CAPTION: Rep. Danny K. Davis and more than 100 volunteers combed the North Side of Milwaukee on Saturday, October 5th, looking for unregistered voters and asking all to vote for the Harris-Walz campaign. He urged them to vote like their lives depended on it because. “our democracy is at stake.” (Photos by Chinta Strausberg)
Warns of ‘MAGA Vigilantes’ challenging Black voters
Going from house to house knocking on doors in search of unregistered voters where he asked them to support the Kamala Harris, Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-7th) made good his promise Saturday, October 5th, when he took two busloads and several cars to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, one of the battleground states Harris needs to win since it is perceived to be the margin of victory for a Harris victory.
Armed with a pen and a piece of paper, Congressman Davis literally knocked on doors of people living in a large, attractive African American subsidized community that was once public housing, asking people to vote for the Harris ticket on November 5th. One woman yelled through the door, “Don’t knock on my door,” and another woman, holding a kitten, said she “had problems with Kamala” and was leaning towards voting for Trump.
In a calm voice, Davis told her about Trump calling Africa and Haiti “s…holes,” but that didn’t bother her. Reminded how he lives, she quipped, “All of them lie.” When she was told that Trump’s first trial that happened in New York City where he was accused of refusing to rent to Blacks and Hispanics, she was speechless. Davis kept moving towards the next home in search of Harris supporters.
He was accompanied by assistants who kept track of voter addresses on his iPad. Davis was part of a unified faith-based initiative called “Operation Fig Tree” in partnership with Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore from the 4th District, that was led by Presiding Elder James Moody, the former pastor of Quinn Chapel A.M.E. who oversees 19 churches in Illinois and Wisconsin. He in turn appointed Rev. Rev. Thomas Poole, director of Social Justice at the Wayman A.M.E. Church in Racine, Wis. who reached out to Rep. Davis to join in their massive GOTV drive.
Standing beside Rep. Moore whom he said, “specializing in looking after the needs of low-income people, Black people and the needs of children and those in our country who need advocacy the most,” he said praising the work she does for the voiceless.
Accompanying Davis were both seniors, who engaged in phone banking, WVON’s Pam Morris Walton and her assistant, Daphine Walker, Mayor Andre Harvey, Village of Bellwood, Dr. Walter McCray, Pastor of Greater Union Baptist Church, Dr. Wallace Gator Bradley of the International Pentecostal Assemblies Ecumenical, Hassan Muhammad Field Coordinator, and many others.
Besides campaign for the Harris-Walz ticket, Rep. Davis also asked people to cast their vote U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin who passed a law requiring all iron and steel used for federally funded infrastructure projects be made in Wisconsin which has boosted jobs in that state. She also passed the Chips and Science Act mandating that computer hips be made in the U.S. and not in China.
Davis’s goal is to help increase the number of registered voters in Milwaukee, a key battleground state, where in 2020 Biden won with a narrow 0.63 percent margin over Trump. It was a state where in 2016 Trump won by 0.77 percent against Hillary Clinton.
The battle for the presidential the magic number of 270 electoral college votes heats up as the November 5th presidential general election gets closer and Rep. Davis said Wisconsin may be the key to a Harris-Walz victory.
While Davis engaged in what he calls “old fashion” GOTV tactics by physically knocking on doors in Milwaukee, he keeps his eyes on how many Electoral College votes the Harris-Walz ticket is racking up. The race for 270 Electoral College votes sees Harris and Trump revisiting the six battleground states multiple times especially Wisconsin which holds 10 Electoral Votes for the winner, according to Britannica.
Arizona is another battleground state with 11 Electoral College votes where Trump won Arizona in 2016 by nearly 4 percentage points but lost the state to Joe Biden in 2020 by less than half a percentage point. Recent polls show Harris and Trump are running neck-and-neck.
Georgia is another battleground state, which has 16 Electoral College votes, that has the attention of Rep. Davis. In 2016, Trump won Georgia by about 5 percentage points but lost to Biden in 2020 by less than 12,000 votes. Polls show Harris and Trump are in a statistical tie.
Michigan, yet another battleground state with 15 Electoral Votes, sees Harris and Trump as a toss-up so far. In a stunning blow to Democrats, Trump won Michigan in 2016. His party had not won a Michigan presidential race since 1988. Biden won Michigan in 2020 defeating Trump by three percentage points, according to Britannica. Current polls show Harris and Trump in a statistical tie.
In Milwaukee, Davis and his volunteers met Rep. Moore and her campaign workers at the Browning Elementary School where Darrol Gibson, Wisconsin’s Coalition Director for the Harris-Walz campaign briefed volunteers on their GOTV assignments.
In an interview with the Chicago Crusader, Gibson said in Milwaukee for those who are politically in tune, they are excited about the election but there are others who need to be educated especially those who don’t think their votes counted or are suffering from “voter fatigue.”
He admits there is a lot of misinformation floating around like “false truths, false lies and it is easier to share a lie than try to prove it is a lie.” Gibson said Trump “will say anything to get a vote” and that many things he has said are racist.
In Milwaukee, Gibson said the last two presidential elections win or lost has been decided between 20,000 to 25,000 votes. If we get 75 percent to 80 percent, “we can win the state.”
Davis said in many states, Republicans have gathered 44,000 voters to challenge Democrats knocking off more than 851,000 in Georgia and beyond, according to activist Greg Palast who is challenging the “MAGA Vigilantes” challenges to mostly Black and brown voters.
On a national level, joining the Harris-Walz ticket in warning about the voter suppression scheme is actor Martin Sheen who portrayed Jed Bartlet on NBC’s political drama, “The West Wing.” He is now an executive director of the new film, “Vigilantes Inc.: America’s New Vote Suppression Hitmen.” He is working with Palast in exposing and challenging the Voter MAGA Vigilantes goal of removing people of color from the voting rolls.