POOL
Columbus, Georgia – 21 December 2020
1. Kamala Harris, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff waving at the crowd
++PARTIALLY COVERED++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Raphael Warnock, Democratic nominee for Senate:
"We want to say to the rest of the country, welcome to the new Georgia, welcome to the blue Georgia."
++SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASH++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Jon Ossoff, Democratic nominee for Senate:
"Georgia has the power to decide where we go from here. We have the power to write the next chapter in American history because the fog is lifting. Donald Trump is leaving."
++SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAMES++
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Jon Ossoff, Democratic nominee for Senate:
"To be mired in gridlock and obstruction. We have too much good work to do on behalf of the people."
++SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASH++
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Kamala Harris, Vice President-elect:
"Everything is at stake, everything that was at stake in November is at stake leading up to January 5th."
++SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASH++
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Kamala Harris, Vice President-elect:
"Raphael and John will do that. They will do that. This will not be easy. And it is within our power to change the course of the history of this country."
++EDIT ENDS ON A SOUNDBITE++
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4302840
Campaigning in Georgia on Monday, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris stressed to Senate runoff voters a need for Democratic colleagues to advance the Biden administration's policy agenda.
Telling a crowd in Columbus that "everything is at stake" in the Jan. 5 elections, Harris said that she and President-elect Joe Biden need Democrats like Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock in the Senate to advance policy priorities.
Harris said like increased funding for schools in low-income districts, a $15,000 tax credit to first-time home buyers and policing reforms including a ban on chokeholds and creation of a national standard for the use of force by police.
"We will need the legislation to be passed," Harris said. "We will need Jon and Raphael in the United States Senate. These are the things that are at stake."
Harris' other scheduled stop was canceled due to a scheduled Senate vote on a coronavirus relief package.
Just ahead of Harris' remarks, Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter and a senior White House advisor, stumped with U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler outside a pub in Milton, a wealthy suburb about 30 miles (48 km) north of Atlanta.
More than 1.3 million people have already cast mail-in ballots or voted early in-person in the upcoming contests, the outcome of which will determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate in the nascence of Biden's presidency.
Wins by both Democrats, Ossoff and Warnock, would yield a 50-50 divide, with Harris as the tie-breaking vote.
Monday's appearances continued a cavalcade of top-shelf surrogates wading into the races.
Biden himself has already stumped in the state, and Vice President Mike Pence has made several visits.
President Donald Trump said late Saturday he would return Jan. 4 for an election-even rally, just two days before Congress meets to count votes from the Electoral College.
Speaking ahead of Harris in Columbus, Ossoff warned that Republicans would block the Biden administration's agenda if they kept Senate control, stymying a progressive platform to raise the minimum wage, expand access to health care and invest in infrastructure.
"We have too much good work to do, Columbus, to be mired in grid lock and obstruction," he said.
Warnock pushed back at his opponent's repeated digs, which he said hindered his attempts at "a substantive debate about the people of Georgia."
"My opponent is trying to reduce this race to the kind of empty school yard insults made between children who aren't thinking very carefully on a playground," he said.
"I'm trying to have a debate, and she's engaged in name calling. That's all right. As we say in the South, 'Bless her heart.'"
