California AG rallies Obama supporters in Germantown

As Election Day rapidly approaches, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris visited the Obama campaign’s Organizing For America field office on West Chelten Avenue in Germantown on Thursday.

There, Harris encouraged and thanked phone-bank volunteers for their efforts while hearkening back to a visit during the 2008 campaign.

“It’s the same kind of energy that there was four years ago,” Harris told NewsWorks. “This is a community of folks who really understand the power of the individual to make a difference in a lot of people’s lives.”

Harris — the first woman, African American and South Asian to serve as California’s attorney general — is a national co-chair for Obama’s campaign.

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What she talked about

She said the president appreciated the sacrifices they’ve made on his campaign’s behalf.

“You all appreciate the power of the individual to make a difference in the outcome of this race, and we got to get our folks out to vote,” she said. “The outcome of Pennsylvania will impact my constituants in California — in that way that we’re all in it together.

“The work that you’re doing will benefit people you probably will never meet. People who will never know your name, but are directly benefiting from what you all are doing here. So, again I say, ‘Thank you.'”

Harris also discussed Obama’s work in health-care reform, the auto-industry bailout and student debt during her visit.

Volunteer reax

Eileen Bowman was one of a dozen Obama supporters manning the phones on Thursday night.

She noted how little time remained before the election, and how that inspired her into action.

“I’m just very concerned to make sure that every single person [has] this opportunity to participate in this history and to really make a change in the world, in their own communities, in their families,” she said. “So that’s why I’m here.”

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