Democratic voters feel energized, engaged after Biden drops out of race
SAN FRANCISCO - The last 36 hours have been a whirlwind for Democratic supporters here in the Bay Area.
Many voters met at the civic gathering space Manny's in San Francisco's Mission District to reflect on Biden stepping down and what's next for the party. They said they felt a huge shift in unity, engagement, energy among the voters of all ages.
Many people said they feel a fresh jolt of optimism as they throw their support behind Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
"To me, how we win, part of it is there needs to be an army of influencers, celebrity-type folks who are jumping on this bandwagon, because we need to ride this momentum and this excitement," said Manny's owner Manny Yekutiel.
Yekutiel opened the room for voters to reflect on the enthusiasm and challenges ahead for the Democratic Party after President Joe Biden's ground-shaking decision to bow out.
"I was feeling really, really discouraged after the debate, and I just felt so much excitement seeing Kamala come in and seeing the fundraising numbers," said Anitra Appa of Berkeley.
The vice president broke fundraising records - raising more than $81 million in 24 hours, according to her campaign.
Precious Green was one of 44,000 who mobilized to support Harris on a Sunday night Zoom call hosted by the group Win With Black Women.
"We were able to collectively raise over $1.5 million in just a couple of hours and that was so striking, because so much of what we hear a lot of times, when it comes to women, and Black women specifically is we go to vote, but we don't always give money," said Precious Green of San Francisco.
Anne Gallagher said after the Democratic shakeup, she's now committed to spending the next three-plus months volunteering to get out the vote.
"I'm very happy, because my three daughters who were in their 30s were taking it out on me, that we had only two old men to vote for," she said. "We were going to lose, now we have a chance. Hope is alive"
The group acknowledged that beating former President Trump, both in fundraising and in battleground states, would not be easy.
"Having someone with that district attorney background, I think we need someone who brings accountability. There is a whole sect of the Republican Party that I think is flying in the face of the law, and we need someone who can enforce that," said Caleb Hilladakis, deputy executive director of the Civic Space Foundation.
Yekutiel said he is also raising money online to fund a bus campaign to bring volunteers to Reno, Nevada, a swing state, to door-knock for votes in the final 100-plus days left until Election Day.
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Harris has support of enough Democratic delegates to become presidential nominee: AP survey
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