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

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.