STONECREST: Kamala Harris turned 60 on Sunday in the final stretch of a knife-edge election battle with 78-year-old Donald Trump, as she urged a Black congregation in Georgia to embrace compassionate values while others “spread hate, sow fear and cause chaos.”

Harris, speaking at a Baptist megachurch near Atlanta, did not mention Trump by name but the crowd — after spontaneously serenading her with “Happy Birthday” — nodded knowingly to her allusions to her Republican rival.

Georgia is one of the key states that are expected to decide the November 5 election. Both candidates were planning events later Sunday in another of those states, Pennsylvania, which both sides see as a must-win.

With just over two weeks before Election Day, the Democratic vice president and the Republican billionaire are in a fierce race. Harris, addressing the enthusiastic Black churchgoers — normally a strongly Democratic demographic — delivered a temperate speech, telling the tale of the Good Samaritan but also using it to exhort the crowd to vote and “shine the light in moments of darkness.” Indeed, Trump is using increasingly angry and dark language in the campaign.

With just over two weeks before Election Day, the Democratic vice president and the Republican billionaire are in a fierce race

He has likened undocumented migrants to animals, threatened revenge against his perceived enemies, praised autocrats like Vladimir Putin of Russia and described America as a ruined nation only he can fix.

“Where we go from here is up to us as Americans and as people of faith,” Harris said. “What kind of country do we want to live in — a country of chaos, fear and hate, or a country of freedom, compassion and justice?” In other events, Harris has increasingly raised questions about Trump’s fitness to be president.

“Now he’s ducking debates and canceling interviews because of exhaustion,” Harris told a rally in Atlanta, mocking his rambling, off-script speeches.

The former president himself has surprised attendees at his rallies with sometimes bizarre references, including a ribald allusion Saturday to the anatomy of a famous golfer. But Trump’s age and spontaneous remarks have not appeared to be a deal-breaker for voters, as polls show a close battle ahead.

Harris had also sought to goad Trump with a report on October 12 that described her “excellent health”, but the ex-president’s campaign insisted he, too, is “in perfect and excellent health to be Commander-in-Chief”.

The Republican running for a second go in the White House countered Harris’s accusations with a marathon speech in Pennsylvania on Saturday, a day after saying she “doesn’t have the energy of a rabbit.” Both candidates are spending their final campaign days in pivotal states, but so are their surrogates.

Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk has personally hit the campaign trail in Pennsylvania, holding a series of events in the must-win state. Speaking in the southeastern city of Harrisburg, he announced he would start to randomly distribute cash awards — $1 million each day until the November 5 vote — to a registered voter in the state who signed his organisation’s petition.

Harris deployed surrogates in the form of pop stars Lizzo and Usher to make her case to voters. Lizzo drew cheers when telling a Detroit rally that America was more than ready for its first woman president, dropping a reference to her own hit song: “It’s about damn time!” One of Atlanta’s major stars, Usher, told voters there that “I’m counting on you” to get Harris’s “campaign across the finish line” in Georgia.

Published in Dawn, October 21th, 2024