It’s been a long time since Democratic voters associated politics with joy. This week, from one swing state to the next, Vice President Harris and her new running mate, Tim Walz, barnstormed joyfully, lifted by the cheers of the largest rally crowds of their campaign.
There were 12,000 supporters in Eau Claire, Wis., and also in Las Vegas; an estimated 14,000, including the overflow room, in Philadelphia; about 15,000 in Phoenix; and a similar number spilling out of an aircraft hangar at the Detroit airport where that rally took place.
The campaign has also boasted of a $36 million influx in donations in the 24 hours after Walz joined the ticket, and another $12 million-plus from a fundraiser slated for later on Sunday in San Francisco.
There has been a dramatic mood shift both among Democratic voters and in the campaign messaging since President Biden stepped aside and endorsed Harris. But even the new candidates admit there is much work to do before November.
'Joyful warriors'
When Air Force 2 landed in Detroit on Wednesday, it was instantly clear this was a different campaign than the grim march to November Democrats had been girding themselves for.
There was a party atmosphere. Harris aides danced on the tarmac and DJs pumped up the crowd with songs like “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston, as everyone waited for Harris and Walz to step off the plane. When they did, the place went wild.
Walz raised both arms in the air in exclamation, and then the pair walked across the tarmac directly to excited supporters waving signs.
At a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday, just hours after Harris called the Minnesota governor at home to tell him he was the one, Walz thanked her.
“Thank you, Madam Vice President, for the trust you put in me. But maybe more so, thank you for bringing back the joy,” Walz said at their first rally.
Cheers took over the building and Harris smiled back.
“In this fight, as Tim Walz likes to point out, we are joyful warriors,” said Harris in Eau Claire. “Because we know that, while fighting for a brighter future may be hard work, hard work is good work.”
Josie Steller and Tim Cincoski left their house at 7:30 a.m. to get to the Harris-Walz rally in Wisconsin Wednesday afternoon.
“Three or four weeks ago, we were pretty down in the dumps,” Cincoski said.
Steller said they were even thinking about deleting social media because it was all so depressing. But not anymore.
“It just feels like it flipped so much,” Cincoski added.
'Kamala and the coach'
Walz and Harris didn’t know each other well before she selected him to be her running mate. But Harris has been emphasizing that they have much in common, despite their different backgrounds.
“The same people raised us. Good people, hard-working people, people who had pride in their hard work,” Harris told union workers at an event in Detroit Thursday.
In her stump speech at several events, Harris has also played up the middle-class roots that she and Walz share.
“One a daughter of Oakland, Calif., who was raised by a working mother and had a summer job at McDonald's,” Harris said, describing herself. “The other, a son of the Nebraska plains who grew up working on a farm.”
Only in America, she said, is it possible for them both to make it all the way to the White House.
While optimism is certainly better than fatalism, big crowds and psyched supporters can’t on their own win elections.
Just like the Mankato West High School football team Walz once coached, Harris says she and Walz are the underdogs in this race. Recent polls show Harris edging ahead of Trump, but they also show a race that could be won or lost within the margin of error. Independent and undecided voters will make the difference.
Still, Harris and Walz appear to be enjoying the spike in energy. On Friday morning, they visited a campaign office in north Phoenix where about a dozen volunteers were painting signs at a center table.
One large banner read “Kamala and the coach,” referring to Walz, who later snapped a selfie with him and Harris in front of it.
Harris recalled how her first campaign, when she ran for district attorney of San Francisco, had a similar set up. She shared that volunteers used to sit around a long table and stuff envelopes.
“We’re doing this together,” she told volunteers as she shook hands. “We’re doing this.”
There are challenges ahead for Harris
Presidential campaigns can be punishing, and there’s little chance that Harris, even with all her recent good fortune, will face a glide path to November. This week, there were hints of the challenges to come.
Protesters interrupted her remarks in Detroit, demanding a cease-fire in Gaza. After the second interruption, she stopped mid-sentence to shut them down.
“You know what, if you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking,” Harris said, staring down the protesters.
By the next morning, she was getting criticism from both the left and the right, questioning where she really stands on Israel and its war with Hamas in Gaza. It’s an issue that has proven a wedge in the Democratic base.
Harris’ stance on Israel is the same as President Biden’s: She doesn’t support an arms embargo on Israel, which many protestors have been asking for.
The rally disruption drove home that changing the top of the ticket didn’t erase the challenge for the party.
But Harris seemed to recognize that when she was interrupted again in Glendale, Ariz., Friday night, broadly addressing the work being done on getting a cease-fire deal.
“We’re here to fight for our democracy, which includes respecting the voices that I think we are hearing from,” Harris said, pausing her remarks to address those shouting “Free Palestine.”
“Now is the time to get a cease-fire deal and get the hostage deal done,” Harris said. “The president and I are working around the clock every day to get that cease-fire deal done and bring the hostages home. So, I respect your voices, but we are here to now talk about this race in 2024.”
The pressure is building for Harris to move beyond feel-good rally speeches to detail what she wants to do as president and how she intends to do it.
After the Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance accused her of dodging the press and Trump took questions from reporters in a meandering, factually challenged press conference in Florida, Harris walked up to the reporters gathered under the wing of Air Force 2 on her way from Detroit on Thursday.
She took questions, answering in rapid fire, and made news of her own. She committed to a sit-down interview by month’s end, and at least one debate with Trump in September.
In this truncated campaign, everything is moving so fast.
At one point during a rally speech, Harris reflected on something that happened last week, but accidentally said “last year.”
She corrected herself. “It feels like last year,” Harris said, as the crowd laughed.
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Transcript
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Vice President Kamala Harris is campaigning in Arizona today with her running mate, Tim Walz, by her side. In a campaign that has been moving at warp speed, this week has been a whirlwind for the Democratic ticket. NPR senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith takes us on the candidates' swing state tour.
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: When Air Force Two landed at the Detroit Airport, it was instantly clear that this is a different campaign than the grim March to November Democrats had been girding themselves for.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: All right, (inaudible). Get ready for the future president of the United States, Kamala Harris. (Inaudible). Make some noise.
KEITH: There was a party atmosphere, with thousands of supporters spilling out of the aircraft hangar where the rally was being held. Harris aides danced on the tarmac, and DJs pumped up the crowd as everyone waited for Harris and Walz to step off the plane, and when they did, the place went wild. It was a scene that resembled Trump rallies from an earlier era. But for Democrats, there hasn't been a nominee who could consistently attract these kinds of crowds since Obama. Just 24 hours earlier, Harris and Walz were in an arena, Temple University, together on stage for the first time.
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Good evening, Philadelphia.
KEITH: Harris introduced Walz, a governor and former congressman who got his start as a high school teacher and football coach.
HARRIS: Under those Friday night lights, Coach Walz motivated his players to believe they could achieve anything. And together, they defied the odds - hear this out - going from a winless record to the school's first-ever state championship.
KEITH: When Walz took the mic, he thanked Harris, who less than 12 hours earlier had called him at home in Minnesota to tell him he was the one.
TIM WALZ: Thank you, Madam Vice President, for the trust you put in me. But maybe more so, thank you for bringing back the joy.
KEITH: For Democrats, joy and politics haven't gone together in a long time. Josie Steller and Tim Cincoski left their house at 7:30 in the morning to get to the Harris-Walz rally in Eau Claire, Wis., Wednesday afternoon.
TIM CINCOSKI: We were talking about that on the car right here. Like, four, three, four weeks ago, we were pretty down in the dumps, you know, and pretty worried, had a pretty gloomy outlook.
JOSIE STELLER: Like, deleting social media just to, like, not look at the negativity and everything.
CINCOSKI: And now, yeah, it just feels like it flipped so much.
KEITH: This week on the campaign trail, Harris, who Republicans have mocked for her laugh, is going all in on joy.
HARRIS: In this fight, as Tim Walz likes to point out, we are joyful warriors because we know that while fighting for a brighter future may be hard work, hard work is good work. Hard work is good work.
KEITH: Just like the Mankato West football team Walz coached, Harris says she and Walz are still the underdogs in this race. Recent polls show Harris edging ahead of Trump, but they also show a race that could be won or lost within the margin of error. Standing in front of an estimated 15,000 people in Detroit, a record for the campaign, Walz tried to prepare supporters for the hard work ahead.
WALZ: And here's my thing. There's a lot of things going to happen, by the way. We got about 91 days, and I keep telling people it's 91 days. My God, you can do anything for 91 days, 90. Christ, I haven't slept in 24 hours. You know why? We'll sleep when we're dead. We'll sleep when we're dead.
KEITH: Presidential campaigns can be punishing, and there's little chance that Harris, even with all her recent good fortune, will face a glide path to November. There were hints of the challenges that could come. Protesters interrupted her remarks in Detroit, demanding a cease-fire in Gaza. And after the second interruption, she stopped mid-sentence to shut them down.
HARRIS: You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that, otherwise, I'm speaking.
KEITH: By the next morning, she was getting criticism from both the left and the right about where she stands on Israel and its war with Hamas. And more broadly, the pressure is building for Harris to move beyond feel-good rally speeches to detail what she wants to do as president and how she intends to do it. She committed to a sit-down interview by month's end and at least one debate with former President Trump in September. It's all moving so fast. Tamara Keith, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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