TOO CLOSE TO CALL
Pence hits NH as voters say Trump support strong
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Vice President Mike Pence knocked Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s health and tax plans and touted the economic gains under the Trump administration as he rallied voters just 13 days before Election Day in a swing state where supporters say the presidential race feels tighter than the polls show.
“Come Nov. 3, it’s going to be a choice between a Trump recovery and a Biden depression,” Pence told a crowd of several hundred mostly masked supporters who chanted and cheered through a lingering drizzle Wednesday afternoon outside Port City Air.
Pence ran through the greatest hits of the Trump administration, from cutting taxes to “rebuilding the military” and putting China “on notice” over trade.
He worked to tie Democratic rival Biden to “higher taxes, open borders,” a Green New Deal, which the former vice president said he does not support, and “court packing,” which Biden said he’ll tell voters his stance on before Election Day.
“It’s clear,” Pence said, “Joe Biden would be nothing more as a Trojan Horse for the radical left.”
As COVID-19 cases rise in New England and across the nation, the vice president, who leads the White House coronavirus task force, said, “We’re just a matter of weeks away from having the first safe and effective coronavirus vaccine and tens of millions of doses available for the American people.”
Pence touted Trump’s third Supreme Court pick, federal appeals court Judge Amy Coney Barrett, with senators on track to vote on her confirmation before the end of the month.
And he offered support for law enforcement by pledging “we’re not going to defund the police” — leading to a chorus of “back the blue” chants.
Behind by double digits on average in New Hampshire polls with less than two weeks until the final votes are cast, Pence urged people to get out and vote.
“The road to victory goes right through New Hampshire,” Pence said, reminding supporters, “You said yes in that first-in-the-nation primary to Donald Trump in 2016, and I know New Hampshire’s going to say yes to Donald Trump in 2020.”
Trump supporter Alison Hogg of Fremont, N.H., said the polls don’t reflect what she sees on the ground.
“There are many, many, many flags, lots of yard signs,” for Trump, she said. “The support is strong.”
Lou Gargiulo, co-chairman of Trump’s campaign in New Hampshire, said, “I believe we’re going to win the state. I see it in the campaigning, I see it in the highway signs, in the thumbs-ups.”
Republican Susan Parker of Greenland, N.H., who said she’s still weighing the candidates, said the race in the Granite State is “tighter than the polls suggest.”