The Harris campaign manages to continue successfully courting Republicans.Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images/ZUMA
Just over a month ago, the Harris-Walz ticket launched what it called “a campaign within a campaign”: an initiative called “Republicans for Harris,” aimed at wooing Trump-skeptical conservatives.
Proof continues to emerge that it’s working. On Sunday, yet another group of influential Republicans—more than a dozen former high-level staffers in former President Ronald Reagan’s administration—voiced their support for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign and urged other Republicans to follow suit.
In a blistering letter, first reported by CBS, the group invoked the title of Reagan’s famous 1964 speech, “A Time for Choosing,” he delivered on behalf of Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, which wound up putting the future president on the national map.
“The time for choosing we face today is a choice between integrity and demagoguery, and the choice must be Harris-Walz,” the ex-staffers wrote. “The choice between truth and lies demands support for Harris-Walz. The choice between freedom and suppression of freedoms means support for Harris-Walz. The choice between serving the people and serving the few leads us to support Harris-Walz.”
The signatories—who include Ken Adelman, US Ambassador to the United Nations under Reagan; Pete Souza, White House photographer for both Reagan and former President Barack Obama; B. Jay Cooper, deputy assistant to Reagan—also said they “know [Reagan] would join us in supporting the Harris-Walz ticket.” (Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger [R-Ill.] said the same in a post on X this week.)
“Our votes in this election are less about supporting the Democratic Party and more about our resounding support for democracy,” the letter continues. “It’s our hope that this letter will signal to other Republicans and former Republicans that supporting the Democratic ticket this year is the only path forward toward an America that is strong and viable for our children and grandchildren for years to come.”
The group’s endorsement follows that of more than 200 Republican officials who once worked for former President George W. Bush, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), and the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), as I wrote last month. Like the ex-Reagan group, those signatories warned of the dangers of a second Trump term at home and abroad.
Trump does not appear to have commented on the former Reagan staffers’ endorsement of his opponent, instead spending his Sunday morning railing against Taylor Swift, who endorsed Harris this week. But even if he’s not aware of the letter, he has reason to be upset: With “the time for choosing” being only 51 days away, many polls show the candidates neck-and-neck, or Harris pulling ahead by a few points within the margin of error. A new post-debate ABC News/Ipsos poll out Sunday shows Harris leading Trump among all adults 51 to 46, increasing her lead by one point compared to before the debate.
