Kamala Harris calls Trump 'unstable' while appealing to GOP voters in Washington Crossing

More than 100 Republicans gathered in support of Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday afternoon at Washington Crossing Historic Park, where the Democratic presidential candidate urged voters to choose country over party.

The invite-only campaign stop to bolster support among Republican voters in Bucks County comes just 20 days before polls open here, the most purple of the Philadelphia suburban counties that could help decide the outcome of the largest swing state in the country.

Touching on the historic significance of the site regarded as a turning point in the American Revolution, Harris told the crowd that the foundations of democracy, “the rule of law checks and balances, free and fair elections and a peaceful transfer of power,” were in danger if Trump wins a second term.

“It is clear that Donald Trump is increasingly unstable and unhinged, and he is seeking unchecked power,” Harris said in the Upper Makefield park.

The Republicans who came out on an unseasonably brisk fall afternoon threw in chants of “USA! USA! USA!” and “We’re not going back” throughout Harris’ 25-minute speech.

Harris also stressed a need for “bipartisan solutions” and reiterated that she has pledged to have a Republican in her cabinet if elected.

“For America to be the world’s strongest democracy, we must have a healthy, two-party system,” Harris said.

Both candidates have made stops in the southeastern Pennsylvania counties around Philadelphia this week, with Trump recently holding a town hall event in Montgomery County on Monday.

During that visit, Trump spoke briefly at the town-hall style event before cutting it off early due to medical emergencies in the crowd and finished the event with music and dancing on stage.

Outreach to disaffected Republicans

While a handful of Republican former lawmakers and officials hammered down on the “threat to democracy” theme, two lifelong Republicans who supported Trump previously but plan to vote for Harris also said they didn’t feel the former president cares about the middle class.

Robert Lange and Kristina Chadwick Lange, who also appeared in recent Harris campaign ads, said they both voted for Trump in 2016 because “it made sense. We’re Republicans, you vote for the Republican candidate.”

“I thought he would fight for people like us, but it’s clear that (Trump) doesn’t care about helping hard working people,” Robert Lange said. “We deserve a leader who will bring people together and fight for the middle class, not someone who tries to steal our democracy.”

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“Never in a million years did either of us think that we’d be standing here supporting a Democrat, but we’ve had enough. We’ve had enough,” Kristina Chadwick Lange added.

Harris’ campaign advisors have said an appeal to “disaffected Republicans” in the suburban counties in Pennsylvania, like the Langes, and other swing states is key part of the campaign’s strategy for victory on Nov. 5.

Why the suburbs matter

As Election Day draws closer and closer, the presidential race will likely continue to focus on Pennsylvania, which has 19 electoral college votes up for grabs.

The commonwealth went to Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020, and Bucks and Montgomery counties combined had more votes counted than in Philadelphia in each of those races.

In addition to historically contributing a lot of votes during past elections, the four Philadelphia suburban counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties are also home to about 21% of Pennsylvania’s more than 8.99 million currently registered voters, according to voter data from the Department of State updated Oct. 7.

Bucks County is also currently one of the most narrowly divided counties in the state, in terms of the split between registered Republicans and Democrats.

Out of 486,740 voters in Bucks County, Republicans make up about 41.6% of voters while Democrats make up about 41% of voters. Democrats lost their voter advantage over the GOP for the first time in at least a decade in July.

The only closer margin in the state is a 0.46% lead Republicans have on Democrats in Luzerne County.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Kamala Harris urges party over country to GOP voters in Bucks County