Biden, Harris visiting Raleigh with health care, polling data in mind

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Triangle is again in the political spotlight as Raleigh hosts both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for a White House visit Tuesday. It comes as North Carolina draws an increased focus from both presidential candidates ahead of the 2024 election.

"Right now, I'm happy with the president," said Jeanine Strickland, a registered Democrat who voted for Biden in 2020.

Strickland told ABC11 that she thinks the president has mostly lived up to his campaign promises.

"He did make promises about student loans, and my student loans were forgiven," she said. "So I'm happy about that."

ABC11 caught up with Strickland at Chavis Park -- where, according to a senior Biden administration official, the president will talk about affordable healthcare access on Tuesday.

The Biden administration said the President and Vice President will lay out an argument for why health care in the United States is a right, not a privilege. The politicians plan to lay out what Republicans are doing to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid and children's health insurance programs.

Conversely, they will talk about what they're doing to lower health insurance premiums permanently, get more people access to health coverage, cap drug prices and more.

Health care is a topic top-of-mind for Strickland, who had a heart attack in 2019, requiring surgery and regular medication. She said that without good coverage, she'd still be paying off medical bills.

"I would still be in medical debt for sure because I had to have emergency surgery then I had to have rehabilitation, which was very costly. And then like I said, I'm still on medication," Strickland said.

According to political experts, voters in Raleigh and Wake County remain a focal point for a Biden White House trying to flip North Carolina blue in 2024.

"All of these states that are polling closely now and we're close in 2020, I would expect a substantial investment from both presidential campaigns and that certainly goes for North Carolina," said Steven Greene, a political science professor at North Carolina State University.

WATCH | President Joe Biden, VP Kamala Harris to visit Raleigh on Tuesday

Greene said that investment is just getting started, and despite polling that shows former President Donald Trump maintains an edge in the Tar Heel State -- North Carolina still hangs in the balance.

"By sending not only the Vice President, Kamala Harris, here but sending President Biden here -- and I'm sure he will be back -- it tells us that the Biden campaign sees this state as a state, No. 1, that they can win -- and potentially very important to their attempts to win the Presidential election," Greene said.