rocky, where the underdog hero bounds up its steps, pumping his fists in the air as he finally reaches the top.
WATCH | The scene in Rocky (1976): (Rotten Tomatoes Movieclips)
Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the final Harris rally, and her campaign has billed it as a concert, with Lady Gaga, The Roots and Ricky Martin expected to perform, and Oprah Winfrey expected to appear.
As for what she’ll say, Steve Jarding, a political consultant and former lecturer at Harvard University, said he expects that Harris will stick fairly close to what her message has been in the final days of the campaign: touting her economic policies and attacking Trump.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump gestures as he concludes a rally at Santander Arena in Reading, Penn., on Nov. 4. He will end his campaign in Grand Rapids, Mich. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)
He said Tuesday’s results could show whether Harris was effective enough in dispelling the misguided perception among voters that the economy has been weak under Biden.
“I think that that’s a legitimate concern. And we’ll see tomorrow night if she did enough to alleviate those fears,” he said.
And it’s no surprise that she’s in Pennsylvania, with its 19 electoral votes, to make her final appeal.
“It illustrates this is ground zero of the 2024 campaign,” said Jarding. “Whoever wins Pennsylvania is likely the next president of the United States. And she knows that, and that’s why she’s there.”