Biden and Harris campaign on economy in Arizona as battleground shifts to Democratic support

‘How many more dreams have to be extinguished because this president has thrown in the towel?’

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris campaign in Arizona on 8 October 2020. (REUTERS)

In their first campaign appearance together since Joe Biden introduced Kamala Harris as his running mate, the Democratic candidates toured Arizona – alongside the late longtime Republican senator John McCain’s widow Cindy McCain – as the pair argued that Donald Trump had failed to protect the people he was elected to serve.

Their campaign in America’s southwest followed Mr Biden’s tour through Pennsylvania, as the former vice president returned to in-person campaigning to take aim at the economic toll – and warn of impending doom to the future of American healthcare – following the coronavirus pandemic and administration’s failures.

"You’re facing real challenges right now, and the last thing you need is a president who exacerbates them, who ignores you,” he told a group of supporters in Phoenix.

Senator Harris, speaking the day after her debate with vice president Mike Pence, told supporters that “this election more than any other in our lifetime will affect every part of our lives with consequences that will affect generations.”

The state began sending out mail-in ballots and opening polls to early voting this week.

Following the senator’s debate performance, Mr Biden said of his running mate: “The senator had a heck of a night last night. You gotta give me a lot of credit for knowing how to pick ‘em, right? She’s like a younger sister. I couldn't be prouder to be running alongside such a leader.”

The president carried the state by more than three points in 2016, following several years of it being at the centre of Republicans’ anti-immigration efforts and a bastion of GOP support, from controversial sheriff Joe Arpaio to the late Senator McCain, the party’s 2008 nominee.

But the former vice president holds a steady lead ahead of the incumbent in Arizona, 49 per cent to Mr Trump’s 41 per cent, according to an October survey from The New York Times/Siena, finding that Mr Biden is propelled by the state’s coalition of young people, Latino voters and women.

No Democrat has won the state since 1996. 

In Arizona’s senate race, Democrat Mark Kelly leads Republican incumbent Martha McSally by double digits in the same survey – 50 per cent to Senator McSally’s 39 per cent.

The vice president also appeared in Arizona on Thursday, making his fourth visit in 2020 alone. Mr Trump has campaigned there five times this year.

During their visit, the Biden campaign met with Native American leaders, small business owners and union members, which the former vice president credited with “the reason I stand here today.”

“The spine of America,” he said. “You’re the ones who built the country – not Wall Street bankers and CEOs.”

His remarks honed in on the state’s unemployment rate and business closures following the public health crisis and what he argued is the president’s reluctance to provide meaningful support.

The candidates tested negative for the coronavirus on Thursday.

“How many more dreams have to be extinguished because this president has thrown in the towel?” Mr Biden said. “If I were a playwright, writing a play, there isn’t a single outlet on Broadway that would take it because it sounds so much like fiction."

The candidate addressed the widespread loss of employer-provided healthcare and the administration’s attempts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, which, without a replacement, could strip healthcare from millions of people.

"People don’t realise how deep this goes," Mr Biden said. “That’s the job of a president, it’s the duty to care.”