Election interference? Americans were amused to find a Scot campaigning for Kamala Harris

The surge of joy-filled momentum that greeted the rapid adoption of Vice-President Kamala Harris as presumptive nominee was enough to persuade me that there was at least a chance to defeat Trump and I went looking for my passport.

With parliament in recess, three friends and I – all seasoned election campaign activists – took some annual leave, bought plane tickets and invaded my sister’s upstate New York home so that we could drive 80 miles south every morning to campaign for the Harris/Walz ticket.

Democracy fuelled by doughnuts

Our destination was Scranton, a northern industrial town in the ultra-competitive swing state of Pennsylvania. Why? Because we all have a stake in this election. Its outcome will impact all of our lives.

I’d been to help Barack Obama on similar terms in 2008 and knew roughly what to expect. You see, the fundamentals of on-the-ground campaigning are the same in democracies the world over. Field offices all look broadly similar, with posters, lists, envelopes and doughnut boxes cluttering almost every surface, I immediately felt at home.

The Harris/Walz campaign team we were attached to were all in their 20s, and with a steady stream of activists coming in from other states, like Massachusetts and Rhode Island, they were well prepared to receive out-of-town help. While talented and welcoming, they were utterly exhausted and driving hard for the finish line. They certainly put us to work in getting out the vote.

Door knocking in America is reassuringly familiar to door knocking here in the UK. Nobody’s expecting you, the vast majority of people are lovely and they just want you off their doorstep as quickly as possible. As we were getting out the vote and speaking to people who had expressed support previously, the reception was very warm, most of the time.

Did you lose a bet?

Once in a while, I would approach a house festooned with Trump livery, because my list told me the homeowner’s 20-year-old daughter was a registered Democrat supporter. Invariably her 60-year-old father would answer the door and politely invite me to leave his property.

I thought my accent would give my nationality away, but it came up surprisingly infrequently. On the few occasions it did, it was a source of interest and amusement and actually proved to be a helpful conversation starter. I think that precious few Americans are aware of just how intently their election is being watched by the rest of the world.

People were certainly perplexed to learn we’d travelled so far. “Did you guys lose a bet?” asked the owner of a diner in Old Forge, Pennsylvania when he learned we were visiting from Scotland as we sat down for lunch on our second full day of campaigning. Old Forge is a typical rustbelt community in the suburbs of Scranton, it is well kept and welcoming, but it doesn’t get tourists.

Warm, resilient but left behind

With more than 1,000 doors knocked across nine communities in Lackawanna County, I got to see a lot of the Scranton area in its stunning autumnal beauty. These are warm, resilient communities, but in many ways, they have cause to feel left behind. So getting out the vote, in towns that feel like they don’t have much of a stake or a say in the dealing and the horse-training of Washington DC becomes all the more important.

This is an exceptionally tight election, everyone knows that, but I’ve never seen tribalism run quite so deep before. The houses without partisan lawn signs were in the minority and this election is dividing communities and even families, like never before.

A standout highlight for me was getting to meet, Harris’s Vice-Presidential running mate, Tim Walz, in person at a rally in Scranton, but above that I will never forget the warmth of the people I met on the doors of Pennsylvania.

Harris can win

My assessment? She can absolutely do it, but only if she mobilises the coalition she has built to vote. That was what we were there to do and, going door to door to get out the vote, I felt a definite enthusiasm that is not always characteristic of US elections.

So what motivated me to go out there in the first place? Well, Trump has already committed the biggest assault on women’s reproductive rights in my lifetime. He won’t stop there. The LGBTQ+ community, asylum seekers, non-white Americans, the press and the fighting men and women of Ukraine will all suffer terribly if he wins.

So too will American democracy and the stability of the international alliance we have relied upon for our own peace and security for generations. He has shown a contempt for the democratic process and the rule of law. As one US commentator put it, while Trump is lawless, Harris has to be flawless. They aren’t sitting the same exam, yet she is within touching distance of stopping him.

Unfettered by considerations of having to run for re-election and backed by a sympathetic Supreme Court, courtesy of the Justices he appointed, a second Trump presidency would represent a dark future for the US and us all. I couldn’t just sit back and watch that happen.

Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP is leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. A version of this article first appeared in the Edinburgh Evening News.