Ever since the United States of America began having presidential elections in 1789, every so often the citizens have called the election “the most important election in the history of the country.”  Although that phrase has been used many times in the last 235 years, this year, the 2024 November general election almost certainly really is the most important in the history of the country.

And North Carolina, it has turned out, has become absolutely central in determining the outcome of that race.  In fact, NC Governor Roy Cooper said publicly many times this week that, if Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris wins the state, she will win the election.

Which is one reason that Harris, just two days after her debate with Republican Donald Trump, chose to come to Greensboro, North Carolina in an effort to convince voters in the Greensboro area to vote for her.

One thing was clear when she held her campaign rally and gave an energetic speech at the Greensboro Coliseum on Thursday evening, Sept.12: The throngs of loud and raucous fans of Harris who showed up at the rally did not need any convincing.

When Harris got off the plane at Piedmont Triad International Airport Thursday afternoon, the first person to greet her was her friend and fellow Democrat, Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston. From there, it was off to the coliseum, where Harris gave a speech that was constantly cheered by about 20,000 people in attendance.

“Good evening, North Carolina! Good evening Greensboro!” she began shouting over cheers that almost drowned her voice out.

The rallies held in Charlotte early in the day and Greensboro that evening came right on the heels of her debate with Trump, which Trump says he won by a landslide; however, after the debate, in the betting markets – where people put down their cold hard cash on who will win in November – Harris flipped the script.  She became favored to win.

The day after the debate, bookmakers had Harris with a 51.8 percent chance of winning compared to Trump’s 46.9 percent. (The two don’t add up to 100 percent because there are third-party candidates and others, such as Michelle Obama, that still have some money riding on them.)

So, it was no surprise that the topic of the debate was where Harris started her 27-minute speech, which seemed short for a crowd of people who had waited in line for hours. However, that’s another contrast with the Trump campaign because Trump will often speak for hours at his rallies.

“So, North Carolina, two nights ago, Donald Trump and I had our debate,” Harris said, which created a giant roar of approval from the crowd.

“You watched it? Did you watch it?” she asked excitedly.

That brought another roar of delight.

“We need to have another debate? Right, we owe it to the voters,” she said.

Later that night, Trump stated that he would not take part in another debate.  The former president said he had destroyed her in the debate Tuesday night and there was no reason to do that again.  He also said that poll after poll showed that he won the debate by a mile and there was no need to demonstrate to voters again who was the much better candidate.

The last time Harris spoke in Greensboro she did so as the vice-presidential contender campaigning for the reelection of President Joe Biden

While the crowd on September 11 was much larger than the one at the speech she gave earlier in the year at Dudley High School, the message was almost exactly the same, and much of the wording was nearly identical: Donald Trump is a threat to Democracy and she, Harris is the way forward.

“I understand that not everybody, like the person on the stage the other night – gets handed 400 million dollars on a silver platter and then files for bankruptcy six times.

As she did at Dudley High School, she spoke of Trump and a threat to Democracy as well as a moral failure.  At Dudley, several months ago, she told the crowd that Donald Trump had openly vowed that, if re-elected, he will be a dictator on day one and that he will weaponize the Department of Justice against his political enemies and round up peaceful protesters and throw them out of the country.

Harris said at both of her Greensboro appearances – at Dudley and at the coliseum – that someone like Trump, who had tried to overturn the legitimate outcome of a free and fair election and should never have the chance to stand behind the seal of the president of the United States of America.

In addition to attacking Trump, she touched on other familiar themes such as a need to look forward rather than looking and going back, and a need for economic programs that help the middle class and not the rich.

Harris called herself the underdog in the race but said the Democrats will win if they work hard enough.

“Your voice is your vote North Carolina, and you are going to make all the difference in the outcome of this race,” she told the large crowd.

“We have hard work ahead of us, but we like hard work,” Harris said. “Hard work is good work!”

She also went after Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Mark Robinson, who she said, “was handpicked by Donald Trump because he wants a total ban on abortion.”

The campaign swing and the state of the race put North Carolina solidly in the national political spotlight and, after the rally, Governor Cooper appeared on CNN in prime time with Anderson Cooper a couple of hours after Harris’ Greensboro rally.

Other prominent North Carolina Democratic leaders appeared on national TV as well that night to weigh in on the presidential race.

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