The VP appears pretty popular in the Villages.

The Villages is a 55-plus retirement community located in Sumter County, Florida that has not voted for a Democratic candidate in a general election since 2000. In 2020, Donald Trump won 67.8% of the vote compared to Joe Bidenā€™s 31.7% in the county. In 2016, Trump won 68.8% to Hillary Clintonā€™s 29.5%. In 2008 and 2012, when Barack Obama carried the state, 63% of ballot castors in Sumter voted for John McCain and 67.2% for Mitt Romney, respectively. In other words, itā€™s an extreme Republican-strongholdā€”which makes new enthusiasm for Kamala Harris there not great news for Trump!

Over the weekend, hundreds of golf cartsĀ paradedĀ around the Villages in support of Harrisā€™s candidacy,Ā reportedlyĀ creating a traffic jam as they showed their excitement for the VP. ā€œYoung people are energized and so are we,ā€ residentĀ Joyce WiegandĀ told Villages-News. Said her friendĀ Karen Wink: ā€œKamala isnā€™t just for young people, sheā€™s for all of us. She supports Social Security, Medicare and health care. That matters to us.ā€

  • systemglitch@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    The more headlines I see saying how popular Harris is, the more I think itā€™s going to backfire.

    • ikidd@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      You too? I see these posts about how calling him weird is so effective and Iā€™m thinking, this is squeezing the juice out of the lemon before you want to make lemonade.

      I could be wrong, I mean, Iā€™m not one of the political geniuses like the Democratic strategists that had to be hauled kicking and screaming from running their senile incumbent into a brick wall.

      • wootz@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I definitely think that Harris has a better chance than Biden, but I agree. The current surge in optimistic articles about Harris feels like itā€™s riding a wave of elation following Bidenā€™s withdrawal.

        People want to be reaffirmed in their belief in Harris, these articles feed that need.

        • Zipitydew@sh.itjust.works
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          2 months ago

          Worst case, MSM pushing this because the engagement around Biden dropping out has been higher than Trump being Trump.

          Might not be a bad thing. But it does seem like a self fulfilling narrative at this point.

          • drdiddlybadger@pawb.social
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            2 months ago

            Trump is just boring and weird in the bad way. He genuinely makes people uncomfortable and because of that people have stopped looking at stories about him. Heā€™s uncool, unchanging, and unwelcoming.

    • LucidNightmare@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      Why? Itā€™s almost universally what people on all sides were whining about online and in person.

      Biden old!
      Biden forget words!

      Now we have a younger candidate, and now there is only one old as fuck white guy running. Iā€™m excited too. So should others.

      You do you tho!

      • fluckx@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Iā€™m happy about it. It also scares me that people might just assume itā€™ll be fine and not vote. Like the brexit referendum that barely passed because a large chunk of the population assumed not that many people would vote against it.

        • InternetUser2012@lemmy.today
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          2 months ago

          That lessen was learned in 2016, Iā€™ll bet there will be a record turn out on the Democrat side. I also bet the republikkklown turnout will be less. 34 felonies and pissing on democracy will turn away some voters, the cult however will vote.

      • systemglitch@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        People get fatigued hearing this stuff daily, and it creates pushback against the intended recipient.

    • Revan343@lemmy.ca
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      2 months ago

      Once sheā€™s officially nominated, Iā€™m expecting someone to take a shot at her.