Sorry, Boomers, Harris Is In Love With Another Generation

NORTH HAMPTON, New Hampshire — Kamala Harris traveled to the “Live Free Or Die” state yesterday, the perfect place to deliver her message of freedom… and tax cuts for small businesses.

The New Hampshire event at women-owned Throwback Brewery in North Hampton was pulled together quickly and scheduled for the middle of a Wednesday afternoon. Still, over a thousand supporters turned up for the presidential candidate, including a large showing of younger people.

“I love Gen Z. I just love Gen Z,” said Harris later in her speech.

There were Boomers, too, including Catherine Johnson, 65, a self-described “campaign junkie” who claims she had traveled over 15,000 miles across the tiny state to attend over 200 political events in her lifetime. She recalled that in 2020, she saw then-senator Harris speak “in a lot of apple fields and farm stands.”

The Boomer men also showed, most looking like variations on Ed Begley, Jr. I stopped one Begley impersonator who was wearing a cap with the name of his country club embroidered on the brim. I asked if he was there to support Harris.

“Yep,” he said, tersely.

I mentioned a recent poll that showed that when Harris replaced Biden, women voters shifted toward her while men shifted away. I asked what he thought might explain that shift.

“Well,” he said with a perfect New England pause, “I don’t believe polls from the get go.”

A moment later, a woman (his wife?) joined him and he used the interruption as a reason to escape further questioning.

Maine State Representative Tiffany Roberts was enjoying some shaved ice when I approached. As chair of the Maine Legislature’s Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business Committee, Roberts was eager to hear Harris lay out her policy.

“Trump doesn’t realize that New England has a strong tradition of small businesses: farmers, fishermen, local breweries,” she said. “It’s not like New York City. These businesses are actually for the people who live here.”

Roberts touted a new agreement between New England states that allowed credentialed workers to be accredited by other states with the same requirements. “If you’re a social worker or electrician in Massachusetts, you can become (snaps her fingers) a social worker or electrician in Maine,” she said.

The New Hampshire congressional delegation kicked off the show at Wednesday’s rally. U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas spoke first, ushered in with the song, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” which suited the venue.

Senators Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen followed. Hassan referred to Trump’s proposals to raise tariffs as “a sales tax” and “a backwards idea from a backwards candidate.” Then she added, “We are not going back!,” knowing that the crowd from a state with no sales tax would pick up the chant.

Shaheen piled on, saying Trump had “the worst job record since Herbert Hoover.” (She did not explain that Hoover was the president during the Depression so her point may not have landed with the proper impact for the younger crowd.)

After Shaheen, there was a pause in the speakers. The temperature flirted with 80 degrees and campaign staffers handed out Gatorade while the brewery sold drinks with cutesy names like “Kamala Femininomenon” (lemonade) and “Coach” (unsweetened ice tea.)

“Hydrate,” Dover-based DJ Mam told the crowd. “And then make a plan to vote.”

Nell Scovell/The Daily Beast

Right on schedule, Harris took the stage to Beyoncé’s anthem “Freedom.” The vice president greeted the crowd with a big smile. Someone in the crowd must have mentioned her husband, prompting her to announce, “Doug sends his love to everyone as well.”

Then the tone changed. Harris had come to talk about freedom, but after a morning of tragedy, she was forced to stand outside the women’s-owned Throwback Brewery in North Hampton and talk about gun regulations.

Earlier in the day, a 14-year old student in Georgia had slaughtered two students and two teachers while leaving dozens more injured. So before Harris could talk about small businesses, she had to address the dead elephant in the room.

Harris spoke of the “senseless tragedy.” She recalled that as a child in California, her school had earthquake drills and fire drills and how wrong it is that today’s K through 12 students are subjected to active shooter drills.

“It does not have to be this way,” she repeated several times.

Later in the speech, Harris clarified her position for the firearm-friendly New Hampshire crowd. “It is a false choice to say you’re either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone’s guns away,” Harris said. “I’m in favor of the Second Amendment and I know we need reasonable gun safety laws in our country.”

Turning to the economy, Harris offered a list of proposals, including a tax deduction of up to $50,000 for startups, low-interest or no-interest loans, and reducing red tape to make it easier for small businesses to file taxes. She boasted about how the Biden administration had seen over 17 million applications for new businesses since taking office. Then she set a goal of seeing 25 million new applications by the end of her first term. She admitted that was “ambitious,” but, “I think we should admire ambition in each other.”

Brian Snyder

The crowd cheered loudly. They also cheered loudly when Harris called for a “fair tax” on billionaires. (According to Forbes magazine, New Hampshire only has one billionaire: Rick Cohen.)

Still, nothing received bigger approval from the group than when Harris brought up protecting a woman’s right to determine her own health care. The Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe is clearly the accelerant to Harris catching political fire. And it’s not just affecting women.

“I think people are underestimating the male vote on the issue of choice,” Johnson, 65, told the Daily Beast. “They don’t want their sisters, wives, and daughters being told what to do with their bodies.”

Johnson plans to vote for Harris for President and Republican Kelly Ayotte for governor. She suspects mainly will follow that same path and keep New Hampshire purple.

On the drive along Exeter Road, houses seemed to alternate between Trump and Harris signs. One block had two small houses that flanked a long driveway to a mansion. The two small homes had Harris/Walz signs. The people who lived up the long driveway were going with Trump.

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Brian Snyder/Reuters

A group of Trump supporters—seven people and one dog—had gathered by the driveway that led to the brewery at noon as people filed in for the Harris speech. The group waved Trump flags and “Take America Back” banners. One had a sign that read: “Krazy Kommie Kamala. Another woman kept shouting into a megaphone, “Kamala, go home!”

The Trump contingent was gone by the time people filed out at four. I guess they went home.