The hype for Harris was on full display in downtown Pittsfield on Saturday. Supporters lined the streets leading to the Colonial Theatre, where the fundraiser was held, with homemade signs that displayed messages like “CocoNUTS for Kamala” and “Cat ladies for Kamala.”Some 800 people packed the theater to hear from Harris, Patrick and a lineup that included Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Markey; Rep. Richard Neal, the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee who represents this district; and historian Heather Cox Richardson.
Sherwood Guernsey, one of the hosts of the event and a former state representative for the region, said it was “easily” the biggest political fundraiser to hit the Berkshires since Michelle Obama held a concert with [James] Taylor at the same theater in 2012.
The fundraiser had been on the books well before Biden dropped out and backed Harris. But it was not until after Harris launched her campaign last Sunday that the event sold out, he said.
Guernsey said he had “never seen the energy so low and despondent” as he had in the waning days of Biden’s bid.
“Now, it’s all changed,” he said. “The excitement here I think mirrors the entire nation among Democrats and independents. It breathes in hope.”
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“The level of excitement and enthusiasm for the vice president has just exploded,” Patrick, the former governor and 2020 presidential candidate, said in an interview. “I totally understand the appetite we all have had to move on from the inter-party conversation and take the case to the American people of where we want to take the country.”
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“The last four months, I couldn’t sleep. I wouldn’t let Jeannie [Shaheen] turn the TV on, because I didn’t want to see it. And it was tough because I was worried,” the New Hampshire senator’s husband, Bill Shaheen, said while helping introduce Whitmer at a house party in Durham.
Now “we’ve got the right candidate,” Shaheen said, describing Democrats as “euphoric.”
