PHILADELPHIA — Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday popped into Philadelphia’s Famous 4th Street Deli — a longtime haven for elected officials where the politics is probably more famous than the pastrami and other lunchtime staples.
She is in town to film a CNN town hall at 9 p.m. EDT, with her election against Republican former President Donald Trump now less than two weeks away. The vice president will take questions before an audience of undecided voters as part of what was once envisioned as a debate with Trump. Harris had said she would participate in a CNN debate but the two sides never worked out a formal agreement.
Harris first hit the homey, Jewish-style deli known for its extra-large sandwiches. Famous 4th Street opened in 1923, and boasts of smoking its own pastrami, pickling its corned beef and brining its pickles.
The place was packed with what Harris called “super volunteers,” and Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker was also in attendance. The vice president paused for selfies with some volunteers and Parker. When one man cried, “We’re gonna win,” Harris responded, “We are.”
Later she was more superstitious while addressing the larger crowd, declaring, “Knock wood, God willing, we are going to win.”
The vice president promised to help the nation “turn the page” on an era of division, adding, “Because of all you are doing, we are building community, we are building coalitions.”
It has been a political tradition since the 1970s for politicians to gather at the deli on Election Day to talk shop with supporters and the media while having lunch, a black-and-white cookie or both.
Harris eventually signed an order sheet, then grabbed a preordered to-go bag with a pastrami sandwich on rye and a slice of German chocolate cake.
