‘Y.M.C.A.’ vs. The Boss: Kamala Harris Solutions Trump With A Rocking Rally Of Her Personal

CLARKSTON, Ga. ― A DJ spun banger after banger. President Barack Obama warmed up the gang. Rock legend Bruce Springsteen sang and performed guitar. And Kamala Harris performed lead vocals at a packed school soccer subject within the Atlanta suburbs on Thursday, firing up hundreds of individuals right into a joyous frenzy simply days earlier than the November presidential election in one of many nation’s most vital swing states.

Harris supporters sang, danced and swag surfed alongside to soul and hip-hop jams at her first rally that includes a musical efficiency, a day earlier than none apart from celebrity Beyoncé is about to headline one other occasion for the vice chairman in Texas. Prime celebrities, together with Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee and Tyler Perry, additionally spoke on her behalf because the scent of barbecue and Mexican burritos wafted out from half a dozen meals vans parked on the soccer subject.

“We know how to throw a party,” Atlanta native Angelina Noble, 61, stated as she grooved alongside to the music within the sizzling solar awaiting the present to start.

Thursday’s rally couldn’t have sounded extra totally different from a typical Donald Trump occasion, the place darkish and racist rhetoric is commonly paired with joyful anthems like ‘Y.M.C.A.’ by the Village Folks and the place the GOP presidential nominee himself typically does nothing however sway and dance onstage, as he did for 40 minutes throughout an odd city corridor earlier this month in Pennsylvania. His playlist was tuned to a a lot older technology and included songs like Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” and others from Sinead O’Connor, Elvis Presley and Weapons N’ Roses.

However Trump can also be amping up the theatrics within the closing days of the race, together with talking at a packed rally in close by Duluth, Georgia, on Wednesday night time that featured nation music star Jason Aldean, a pyrotechnic show and live performance lighting. And his marketing campaign has introduced a rally at New York Metropolis’s legendary Madison Sq. Backyard this weekend, the place particular friends are anticipated as effectively.

Nonetheless, the celebrity-filled rally reveals how Democrats, within the closing weeks of an ultra-tight presidential race the place Georgia and 6 different states stay up for grabs, are attempting to counter Trump’s raucous rallies in a method they merely didn’t in 2020, after they had an older candidate in now-President Joe Biden, and plenty of liberal voters have been cautious of the coronavirus pandemic and didn’t wish to collect in giant crowds.

It wasn’t all enjoyable at Harris’ rally on Thursday, nonetheless. This system was stuffed with dire warnings a few potential second Trump time period and mentions of what his former aides and prime generals have stated in latest weeks about their former boss, together with that he matches the mould of a fascist who praised Adolf Hitler’s generals and who denigrates service members as suckers and losers.

“Trump is running to be an American tyrant,” Springsteen warned between solo renditions of “The Promised Land” and “Dancing in the Dark.”

Harris ticked off an extended checklist of Trump’s misdeeds and stated that he has turn into “more confused, more unstable, and more angry every day.”

“He has become increasingly unhinged,” she added. “Last time at least there were people around him who could control him. They’re not with him this time. Just this week America heard from John Kelly, a retired general and one of Trump’s chiefs of staff, who said that as president, Trump praised Adolf Hitler. That Trump said Hitler ‘did some good things.’”

“This is not 2016 again and it’s not 2020,” she added, prompting one man within the crowd to scream “fascist.”

Obama, in the meantime, took intention at Black males in a nod to some polls suggesting decrease enthusiasm amongst Black voters on this election in contrast along with his personal presidential marketing campaign.

“People who think Trump’s behavior is somehow a sign of strength, I’m here to tell you, that is not what real strength is. It never has been,” Obama stated to a roar from the gang. “Real strength is about helping people who need it, and standing up to those who can’t always stand up for themselves.”

The previous president questioned Trump’s competence as he did at a rally for Harris in Madison, Wisconsin, earlier this week, the place he mocked his successor for swaying at his musical city corridor in Pennsylvania. “You’d be worried if grandpa was acting like this,” Obama stated Thursday.

Addressing Trump’s reported reward for the German dictator, he stated, “A good rule of thumb is: Don’t say you want to do anything like Hitler.”

There does look like some technique to the enjoyable. The Harris marketing campaign has finished intensive analysis into what celebrities and politicians are greatest positioned to ship the marketing campaign’s closing arguments to totally different demographics. A survey from Blueprint, a centrist Democratic group, discovered that Jackson ― who shared that he and Harris share the identical favourite swear phrase ― was the most-liked celeb amongst male registered voters.

“Her favorite curse word is a favorite of mine, too,” the actor stated. “I ain’t gonna say that word,” he added playfully, eliciting a spherical of laughter from the gang. “I don’t know about you, but that’s the kind of president I can stand behind,” he added.

Rallygoers expressed cautious optimism about Harris’ possibilities in Georgia, which flipped blue, for President Joe Biden, in 2020 for the primary time in many years, saying they hoped America would facet with good morals and character on this election.

“He’s always magical for me,” Noble stated of Obama. “I didn’t vote for him just because he was Black. I voted for him because he showed me good character and good leadership. And that’s also why I’m voting for Kamala.”

Tanika Vincent, a Spanish instructor from Atlanta, advised HuffPost she felt invigorated by Harris’ occasion, which was her first-ever political rally.

“Of course, the celebrity star power was top-notch, but what I loved was the message of inclusivity and just getting back to common sense in America,” Vincent stated.

“Like, I can’t say that I was the biggest Kamala Harris fan, but what I’m not a fan of is fascism,” she added. “Even if you don’t like her, if you don’t like Tim Walz, if you don’t like Black women ― whatever, you can’t be an American and stand for fascism.”