Kamala Harris draws crowds in Georgia with Megan Thee Stallion, Quavo

By Nandita Bose

ATLANTA (Reuters) -U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris joined rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Quavo at a spirited Atlanta rally that highlighted the new energy she has brought to November's election.

In her first trip to Georgia as a presidential candidate on Tuesday, Harris pledged Democrats will win a state the party had written off, and taunted Republican Donald Trump for backing out of a debate with her.

The momentum in this race is shifting, and "Donald Trump is feeling it," Harris said, as the crowd of about 10,000 cheered and shouted her nascent campaign slogan "We are not going back."

With less than 100 days left in one of the least predictable campaign seasons in recent history, Democrats are redrawing their map to victory, hoping the prospect of the first Black and Asian woman president can motivate Democrats to the polls.

Harris' election campaign, hastily put together after President Joe Biden ended his re-election bid on July 22, has raised $200 million, and signed up 170,000 new volunteers.

In Atlanta, Harris embraced some Biden policy priorities, promising, "On Day One I will take on price gouging and bring down costs." She said she would ban more hidden banking fees, take on corporate landlords and "cap unfair rent increases".

She also addressed immigration on the southern border, a top issue for Republican voters after the arrests of migrants crossing illegally reached a high during the Biden administration. Harris' role in trying to tamp down migration has drawn Republican criticism.

Trump has been "talking a big game about securing the border," but he does not walk the walk, Harris said. Trump pushed Republicans to tank a bill that would have funded more border security measures, she added, referring to a bill that failed in February.

Megan Thee Stallion, whose album "Megan" recently launched at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart, performed before Harris spoke while wearing a blue pantsuit and tie, the color associated with Harris' Democratic Party. "Lets get this done hotties. Hotties for Harris," she told the crowd.

GEORGIA IN PLAY?

Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, said on MSNBC over the weekend that Harris' entry into the race "has put Georgia in play" for Democrats and predicted she will win.

Swing states like Georgia, which Democrats barely won in 2020, are fiercely contested because they can lean either to Republicans or Democrats and play a decisive role in presidential elections.

FiveThirtyEight, the poll aggregation site, shows Republican Donald Trump leading Harris by between one and five percentage points in surveys taken after Harris became the likely Democratic candidate.

Since Biden ended his reelection bid for the Nov. 5 vote against Trump, Harris has significantly outperformed him in recent polling among young people, Black voters and Hispanic voters.

After Harris's speech, she appeared on a Zoom call with supporters, telling them "this is a sprint" and asking them to volunteer. Her campaign’s battleground director Dan Kanninen said the team was looking at the "Blue wall" states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan to win the election, but was also hopeful about the "Sun Belt."

A New York Times/Siena College national poll published on Thursday found Harris has narrowed a sizable Trump lead, while Trump had a two percentage point lead in a Wall Street Journal poll published on Friday. A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Tuesday showed Harris with a one point lead over Trump, down from two points in a July 23 poll.

Biden's campaign saw a narrowing path to victory with the "Sun Belt states," including Georgia, Arizona and Nevada, as unlikely wins. Georgia backed Biden by 0.2 percentage points, just under 12,000 votes in 2020, and Trump by around 5 percentage points in 2016.

Andy Beshear, the twice-elected Democratic governor of deep-red Kentucky, visited Georgia over the weekend to campaign for Harris in the Republican stronghold of Forsyth County.

The Harris campaign is vetting him along with Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota as possible vice presidential candidates. A decision is expected by Aug. 7.

Harris is leaning into her resume as a former district attorney and California attorney general, seeking to draw a contrast with Trump who is the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes.

Trump and 14 co-defendants are accused of racketeering and other charges for their role in attempting to overturn Biden's narrow win in Georgia.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Heather Timmons, Stephen Coates, Deepa Babington, Chris Reese and Christian Schmollinger)