A roaring crowd of battleground state voters greeted Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday as she opened her public case against Republican former President Donald Trump by declaring November’s election will be “a choice between freedom and chaos.”
“In this campaign, I promise you, I will proudly put my record against his any day of the week,” Harris said. “We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead.”
Harris arrived in the Milwaukee area having locked up nomination support from Democratic delegates after President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid on Sunday. It was her first campaign rally since she jumped into the race just two days ago with Biden’s endorsement.
The event reflected a vibrancy that had been lacking among Democrats in recent weeks, and Harris was intent on projecting a sense of steady confidence about the November election. She’s pulled in $100 million ($167 million NZD) in donations since Sunday afternoon and on Tuesday picked up the backing of more Democratic officials and political groups, including congressional leaders Charles Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries.
By stopping in Wisconsin, Harris was putting down a marker in one of the “blue wall” states along with Michigan and Pennsylvania that Democrats see as essential for securing a presidential victory.
The visit comes a week after the Republican National Convention wrapped up in the city and as Harris works to sharpen her message against the GOP nominee with just over 100 days until Election Day.
Harris’ trip to the state was a sharp contrast to Biden’s July 6 visit, when he was trying to reassure Democrats who were wary after his troubling performance in the June 27 debate against Trump. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who is up for reelection this year, had skipped the Biden event, but she spoke before Harris on Tuesday.
Harris is leaning into her resume as a former district attorney and California attorney general, seeking to draw a contrast with Trump, who is the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes.
“She’s prepared to meet this moment because she was professionally trained to prosecute a criminal, and unfortunately that’s who the Republicans have put forward,” said Senator Laphonza Butler, D-Calif.
Harris strode onto the stage Tuesday to the anthem Freedom from Beyonce’s Lemonade album and set about contrasting herself with Trump.
“I took on perpetrators of all kinds. 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,” she said.
Harris cast her campaign as a “people first” endeavour, again aiming to draw a contrast with Trump, who she said represented special interests and corporations.
She also portrayed her rival’s policies as being antiquated and backward looking. “We are not going back,” she said. “And I’ll tell you why we are not going back. Ours is a fight for the future.” That echoed Barack Obama who frequently deployed the refrain during his 2012 reelection fight to argue against Republican ideas.
