Harris Draws Crowds to Downtown Pittsfield
The closest iBerkshires got was a thumbs up from James Taylor. Most local media was kept outside and iBerkshires has no access to pool photos.
The presumed presidential nominee for the Democratic Party was met in Westfield by Gov. Maura Healey before traveling to Pittsfield to give a 15-minute stump speech — more than an hour later than planned.
"It was incredibly inspiring and comforting," said Lee Prinz of Pittsfield. "I felt heard, I felt like, oh, there are people, they are doing something, and we have like-minded individuals and people are taking action.
"It was inspiring because it's also a lot of the responsibility is on us to make this change."
Prinz said the veep stuck to the stump speech she's been honing over the last week since President Joe Biden's withdrawal from the campaign.
He said she touched on the administration's successes like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, and topics such as bodily autonomy and "hope versus hate."
Harris also talked about Project 2025, a controversial Heritage Foundation document laying out a very conservative path should Donald Trump win the election. Prinz said he was glad to see discussion of the plans break into the mainstream because of how "scary" it is.
"So there was a lot of talking about, you know, a big message about we're not going back and we're moving forward," he said. "There was a running theme about the average person, working for the regular people."
Emotions were almost as high as the heat on Saturday afternoon as people from the county and beyond lined South Street and the wider downtown area in droves hoping to catch a glimpse of Harris.
The sold-out event, with tickets ranging from $100 to more than $12,000, was not accessible to most local media. iBerkshires.com spoke to attendees and community members outside.
Harris arrived around 3 p.m. with a Secret Service and State Police escort and entered the Colonial through a side door. She traveled down Pomeroy Avenue to leave the city around 45 minutes later after speaking for around 15 minutes.
Security was high, with Wendell Avenue blocked off from the public and the theater's perimeter guarded by State and local police, fences, and jersey barriers. A handful of sheriffs were on horses.
Pittsfield Police Cpt. Marc Strout said having a VIP visit was exciting for the city and residents.
"It's a great day for the city of Pittsfield," he said. "Good behavior by everybody."
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier was wearing bracelets made through Shirley Edgerton's ROPE (Rites of Passage and Empowerment) program. Girls in the program were downtown selling the bracelets.
"We are hoping to spread the word about one, how fun Kamala is, right? And that, you know, these bracelets are messaging, because we're talking about 'herstory' here, Madam President, trust women, and it's a way for everybody to get involved," she said.
"It's not expensive, you know, this is kind of an expensive event, isn't it? But this part is for everybody so I think you're going to hear more and more about this."
Farley-Bouvier said the change in candidates was a "real shot in the arm" for the Democratic Party.
"What I am finding is that with this change, the enthusiasm has grown a millionfold," she said. "We're seeing really good things happening."
The Democrat said the "obvious thing" about the 2024 presidential election is that Harris, a prosecutor, is running against Trump, a felon, "so how that is going to play out is going to be super interesting."
"The vice president is more and more honing her message about what she is going to have this campaign be about, and so looking forward to hearing that."
Former Mayor Linda Tyer said there was an "incredible" energy and excitement inside.
"The vice president has real charisma and charm and good policies and she is going to win," she said.
Tyer was impressed that Harris kept her commitment to the event after becoming the presumed nominee.
"I think what it says is that she kept her commitment because she made the commitment to come before she decided to run for president," she said. "And the fact that she's still here says that she cares about the people of the Berkshires and it was really an honor to be in that space with her knowing that she's on her way to victory."
Vicki Bonnington was decked out in a red, white, and blue dress because she is sick of Republicans "usurping" the American flag, she said.
"They think that they own the flag. They do not. They disgraced the flag," she said. "So I try to take it back whenever I can."
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South Street was filled with signs and posters for the Democratic nominee.
"Happy to see that the small town of Pittsfield, a small city, is enthusiastic and turning out for Kamala Harris," said Francine Germaine. "We have been fighting far too long for all of the women and children of this country and Berkshire County. As small as we are, we're loud and we're proud, and we're going to make sure that we take it back."
Frank Farkas of the Berkshire Democratic Brigades, said local Democrats were "elated" at the turn of affairs. It would have been agony if Biden had waited until the national convention to withdraw from the race, he said.
He was headed into the fundraiser hoping Harris would really "lace into the Republicans, tell the people how dangerous it would be to elect a Republican at this point, how much it how much the destiny of the country is wrapped up in the outcome of the election."
"I'm hoping to hear a fight back," said Farkas, "how Republican plans for the country, if Trump gets elected, will destroy democracy, will devastate the right to vote, will destroy the things people fought for generations, Social Security, and the safety net, and the right to form a union. And that's what this election is about."
Like Farley-Bouvier, he was happy with Biden's decision to immediately endorse his vice president.
"It couldn't been a better resolution than this. She's great. She's going win, and she's going inspire people to work really hard to get a Democrat in the White House," he said. "So it's the best development possible."
The onlookers offered some diverse ideologies, including a few Donald Trump and Robert Kennedy Jr. supporters, and those protesting what they say is the Biden administration's complicity and active support of the genocide in Gaza.
While waiting in 80-degree weather, conversations and a few debates broke out between the onlookers.
Several organizations including chapters from the Democratic Socialists of America and the Anti-Imperialist Solidarity Group lead a protest at Park Square.
They hope to have any candidate stop taking American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) money said Jez Laurin, of the Berkshire chapter DSA, who said there is not a candidate on either side that is not complicit in the genocide in Gaza.
"We are hoping is that the community becomes more aware of what is happening in Gaza and less afraid to speak about it but also that we can use our taxes and divest from Israel, and not have our taxes used to bankroll this genocide, that that is happening," Laurin said.
"We'd rather those taxes be applied to our rampant housing problems that exist in this county, and that's where we'd rather have our money go — not to Israel, but to housing, or medical care, just care for the community and not bankrolling the genocide."
