PHILADELPHIA — Vice President Kamala Harris stopped by Philadelphia’s Famous 4th Street Deli on Wednesday — long a haven for elected officials where the politics are probably more famous than the pastrami and other lunch fare.
She’s in town to film a CNN town hall at 9 p.m. EDT featuring her election against the former Republican president Donald Trump now less than two weeks away. But Harris first went to the homey Jewish-style deli known for its oversized sandwiches. The famous 4th Street opened in 1923 and boasts of smoking its own pastrami, pickling its corned beef and brining its pickles.
The room 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 shouted, “We’re going to win,” Harris responded, “We are.”
Later, she became even more superstitious when addressing the larger crowd, declaring, “Knock wood, God willing, we’re going to win.”
The vice president pledged to help the nation “turn the page” in an era of division, adding, “Through everything you do, we’re building community, we’re building coalitions.”
It has been a political tradition since the 1970s for politicians to gather at the deli on Election Day to talk to supporters and the media over lunch, a black-and-white cookie or both.
Harris eventually signed an order form and then grabbed a pre-ordered to-go bag with a pastrami sandwich on rye and a slice of German chocolate cake.