The stakes are high: Biden-Harris in-state campaign offices reach 16

DECATUR, Ga . — The office, though big in size, was quickly filling with democratic supporters on Saturday afternoon. The Biden-Harris administration opened a new campaign office in Decatur, next door to Calle Latina on East College Avenue in what is a heavily democratic area of metro Atlanta. The location is the 16th campaign office that has been opened this year, the first since the first presidential debate took place in Atlanta two weeks ago. The Biden-Harris train continues to make Georgia a crucial target for their campaign and the DeKalb Democrats , a local supporter group, were on hand to greet the dozens of supporters that came out to hear surrogates talk about continuing support of the current democratic ticket.

“This is our time on this planet to make a difference in the world,” said DeKalb Democrats Vice Chair Karen Davenport, who wore a white “Women for Biden-Harris” t-shirt and matching white pants. “Now is the time for us to work together to get people out to vote again. If you want this world to be better you have to get up and act.”

Moments earlier DeKalb Democrats Chair Clare Schexnyder, a breast cancer survivor, who was standing beside Davenport, shared her story of how the Affordable Care Act saved her life, added, “This is the energy that all of us need. The world seems a little crazy right now, but we aren’t crazy. We need to spend a lot of time together. We are going to be all over this county.”

“The stakes are high,” Davenport said, leaning into the microphone for emphasis. “If we get everybody in DeKalb to vote then so goes Georgia.”

Biden won Georgia by a small margin during the 2020 presidential campaign, so Davenport’s claims of Dekalb County’s importance aren’t simply bluseter. The crowd inside the new campaign office was filled with seniors, people like 86-year-old Beatrice Williams, who said she felt close to Biden because of their ages.

Schexnyder and Davenport believe Dekalb County, the fourth largest county in the state in terms of population , will make up the difference the Biden-Harris administration needs to win Georgia, a crucial battleground state.

“I’m like Joe Biden and I’m going to stick with Joe Biden,” Williams said. “The reason why it’s important for older people to vote is because we still are in our right minds and plus Trump wants to cut my social security and all the benefits.”

Alongside Davenport and Schexnyder as speakers was Young Democrats of Georgia President Parker Short, who could have doubled as either woman’s youngest son. Short, 22, said of the new campaign office, “President Biden is expanding his presence across the state because we’re going to win Georgia again.” Short was enthusiastic about the opportunity to stump for Biden. “The path to the White House runs through DeKalb County,” he yelled.

Other older, more experienced voters that were in attendance agree with Short’s enthusiasm.

“The reason I’m here today is because the Biden-Harris administration has provided the resources that people really need,” Carl Weaver, an educator and supporter said. “They are leading the fight against corruption and injustice.”

Verdaillia Turner, the president of Georgia Federation of Teachers, also a Biden-Harris supporter, added about the recent talk of Biden stepping away, “There’s nothing perfect about a human being. There’s nothing perfect about democracy.”

On the fact that Biden is 81 years old and how that has become the crux of the political discussion lately, Turner said, “Number one, we need to stop the agism. That’s a message to America. This campaign is reflecting what citizens think about people that have worked their whole lives in this country.”

Congressman Hank Johnson took the microphone to much applause and was equally saluted throughout his 10-minute speech. Johnson started with a story about how the first presidential campaign for former United States President Barack Obama had a common phrase associated with it: Yes We Can.

“Y’all remember that,” he asked the crowd. “Today is no different from when we were chanting ‘Yes we can.’ Johnson added, “We were with Joe Biden before the debate and the people are with him after. Now it’s yes he can. Yes he can. Yes he can.”

Johnson said his conversation with his fellow members of Congress and his constituents has not been about Biden stepping away from the campaign. He blamed this conversation on the media. “It doesn’t make sense to change horses in the middle of the stream,” Johnson said. “We need to stick with Joe Biden. I talk to him often and he’s not in cognitive decline.”

Asked if Black-owned media can play an even bigger part of getting the news out to voters, Johnson agreed. “This is a wakeup call for the administration and campaign to get the word out in minority-owned media,” he said.

There are plans to open another campaign office in Douglasville, according to the Biden-Harris campaign communications staff. Republican National Committee spokesperson Henry Scavon told The Atlanta Voice that the Trump campaign now has “over a dozen fully staffed field offices in the state right now.” There have been offices opened in remote Georgia cities like Martinez and north Atlanta Republican strongholds like Alpharetta, according to Scavon. There were also offices opened in Fayette, Gwinnett, Cherokee, and Cobb counties, he says.

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