SAVANNAH, Ga. – When the time came for Tabatha Strozier to order her presidential campaign signs, she faced a difficult choice.
Order the one that states “Veterans For Biden” or the version that says “Veterans Against Trump”?
“I was torn because I wanted a positive message,” said Strozier, a Savannah resident and Air Force veteran. “But now, with Kamala Harris as the nominee instead of Biden, I’m really glad I went anti-Trump.”
Like many politically engaged Democrats in the state, Strozier experienced emotional whiplash over the past three months. First came concerns over President Joe Biden’s stumbles in a debate against former President Donald Trump in Atlanta on June 27. Then the Republicans galvanized over an attempted assassination of Trump on July 13 and a high-energy Republican National Convention just days later.
In the days following the GOP convention, Biden suspended his campaign and endorsed Harris as his successor. Party leadership embraced the move, and Harris’ rise to the top of the ticket energized the Democratic base, culminating in a four-day-long revival at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Now, as the candidates enter a crucial three-month stretch leading to Election Day, Strozier says she feels “empowered” by Harris’ energy and the renewed enthusiasm of Democratic voters.
“I hate to say it, but I felt like the Democratic Party failed us by having Biden as our presumptive nominee. I felt like they didn’t listen to the masses and what we really wanted and really needed,” she said. “I was really fearful.”
Harris’ candidacy has changed that outlook for Strozier and her liberal neighbors, as evidenced by the energy seen at Harris’ Savannah rally on Aug. 29. More than 5,000 supporters packed Enmarket Arena, the city’s largest entertainment venue, with many standing in line to get in during a drenching rain.
“Let’s hope this translates to votes,” said rally attendee Rosemary Mackey, a Savannah retiree.
Savannah and Chatham County are an influential Democratic voting bloc. In 2020, Biden received 19,249 more votes than the 2016 Democratic nominee, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Chatham’s turnout and Biden’s net vote gain were decisive factors in the statewide election.
For Strozier, Harris’ campaign skills go beyond getting the Democrats back to the polls in November. Harris is adept at confronting Trump’s personal attacks and his false claims about her and Biden’s leadership while also emphasizing her own vision and policies, Strozier said.
As Election Day nears and disaffected Republicans and moderates face a decision, Strozier said Harris gives them a fresh option.
“She said it best during her convention nomination speech when she said would put country over party,” Strozier said. “Maybe this will be a rebirth of our political system.”
Political polarization troubles Strozier. She’s an unapologetic partisan, a “cradle Democrat” whose father was career military and whose mother was an Englishwoman. The two met while Strozier’s dad was stationed overseas.
But she said hyperpartisanship has paralyzed the legislative process and led to the rise of candidates such as Trump. It’s why she picked the “Veterans Against Trump” sign.
She counts many Trump supporters as close friends and blames fearmongering by right-leaning media for their allegiance to the former president. Her Republican friends can’t engage in political discussions without basing their arguments on what she calls misinformation or exaggerations about issues — details that can be traced back to cable news, far-right websites or social media.
Strozier experienced that familiar tension while posing for a photograph with her anti-Trump campaign sign recently at Savannah’s Forsyth Park. A woman passing by looked at her sign and barked “that’s a lie.” When Strozier turned to explain that she herself was a veteran and she opposed Trump, the woman ignored her and kept walking.
“It’s just about getting the truth out, the facts, without people feeling like they are being confronted with it or attacked,” she said. “You can’t win people over by being rude, and you can’t do it with lies.”
