Wednesday, July 24, 2024

In her 1st campaign rally, Harris says building middle class to be her 'defining goal'


 Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Wisconsin on Tuesday for her first presidential campaign rally.
 Photo by Ting Shen/UPI | License Photo

July 23 (UPI) -- Vice President Kamala Harris said building up the nation's middle class will be her focus if elected president during her first campaign event as the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee.

"Building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency," Harris said. "When our middle class is strong, America is strong."

Harris appeared in Milwaukee on Tuesday afternoon to deliver her first rally speech since President Joe Biden announced he would end his campaign and endorsed her.

Harris said her campaign is focused on the future.

"We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity to not just get by but to get ahead," Harris told the rally attendees.

"No child has to grow up in poverty," Harris said. "Every worker has the freedom to join a union."

She said everyone should have access to affordable health care, affordable child care and paid family medical leave.

"We believe in a future where every senior can retire in dignity," Harris added.

Harris also tried to tie former President Donald Trump to Project 2025 and claimed it is his platform.

Trump has denied having any knowledge of Project 2025 and said claims like the one Harris made Tuesday are "pure disinformation."

Trump said the Republican Party platform has nothing to do with the 2025 Project, which the Heritage Foundation created. Critics, though, point out that Trump embraced almost two-thirds of the policy recommendations made by the Heritage Foundation during his first year in the White House.

The Wisconsin visit is the ninth for Harris since becoming vice president and her fifth this year.

Since Harris announced her run for president, Wisconsin Democrats, including Gov. Tony Evers, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Rep. Gwen Moore and Rep. Mark Pocan, have all rallied behind her.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., also publicly endorsed Harris for the presidency on Tuesday.

"Democrats have built a massive coordinated campaign in Wisconsin, which is now entirely focused on electing Kamala Harris as president," Harris' campaign said in a statement.

Harris' arrival in Milwaukee also came in the wake of the city hosting the Republican National Convention last week, where Trump officially accepted the party's nomination to run for president.

"Over the next few months, I will be traveling across the country talking to Americans about everything that is on the line," Harris said in a statement Monday as she said she had secured commitments from enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee for the party.

"I fully intend to unite our party, unite our nation and defeat Donald Trump in November," Harris added.

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Winkler said more than 90% of the state's delegates have pledged their support for Harris.

She is expected to fly back to Washington after the rally.

Harris is still awaiting a virtual roll call from the Democratic National Committee as well as its convention next month in Chicago before becoming the official nominee of the party.

In Milwaukee, Vice President Harris lays out choice between ‘compassion’ and ‘chaos’

Baylor Spears, Wisconsin Examiner
July 24, 2024 

Vice President Kamala Harris (Jeff Kowalsky | AFP | Getty Images)

Vice President Kamala Harris laid out her case for the presidency to an energetic crowd in the gym of West Allis Central High School in Milwaukee on Tuesday — two days after President Joe Biden decided to step out of the 2024 presidential race.

The rally in the battleground state of Wisconsin, which was planned before Biden’s decision to drop out, was Harris’ first as the all-but-certain Democratic nominee, having gathered the support of enough delegates to secure the nomination on Monday. The energy at the rally was palpable with rally-goers embracing Harris’ candidacy after weeks of uncertainty that plagued Democrats following Biden’s unsteady debate performance in June.

Harris painted a stark contrast between her campaign and that of former President Donald Trump.

“Ultimately, in this election we each face a question: What kind of country do we want to live in?” Harris said. “Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hate?”

She pointed to her experience as the California attorney general, San Francisco district attorney and as a prosecutor, saying it prepared her to run against Trump.

“In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds — predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who wrote the rules for their own game.” Harris said. “So hear me what I say, I know Donald Trump’s type.” The crowd erupted into cheers and chants of “Kamala!” “Kamala!” Kamala!”

Harris said she would “proudly” put her record up against Trump’s any day. She also emphasized, however, that the campaign is not “just about us versus Donald Trump.”

“This campaign is about who we fight for,” Harris said, adding that it would be a “people powered” campaign.

“This campaign is also about two different visions for our nation — one where we are focused on the future, the other focused on the past,” Harris said. “We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity, not just to get by, but to get ahead, a future where no child has to grow up in poverty, where every worker has the freedom to join a union, where everyone has affordable health care, child care and paid family leave…. This is to say building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.”

More than 3,000 people attended the rally according to the Harris campaign — making it the largest event of the year for the Biden, now Harris, campaign. 
(Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)

Harris was welcomed to Milwaukee by Wisconsin Democratic leaders, many of whom announced their support of Harris’ candidacy within 48 hours of Biden’s announcement. Before Harris took the stage, those leaders sought to emphasize the stakes of the election.

Gov. Tony Evers said that on his excitement scale — which goes from “holy mackerel and maxes out at heck yes” — he was “jazzed as hell” to welcome Harris to Wisconsin. He said the choice has never been clearer.

“Donald Trump and J.D. Vance’s path to seizing power, destroying our democracy and taking away our freedoms runs right through the state of Wisconsin, and we are going to stop them,” Evers said.

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler, who kicked off the event, said that Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, want to take the country backwards. He told rally-goers to google Project 2025 — the 900-page document created by the Heritage Foundation that is meant to serve as a policy blueprint for the Trump administration.

Wikler, before taking the stage, told reporters that the biggest challenge of the campaign is “totally out the window.”

“If you’d asked me six weeks ago, what was the biggest challenge in this campaign? I would have said the biggest challenge is that a lot of voters have stopped paying attention. They’re not tuning in. They’re not paying attention to what Trump wants to do to this country,” Wikler said.

“This is now one of the most fascinating and exciting presidential elections in modern history and Vice President Harris is an unparalleled messenger for a message of freedom, of expanding democracy and hope and opportunity, of lifting up working people in every corner of this country,” Wikler said.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley told the Examiner that he is starting to see enthusiasm about Harris online, at home from his wife and daughters and in general.


“We’ve been dealing with distractions for the past couple of weeks, past couple of months — whether or not Biden was going to stay in this race and many Democrats calling for him to step aside,” Crowley said. “This gives us an opportunity again to focus on the issues that are at hand — focusing on reproductive rights, focusing on making sure that we can move this entire country forward and really unifying this country.”

The issue of reproductive rights came up repeatedly from elected officials as well as attendees of the rally and in Harris’ remarks.

“We trust women to make decisions about their own body,” Harris said.


Wisconsin Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski rallied the crowd by saying that Harris could help break the “glass ceiling” finally. She told the Examiner that Harris would be able to bring reproductive rights to the forefront of the campaign in part because she is a woman.

“For far too long, women have felt that reproductive rights has been treated like an afterthought, and part of that reason is because we don’t have a woman fighting at the front of that line,” Godlewski said. “[Harris] understands that it’s our body, it’s our choice and it’s not going to be this second or third tier issue. It’s going to be a top priority for her to make sure we get these reproductive rights back once and for all.”

More than 3,000 people attended the rally according to the Harris campaign — making it the largest event of the year for the Biden, now Harris, campaign.


Déysha Smith-Jenkins, a Milwaukee freelance journalist, said she was feeling “fired up” following the speech.

“I love how she emphasized ‘We.’ I didn’t hear what ‘I will do.’ It was ‘We’ — We, as a people, we, as a nation, we, as a Democratic party, in order for us to keep fighting and get this job done. … I’m sweating with excitement,” Smith-Jenkins said. “I believe in the words that she said.”

Smith-Jenkins said she was planning on attending the rally before Biden dropped out but Harris’ candidacy gave her a reason to wear her “power green suit.” She is part of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. — AKA — the same historically Black sorority that Harris joined at Howard University.


Déysha Smith-Jenkins is part of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. — AKA — the same historically Black sorority that Harris joined at Howard University. She wore her “power green” suit for the rally. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)

“Now that [Kamala Harris] was already the [VPOTUS], president doesn’t seem too far, so that just goes to say there’s no dream that’s too wide, too far that can’t be reached and it’s amazing to see someone that looks like me in a position that way. And also we just happen to be in the same sorority,” Smith-Jenking said. “It’s beautiful.”

Jodi Jean Amble attended the rally with her 9-year-old daughter, Ada. She said that she wanted her daughter to see a Black woman running for president.


“[My daughter] said this morning that she didn’t know if she wanted to come, but she thought when she was an adult, she would regret it if she didn’t,” Amble said. “I think she knows that she’s seeing a big piece of history.”

Chris Ahmuty, a Milwaukee retiree who used to serve as the executive director of the Wisconsin ACLU, said Harris’ candidacy will “give us a chance to reset the election and offer some real hope.” He was at a fundraiser for U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who is being challenged by Republican millionaire businessman Eric Hovde, when he and the other attendees learned that Biden would be dropping out.

“It’s not about [Biden’s] fitness to serve out the end of his term. He’s totally fit. He’s certainly done a good job… but my concern for quite a while has been, what about in two years? What about in three years? Are we just postponing a crisis?” Ahmuty said.

Ahmuty, who has lived in Milwaukee since 1972, said he appreciates that Harris, who is 59, is younger. He said that he hopes the “reset of the campaign” will solidify the Democratic base and bring in voters who were less enthusiastic about Biden, including young voters.

16-year-old Ava Hicks of Milwaukee said it was exciting to learn that Biden would be stepping out of the race.

“I think universally, everyone’s kind of tired of these older candidates and staying a little bit redundant, so it’s nice to see something fresh,” Hicks said.

Hicks noted that she won’t be able to vote in November, but that “it’s really important that everyone gets out.” She is a part of High School Democrats of America, and said she would be working to organize and spread awareness leading up to November.

“Women’s rights, education costs, everything is on the ballot this November,” she said.

In a similar vein, Harris told rally-goers that there is a lot of work to be done in the 105 days left until the November 5 election.

“We have doors to knock on. We have phone calls to make. Wisconsin, today I ask you, are you ready to get to work? Are we ready to fight for it? When we fight, we win,” Harris said, before walking off the stage to Beyonce’s song ‘Freedom.’


Wisconsin Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Wisconsin Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Ruth Conniff for questions: info@wisconsinexaminer.com. Follow Wisconsin Examiner on Facebook and X.

Kamala Harris defines campaign in roaring rally: ‘People first’ vs. ‘America first’
The New Civil Rights Movement
July 23, 2024 

live.staticflickr.com

Speaking before thousands of cheering and screaming supporters in must-win Wisconsin, Kamala Harris defined herself and her campaign for President in her first rally after President Joe Biden announced he would not continue his re-election campaign and endorsed his vice president. Harris repeatedly used the term “people first,” a clear contrast to the MAGA Republican nominee’s “America First” rhetoric.

“Just look at how we are running our campaign. So Donald Trump is relying on support from billionaires and big corporations, and he is trading access in exchange for campaign contributions,” Harris said, eliciting boos from the crowd. “A couple of months ago, y’all saw that? A couple months ago at Mar-a-Lago, he literally promised big oil companies – big oil lobbyists – he would do their bidding for $1 billion in campaign donations.”



The crowd again booed.

“On the other hand, we are running a people-powered campaign,” Harris said to cheers, “and we just had, some breaking news, we just had the best 24 hours,” Harris continued before the crowd again broke out into cheers, “of grassroots fundraising in presidential campaign history. And because we are a people-powered campaign, that is how you know we will be a people first presidency.”



Before pivoting to Donald Trump, Harris shared with her supporters her law enforcement background. She was elected as San Francisco’s District Attorney, which she described as being a “courtroom prosecutor,” and later, elected as California Attorney General.


“In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds,” the Vice President said, “predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain.”

“So, hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump’s type,” Harris declared, stopping to take a long, hard stare into the camera.

Harris also told supporters she will protect the right to vote, the right to “live safe from the terror of gun violence.”

“We’ll finally pass red flag laws, universal background checks, and an assault weapons ban,” she declared to cheers.

“And we, who believe in reproductive freedom, will stop Donald Trump’s extreme abortion bans because we trust women to make decisions about their own bodies,” she said to wild cheers, “and not have their government tell them what to do,” she concluded, forced to shout above the roaring crowd.


According to the Institute for Policy Studies’s Foreign Policy in Focus, the “America First” label “began to develop a racist, anti-Semitic, and xenophobic tone after World War I. The Ku Klux Klan, which surged to some five million members at that time, employed it frequently for its terrorist mobilizations. Like the Klan, nativist groups took up ‘America First’ as they used racist, eugenicist claims to press, successfully, for U.S. government restrictions on immigration. Appealing to an overheated nationalism, William Randolph Hearst used his newspaper empire to campaign, successfully, against U.S. participation in the League of Nations. Soon thereafter, he became a booster of other nationalist fanatics, the rising fascist powers.”

Watch: 'Hell, she's impressive': Harris praised for energetic Wisconsin speech

Brad Reed
July 23, 2024
RAW STORY

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 21: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during an NCAA championship teams celebration on the South Lawn of the White House on July 22, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a speech before an enthusiastic crowd in Milwaukee on Tuesday that earned plaudits from many progressive political observers — as well as relief about the contrast she delivers between herself and both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Harris, who was endorsed by Biden on Sunday after he announced that he would be dropping out of the 2024 race, delivered a fiery address that touched on themes ranging from voting rights to reproductive freedoms to gun safety.

Writing on Twitter, many progressives took immediate note of the jolt of energy she had injected into the campaign.

"Elections are about all kinds of things, but I think a happy person talking about the future fits the moment better than an angry old man yelling about the past," argued Slate columnist Zachary Carter.

Watching Kamala Harris speaking in Wisconsin... By hell she’s impressive," wrote British broadcaster and media personality Carol Vorderman. "And she’s going to win … she’s energizing the young voters and has no fear of the fight."

RELATED: Harris leads Trump in first poll taken since Biden quit

NYU Law professor Chris Sprigman, meanwhile, praised Harris for delivering "a smiling, warm, positive affect, combined with coherent, declarative sentences in plain English."

"The election is going to be hard-fought," he added. "But God what a relief."

"So glad Harris is going with a future-focused message against Trump," commented Pod Save America host Tommy Vietor. "That's been missing to date imo. This is a Janet Jackson election: what have you done for me lately?"

Political reporters who watched the event also took notice of the new energy delivered by Harris.

"Hard to overstate how hyped the crowd is," wrote Politico Playbook's Eugene Daniels


"Very different vibe than usual."

"The contrast between Harris's speech and the speeches we've been hearing Biden give all year was striking," wrote New York Times reporter Peter Baker. "At none of the Biden speeches I've covered lately was the case made against the other side this sharply defined and delivered nor has there been this kind of energy."



'Entirely different race': CNN panel in awe as Kamala Harris redefines the war on Trump

Matthew Chapman
RAW STORY
July 23, 2024 

Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at the third meeting of the National Space Council, Dec. 20, 2023. Photo: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

A panel of CNN experts sought to make sense of how the presidential race is being reshaped, as Vice President Kamala Harris took the stage in Milwaukee for a packed rally.

"This is a prosecutor making her case," said reporter Jeff Zeleny. "This is also the same vice president who has been out there really for the last three years making speeches, but not when she is at the top of the ticket, something has changed obviously. Now this is her burden. This is her case. And often when the vice president has been out there — I've been at several of her rallies, she's been talking about the Affordable Care Act, the infrastructure fund. She's been selling the administration's programs, but not in a political speech like this."

"So look, the race to define Vice President Kamala Harris is on," Zeleny continued. "She is locked in this race. Obviously, she's trying to define herself as the prosecutor and the Republicans are also trying to define her, but in this key moment here, right out of the gate, it was just striking to watch." After months of handwringing from Democrats over President Joe Biden's fitness to run, "Just judging her stamina, her energy and her acuity at taking this onto Donald Trump, we're in an entirely different race now."

Analyst Kristen Holmes concurred with this assessment — and added that this moment is critical for the Trump campaign.

"I think right now what the Trump folks are focused on is this race to define Kamala Harris," said Holmes. "Because when they look at all the polling, they obviously see the same thing that everybody else did, which was that Kamala Harris has high name identification. But when it comes to what people actually know about Harris, not just as vice president, but also as her time as a prosecutor, most people don't know a lot about her history ... you are going to see [Trump] trying to educate people or quote-unquote, 'introduce' Kamala Harris, their version of Kamala Harris, to the American public, and it's obviously going to be increasingly negative."

At the same time, she added, Trump's main pollster Tony Fabrizio has a memo out warning that there will likely be a "Harris honeymoon" that wipes out Trump's monthslong, tenuous polling lead.

"They expect over time, things will even out," she said, but "again, this is expectation setting for people who have been seeing these poll numbers with Donald Trump. Probably also expectation setting for the candidate himself."

Watch the video below or at the link here.

 


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