Crowds outside South Church in Portsmouth screamed when Kamala Harris arrived Monday, as the California senator became the latest in a long line of Democratic presidential candidates to visit New Hampshire.
“You came out on a holiday, in this weather, I can’t tell you how much that means to me,” Harris said.
And that was just for the overflow crowd at her Town Hall waiting out in the cold and snow to see her.
Some have speculated that Harris might not spend much time campaigning in the first in the nation primary state since the California primary follows just three weeks later, but Harris put those rumors to rest.
“I plan on spending time in New Hampshire, I plan on competing in New Hampshire, I plan on doing very well in New Hampshire,” the senator said.
Harris says we are at an inflection point, a time when the country needs to restore truth and justice. She cited the inability to pass gun laws as an example, saying, “We should never bow down to those who have a lot of money because we are afraid that we may not win reelection when people are dying in our streets.”
Harris also spoke about the necessity of truth telling on a host of topics: “Racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, transphobia, are real in this country. Let’s speak these truths so we can deal with them.”
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That healthcare should be a privilege, not a right: “I support Medicare for all.”
Asked if she would make election day a national holiday, she quickly answered: “Absolutely.”
Earlier Monday, Harris, a former prosecutor and Attorney General, insisted she is not a democratic socialist though her positions seem to align well with the progressive crowd: "I am supporting the green new deal."
Harris says she will be back in New Hampshire often. She is speaking Tuesday at the New England Council’s Politics and Eggs breakfast.
