Thread by @asanderford

Spending part of today with @DouglasEmhoff of the @JoeBiden campaign in North #Omaha.

He’ll be joining a voter voting early at the Ames library drop box, then heading to a drive-in rally near 24th and Lake.

Here’s a little from his speech. I’ll tweet some highlights soon. But I have to travel to another spot first.

Here’s a look at the drive-in rally near 24th and Lake. @karaforcongress and @DouglasEmhoff are here. So is first time presidential voter Nadia Spurlock, a @UNLincoln sophomore.

Emhoff: "We are going to win this election, and we are going to win here in North Omaha."

Emhoff: Joe and Kamala are going to make testing free and quick. Tests don’t matter if they take two weeks to get results. Contact tracing must be done much more than it is now.

Emhoff: 18 days left until we can take our country back. We are going to win and win big. Need to make sure we get a mandate that this guy, no matter how hard he tries, that he can't refute.

Emhoff: You guys delivered the blue dot for President Obama in 2008. We’re going to do it again.

Nadia Scurlock, the UNL sophomore who introduced him, said she was casting her first presidential election vote for @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris. She said she and her mom would be going to the polls together to cast a vote for the first Black woman Vice President.

Kara Eastman, the Democrat running against @DonJBacon in the Omaha area's House race, said we need to get "everybody in this city and this area to vote." She said Omaha can make two firsts happen, electing its first woman to Congress and the first Black woman as VP.

(I'm sorry for the reverse order tweeting. I had to cover two events in two spots and drive here, so I took notes and am tweeting after they've just finished.)

Earlier today, at a small gathering in North #Omaha, @DouglasEmhoff celebrated the drop box delivery of the first presidential vote by Omaha Burke graduate Che’Marquis Pinkney, who credited his AP government teacher with sharing the value of his vote. He’s shown here with Emhoff.

Pinkney: He taught us how political participation can make a difference. Older Americans vote at much higher rates than my generation. Me, I’m voting for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris because they’re the right team. On health care and police reform, they’re right for me.

Pinkney was joined by Omaha City Councilman Ben Gray, State Sen. @JustinTWayne and the Douglas County Board’s @ctoddrodgers, shown in separate shots.

Said Gray: "You all need to recognize that you need to vote like your life depends on it, because it does."

Said Wayne: We are in the eye of the storm, on the front line. Our vote matters more than it ever has before.

Said Rodgers: As part of the Douglas County Board, we are in charge of voting … I want to assure you that here in Douglas County, you can trust the process and the security of your vote.

Finally, Emhoff spoke at both events.

Emhoff: Because of you, all of the people, especially all of the young people, Nebraska is going to play a huge role in electing Joe Biden as president and my wife Kamala Harris as vice president of the United States.

Emhoff also addressed recent positive tests on the VP pick's team.

He said: Earlier this week two members of our traveling team tested positive for COVID-19. We’ve been in touch. They’re healthy. We stand by any of you suffering.

Emhoff: We believe it’s important to model the right behavior. (Even used a separate mic.) We will always be transparent with any results. Everyone wear a mask. Keep social distancing. Wash your hands. Just follow the science.

Emhoff: We know we’re going to wake up on Nov. 4 knowing we did everything we could to elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris … Change is definitely coming.

Preya Samsundar of the Republican National Committee said this of Emhoff's visit:

“With more than three million direct voter contacts between Nebraska and Iowa alone, Trump Victory’s permanent, data-driven ground game cannot be matched by Biden’s bare bones campaign."

Samsundar: After ignoring the heartland for years on end, the Biden campaign’s last ditch efforts to get out the vote will be worthless.”

Thank you all for following along. Now it's time to write the early version for @OWHnews in the car.

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