Jamaicans in diaspora confident in Kamala Harris victory tomorrow

Jamaicans across the diaspora in the United States (US) are remaining confident that Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s candidate for president, will come out victorious when the polls close tomorrow.

Harris, who moved to the top of the Democratic party’s ticket after current president Joe Biden decided not to seek re-election, is locked in an extremely tight race with her Republican Party opponent, former president Donald Trump, according to opinion polls.

The polls show Harris with a slim lead among likely voters nationwide but locked in tie races in the seven swing states that will decide who gets the required 270 votes in the Electoral College to become president.

Recent polls have shown Harris leading slightly in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada while Trump holds very slim leads in Georgia, Arizona, and North Carolina.

A Democratic candidate for president has not won North Carolina since former President Barack Obama did so in 2008. However, the polls are showing Harris just one percentage point behind Trump in the state.

Jamaicans in the swing battleground states have been making last-minute pushes to turn out voters for Harris by knocking on doors, manning phone banks, doing mailing, and transporting people to the polls to vote early.

According to election officials, more than 66 million Americans have already voted early or by mail. The early voting so far is favouring the Democratic Party, according to polling experts. A breakdown shows that women are outvoting males 56 per cent to 45 per cent in the early voting and mail-in votes already cast.

Jamaicans who are engaged in the voter turnout process for Harris told The Gleaner that their efforts will continue right through election day, but they are exuding confidence that Harris will be the next president of the US.

Dr Rupert Green, a retired teacher, told The Gleaner that Harris should win in a landslide because of the female votes.

“There are more registered female voters than males, and this should make the difference in the election outcome,” he said.

Green said he sees Harris as a woman of destiny.

“Women are turning out in large numbers, and I have no doubt that they will also be influencing the votes of their husbands and boyfriends,” he said.

Green believes Trump will win the male vote but that the gap will not be as wide as first anticipated.

“There are factors that could affect her chance of winning, but I would like her to win,” he told The Gleaner.

‘Woman health issue’

Dr Millicent Comrie, a gynaecologist, has expressed the belief that the vice president will win the presidential election.

“Woman turnout is being driven by the woman health issue, and they are turning out in huge numbers. I also don’t doubt that some of them will influence the votes of their husbands and boyfriends as well as other male members of their families,” she told The Gleaner.

She also points to the fact that when Biden won in 2020, he did not have the support of as many Republicans as Harris currently has supporting her campaign. This, she feels, will also make a difference to her winning.

Comrie points to the fact that Harris has rebuilt the coalition that led to Biden’s 2020 victory and believes that this will help her campaign.

“This is going to be a gender race, and she has been mobilising women, especially young women who are voting for the first time, and she should win and bring new leadership to the country,” she said.

Lyndon Taylor, a public relations specialist, said he is cautiously optimistic that Harris will win the presidential election.

“I hope that good sense will prevail and we will have the first female president of the United States,” he said, noting that this is perhaps the most important election in the country’s history given what is at stake.

Noting that other countries around the world have had female heads of government, Taylor said he felt it was time that the US joined that list.

Taylor said the security of immigrants depends on Harris winning the election given Trump’s statement that he will mass-deport immigrants should he win on Tuesday.

“I am giving her the edge to win because I believe that at the end of the day, people will recognise what is at stake,” he said.

Bishop Marjorie Bishop said she is pretty sure that when all the votes have been counted, Harris will emerge the victor.

“Women want to make decisions about their own health and do not want the government interfering in such decisions. This is driving the female vote, and that spells good news for the vice president,” she said.

Bishop said the vice president is fighting for the country and she has displayed honesty, integrity, and forthrightness.

“She cares about the country, and in the end, I believe that the female vote will push her over the finish line,” she told The Gleaner.

Voted against Mass deportation

Dr Karen Green, vice-chair of the Democratic Party of Florida, said she is confident that the vice president will win and become the US’s first female president.

“We have seen the mobilisation on the ground and the enthusiasm for her campaign, with many Jamaicans and other Caribbean nationals actively engaged in all aspects of the campaign,” she said.

Noting that she voted for Harris, Green said she voted to protect all hard-working, earnest, law-abiding immigrants, asylum seekers, and Dreamers from Trump’s mass- deportation plans.

Cody Shearer, a community activist in Florida, also said he expects a Harris victory, pointing out that persons are still being bussed in for the polls, knocking on doors, doing mailing, and manning phone banks.

“We are doing everything we can to ensure her victory, and I believe that she will be the next president of the United States,” he said.

He, too, noted that in early voting, women are outpacing men at the ballot box.

“This could be a gender-driven race, and if that is the case, I fully expect that Vice President Harris will prevail even with the tightness of the polls,” he told The Gleaner.

Dale Holness, a former city commissioner in Broward County, said he believes that the vice president will win and become the next president.

“She has a message that is resonating with a majority of the country,” he argued.

He noted that the vice president was not only outlining an economic message, but also one of inclusiveness.

“That message is what the country needs at this time,” he said.

editorial@gleanerjm.com