An old plant warehouse North Philadelphia This is now a small campaign office turned into a rally site for the Vice President Kamala Harris On Thursday, led by U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock and best-known actor Michael Ealy Barber Shop And Fast and Furious franchise

Volunteers and campaign staff filed in to hear Ealy extol the strength of his vote and hear Warnock tell them why the final 12 days of the campaign mattered.

“Our biggest threat is not showing up in full force,” said Warnock, a Georgia Democrat and Baptist pastor who is considered a rising star in the party. “We only lose by the margin of our departure. We lose by the margin of our indifference.

Ealy and Warnock were among a dozen high-profile politicians and celebrities campaigning for Harris in Philadelphia last week; these included actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, football star Megan Rapinoe and TV presenter Padma Lakshmi. Harris’ campaign will hold a rally on Monday. Bruce Springsteen and former President Barack Obama.

The star power deployed around town in the final two weeks before Election Day, including Harris, isn’t just for show. The best-known surrogates motivate campaign volunteers and often attract new ones.

His part of a multifaceted strategy The campaign was launched to increase turnout in the largest city in a critical battleground state. Much of the get-out-the-vote program relies on volunteers knocking on doors, making phone calls and sending text messages.

” READ MORE: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s strategy to win Pennsylvania includes 50 stops and $500 million in advertising

Efforts are accelerating. Between late July and early October, Harris campaign staff and volunteers knocked on 1 million doors in Pennsylvania. They hit 400,000 in just two days last week and expect to hit 1 million a week before Election Day. (There are approximately 9 million registered voters in Pennsylvania.)

“We’re putting incredible numbers on doors and phones,” said Brendan McPhillips, Harris’ senior adviser for Pennsylvania. Minister Joe Biden2020 campaign in Pennsylvania. “As we move into the remaining area… you’ll see us doubling down on that.”

Get-out-the-vote operations can be decisive in any campaign. This year, a few point increase in turnout in a state where polls show the race is nearly tied could give Harris thousands of additional votes.

However Democrats They have expressed concerns about attendance in Philadelphia over the past few years — in 2020, The party saw a larger decline in vote share here more than any other county in the state. Biden won the city easily, but his margin of victory was smaller than Hillary Clinton’s victory in 2016. The biggest declines were in working-class neighborhoods. the majority are Black and Latinx residents.

” READ MORE: We answered some of the most searched questions about the 2024 elections in Pennsylvania

Some of the strategies introduced this year have met with a lukewarm reception.

The local Democratic Party has been subject to the following criticism for years: participation operation inconsistent. Bob Brady, the longtime chairman of the Philly Democratic City Committee, said much of this year’s programming isn’t new; workers track down unreturned mail ballots from registered Democrats and assign committee members to knock on doors, a strategy the party has used for several years. at the gates.

Harris campaign and some Philadelphia Democrats We were not on the right path, A handful of prominent activists in the city complain that the campaign is out of touch with Black and Latino communities, and it needs to be shut down.

One of the biggest nonpartisan efforts the city government launched this year to make voting easier was the opening of 10 new offices. where people can request and return ballots by mail in one visit – not widely used.

“People don’t use them,” said City Commissioner Omar Sabir, noting that it is difficult to publicize the existence of these offices. “We are very disappointed.”

Still, officials in the Harris campaign and their allies remain confident that their engagement program, also called a “field operation” or “ground game,” is superior to their predecessors. The man behind former President Donald Trump. The Harris campaign has 50 offices statewide; That’s roughly double what the Trump campaign said.

State Sen. Sharif Street, chairman of the state’s Democratic Party, said there were concerns about turnout in Philadelphia, but it was a motivating force.

“There are only two ways to escape: outmatched and afraid,” Street said. “Of course we have opposition. That’s why we run with fear until the end.”

Strong field operation has been accelerating in recent weeks

In absolute terms, more people voted for president in Philadelphia in 2020 than in 2016. Four years ago, nearly 741,000 people voted for president; this number is approximately 34,000 more than in 2016.

However, this increase was below average compared to the rest of the state and continued a downward trend. Philadelphians in the 2022 midterm elections 67,000 fewer votes than Allegheny County – It’s home to Pittsburgh – although it has over 100,000 residents.

And in a warning sign for Democrats in last year’s municipal elections, Philadelphia’s share was less than 15% The share of total Democratic votes cast statewide is down from 20% in 2016.

The pro-Harris pitch to boost turnout this year involves several groups, including the campaign, the state Democratic Party and the Democratic City Committee. Working Families PartyLabor unions that support Democrats and various progressive interest groups also have teams in the city.

The city committee has thousands of elected committee members who communicate with registered Democrats in their districts and ensure they have the information to vote. The party is negotiating with Harris’ campaign to cover some expenses. like so called street money Committee members were paid on Election Day.

The state Democratic Party has a stronger phone call program this year thanks to newly purchased software that automates the calls, said City Councilman Jim Harrity, who works with the state party. The technology allows callers to only connect to the line when someone answers.

“We’re doing the best we can,” Harrity said. “We do robo-messaging, robocalling. Telephone banking has been available in some wards for months. There are boots on the ground.”

” READ MORE: Philly Democrats want $1.2 million from Harris campaign to fund street money and other expenses

Door knocking can make a difference in densely populated cities like Philadelphia, where there are higher concentrations of people who face barriers to voting, such as physical disabilities, language barriers and inflexible work schedules. Volunteers often carry information about how voters can get help.

Pennsylvania Democratic strategist JJ Abbott said the party’s get-out-the-vote infrastructure is “much more robust” than it was in 2020, when the pandemic limited in-person campaigning. HE He also said he left the GOP-backed operation behind.

“Democrats have a higher ceiling on the impact of their field operations because of the density of where they work,” he said. “I’d rather be us than them.”

Republicans general acceptance of accession operations I tend to prefer Democrats Those who bargain with unions and interest groups, but they Tell field games in Philadelphia stronger than previous years.

Much of the Republican voter support is driven by groups outside the Trump campaign. Including a new super PAC headed by Elon Musk. The group’s effectiveness has been questioned by both Democrats and Republicans.

“You can’t buy a statewide presidential field operation in the last month of the campaign,” said McPhillips of the Harris campaign. “You have to build brick by brick over a period of months, a year, or even longer, with people who are purchased, committed, and have relationships in the field.”

A campaign to focus on voters of color

One of the Philadelphia Democrats’ criticisms of the Harris campaign was that it did not make enough inroads with black and Latino voters. some concerns spilled in front of the public Follow reports earlier this month that the Trump campaign was making a concerted effort to appeal more to voters of color, especially men.

” READ MORE: Harris campaign abandons plan to appeal to black male voters

But Harris campaign officials say they’re making a big push on communities of color. Six of the campaign’s seven offices in Philly are in the North and West Philadelphia. The campaign worked closely with Black faith leaders, sending deputies to Philly churches, holding events in Latino neighborhoods and knocking on bilingual doors.

Harris himself Campaign organized in black and Latino Philadelphia neighborhoods All day Sunday.

Political groups operating outside the campaign are also getting involved.

One of the largest door-knocking programs in the city is openly targeting Black and brown voters and The Service Employees International Union is governed by 32BJ. This weekend, about 350 volunteers knocked on doors, including buses full of people from New York and New Jersey.

Last Sunday, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and labor leader Shawn Fain spoke at SEIU 32BJ’s headquarters in Callowhill.

“This race will be decided in places like Philadelphia,” Ocasio-Cortez said. He disputed the idea that undecided voters were deciding between Harris and Trump. “The real undecided voters in this election are deciding whether to participate or not.”

There was a rich lineup at the event, including an actress as well as Cortez. walking dead and an SEIU security officer. Fain, president of the United Auto Workers union, said that moment in Pennsylvania was generationally defining.

“The votes of the working class are the great equalizer on this issue,” he said.

That’s been the key message for the Working Families Party, a progressive third party running get-out-the-vote programs in the city. The party has deployed dozens of campaigners to knock on more than 400,000 Philadelphia doors this campaign cycle.

Rasheeda Bagwell-Hyland, a North Philadelphia mother, said she works as a campaigner for the Working Families Party because her great-grandmother fought in the civil rights movement and “people died so we could have the rights that we have.”

When talking to voters, especially people of color, Bagwell-Hyland, 43, tries to combat apathy by emphasizing that voting is a duty.

“This isn’t just about the presidential candidate. You won’t like everyone. “No politician is perfect,” he said. “But the right to vote is very important. Therefore, not exercising this right is a slap in the face to everyone who came before.”