Democrats are desperately trying to flip Republican anti-Trumpers to Kamala… will it work?_l
The Democratic National Convention had the usual political fanfare from prominent Democrats making thunderous speeches and attendees decked out in patriotic red, white and blue.
But it also featured one unusual standout element for such a massive blue celebration: Republicans.
Between remarks from the most beloved and powerful Democrats in the country over four days was a parade of current and former Republicans all speaking in support of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
‘If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, you’re not a Democrat, you’re a patriot,’ declared former Republican Georgia Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan taking the stage at the DNC to wild cheering.
Former national security official in the Trump White House Olivia Troye said in her remarks ‘you’re aren’t voting for a Democrat, you’re voting for democracy.’
Former GOP Congressman Adam Kinzinger declared Democrats ‘love this country just as much as we do’ as the crowd chanted ‘USA!’
And former top Melania Trump aide and White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham claimed Trump calls his supporters ‘basement dwellers’ behind closed doors.
A series of former GOP lawmakers, Trump officials and state Republicans spoke throughout the Democratic National Convention as Democrats try to build a coalition with anti-Trump Republicans to beat the ex-president. From left to right: former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, ex-Trump official Olivia Troye, former GA Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham
Republican strategist Kevin Madden said the speakers themselves won’t have a major impact because few voters know who they are, but he believes ‘they are an avatar for a lot of Republicans who describe themselves as “conscientious objectors” to Trump’s vision of their party.’
‘There are enough of them in battleground states to make a difference,’ Madden said.
The Harris campaign has been making a concerted effort to engage Republican and Independent voters ready to reject the former Republican president and have recruited Republicans to help.
It was on full display at the United Center in Chicago and a stark contrast from the Republican National Convention a month earlier where no Democrats took the stage in Milwaukee.
After her speech, Grisham said she was terrified to make an appearance at the DNC but that everyone was welcoming. She said even if it only changes the minds of just a few Republicans and Independents, her appearance would have been worth it.
‘The winning strategy for Kamala Harris is to reanimate and remobilize the anti-Trump coalition that defeated Donald Trump in 2020 and in that coalition on the margins are the center right swing voters who have historically identified as Republicans,’ said John Conway from Republicans Voters against Trump. He argued the inclusion gave others ‘permission’ to vote blue.
Conway’s group has been conducting focus groups and outreach to such voters and noted the convention did not just include ‘elite’ Republicans but everyday GOP voters.
Throughout the four day event were a series of videos featuring former Trump voters playing on big screen as millions of Americans tuned in to the convention from home.
Two-time Trump voter Kyle Sweetser speaking at the Democratic National Convention. Democrats are looking to remobilize the anti-Trump coalition that helped Biden win in 2020 and expand on it with the help of Republicans telling their stories in 2024
Mesa, AZ Mayor John Giles spoke at the DNC. He is part of the group Republicans for Harris
Former Trump voter Kyle Sweetser, a Republican from Alabama, also walked on stage and shared that he was voting for a Democrat for the first time in his life in front of thousands of Democrats.
‘I feel more at home here than in today’s Republican party,’ said John Giles, GOP Mayor of Mesa, Arizona, who also spoke at a recent Harris rally in his battleground state.
Giles invoked late Republican Senator and GOP presidential nominee John McCain during his speech when he declared ‘Country First.’
The push to flip Republicans started while Biden was still running for reelection.
The Biden-Harris campaign jumped on welcoming dejected Nikki Haley primary voters into the fold as Trump attacked her candidacy earlier this year.
Haley has since announced she would vote for Trump but that has not stopped Democrats from seeking support from her voters.
Democrats are going after the support of voters who cast ballots for Nikki Haley in the GOP primary despite the former U.N. ambassador saying she would vote for Trump in November
In June, the campaign announced the addition of a full-time National Republican Engagement Director dedicated to furthering outreach to Independents and moderate Republicans.
Virginian Austin Weatherford was the former chief of staff for Kinzinger with 25 years of GOP political experience.
He said the convention programming was just a latest effort to ‘reach out to anti-Trump Republicans,’ and they will continue to remind Republican and Independent voters ‘Donald Trump doesn’t represent their values.’
The campaign has also been regularly in touch with GOP leaders and organizations that want to combat Trump’s vision for the country, according to a campaign official and will continue to work behind the scenes to help secure support.
It has spent more than seven figures on ads targeting swing voters and earlier this month launched Republicans for Harris, a grassroots program to conduct outreach efforts to millions of GOP voters.
Former Republican Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan holding up a note from his son at the DNC that said ‘doing the right thing is never the wrong thing’
Critics have questioned whether convention organizers should have given so much time to Republicans during the event. Some of the speakers acknowledged they were still Republicans and didn’t agree with Harris on policy.
Questions have also been raised over whether the GOP voters who split for Biden in 2020 would also vote for the vice president, a black woman who ran to the left of Biden in the 2020 primary and Republicans have attacked as more liberal.
But Conway’s research has found those Republican voters who broke for Biden in 2020 had more concerns about the president than the vice president heading into November.
‘It was clear that Joe Biden was facing issues from these voters, but those were Joe Biden specific problems,’ he said.
Conway said they really ‘saw the bottom drop out’ after the president’s disastrous June debate, but with Harris at the top of the ticket, they’ve seen a ‘sharp rebound’ with Harris at the top of the ticket including among 2016 Trump, 2020 Biden voters.
