Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, who appeared together in the hometown of Michigan's largest university, sought Tuesday to burnish their credentials with young voters and calm Democrats who had grown nervous about the apparent stalemate in the race to keep Donald Trump outside the White House. dragged
Much of the rhetoric at the evening rally in Ann Arbor, a city synonymous with the University of Michigan and its student body of nearly 53,000, was aimed squarely at first-time voters who have traditionally been a treasure trove of votes for Democrats. Speaking in a city park just south of the university campus, Harris offered solace to a generation where many see their challenges as existential.
“I want to speak specifically to all the young leaders, all the students who are here today,” Harris said. “So, I love your generation. I really believe that, and one of the things is that you are, rightly, impatient for change.”
“You are impatient for change because, look, you have only known the climate crisis and you are leading the charge to protect our planet and our future. You young leaders who grew up with active shooter drills and who are fighting, then, to keep our schools safe. You, who now know fewer rights than your mothers and grandmothers, are defending reproductive freedom, and for you, then, I know that these issues at stake are not theoretical. This is not political for you. It is your lived experience, and I see you and I see your power.”
It was a similar tone taken by Maggie Rogers, the 30-year-old Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter who was the rally's warm-up act and one of several music stars the Harris campaign has booked for its recent events.
“As I stand here with you today, I can no longer ignore the headlines I have been seeing on my phone. “I have to face the reality of what is going to happen in the next eight days and to tell you the whole truth, it is terrifying,” Rogers said.
“These are such wild and unprecedented times, and the energy feels so high, and the future so uncertain, and I don't always know what to do with that feeling, but there is something for me that is bigger than fear, and that is action, may all of you be here today, right now, and vote; Voting is the key to the future.”
Early voting began in Michigan two days ago, and Walz and Harris encouraged young people to get involved in their ballots. That they do so could prove essential to ensuring Democratic victories across the polls in a swing state where polls do not show a clear favorite.
Democrats have for decades counted on Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which form the trio of Democratic “Blue Wall” states along the Great Lakes, to carry their candidates to the White House.
That confidence was shattered in 2016, when Trump narrowly won all three in his upset victory over Hillary Clinton, only for Biden to win them back, again narrowly, four years later. The margins this year are expected to be tight: Polls have shown Harris and Trump tied or just ahead in every state, as they have in the Solar Belt's four most contested states.
Walz acknowledged the tension, telling the crowd: “If you feel any of that anxiety, any of that nervousness, any of that worry, we have the solution for you: go out and vote for Kamala Harris. I know, I did it last Wednesday with my son, who voted for the first time, and it works.”
Among Blue Wall states, Michigan gave Biden his largest margin of victory in 2020, and its governor, Gretchen Whitmer, is among the party's rising stars who was briefly seen as his successor until Harris intervened. But Biden's support for Israel after the October 7 attack and its subsequent invasions of Lazada and Lebanon have alienated the large community of Arab Americans and Muslims around Detroit, who were otherwise expected to support to the Democrats.
Harris has said little different from Biden about the conflict, noting that she supports a ceasefire in Lazada and the release of hostages taken by Hamas on October 7. But his campaign found time at the Ann Arbor rally to hear from Assad Turfe, the top official. top Arab-American official in the Detroit area, who said his community should support the vice president.
“Vice President Harris has called for a ceasefire that returns the hostages home, allows displaced families in Lebanon to return to their villages, and gives the Palestinian people the dignity and self-determination they deserve. When he wins, he will continue to do everything he can to bring relief to innocent civilians and ensure lasting peace for the region,” said Turfe, Deputy Wayne County Executive.
“We know what Trump thinks about Muslims and Arab Americans and how he treats us,” Turfe continued, mentioning the ban Trump imposed during his presidency on people entering the United States from Muslim-majority countries, and his recent comments in support of Israel's invasion. from Lazada.
“If he has another chance to occupy the Oval Office, it will only bring more chaos and more suffering.”
However, it was not enough to stop a dozen people, mostly young people, from disrupting Harris' speech, shouting “stop the genocide” and waving signs that said “leave Harris.” The vice president, who has experienced this repeatedly during the election campaign, responded as she usually does: “We all want this war to end as soon as possible and get the hostages out, and I will do everything in my power to achieve that. so.”
The war in Lazada is an issue that matters to Haley Litman, a University of Michigan psychology student who attended Harris' speech. But he said denying the vice president his vote wouldn't solve anything.
“There have definitely been protests on both sides and it is a problem for me. However, I think electing Kamala gives us an opportunity to address the issue. “If we elected Trump, I feel there is no possibility of addressing that issue,” he said.