Harris and Walz describe themselves as “happy warriors”

politics

OMULUS, Mich. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris described herself and her recent running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as “joyful campaigners” against Donald Trump on Wednesday as they spent their first day of campaigning together within the Midwest. When they met with Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance on the Wisconsin tarmac, they got an unusual glimpse into the toughness of the campaign within the region.

Democrats visited Wisconsin and Michigan in hopes of bolstering support among the many younger, more diverse and pro-worker voters who played a key role in President Joe Biden's victory within the 2020 election.

Harris said at the primary rally of the day in Eau Claire, “As Tim Walz likes to point out, we are joyful warriors.” This sentiment was also fueled by the undeniable fact that Harris' campaign said it had raised $36 million in the primary 24 hours after announcing Walz as her running mate.

The vp said the couple were optimistic in regards to the future, unlike Trump, the previous president and Republican candidate for the White House. She accused him of being stuck prior to now and preferring a confrontational form of politics – at the same time as she criticized her opponent herself.

“Anyone who suggests we should repeal the Constitution of the United States should never again have the chance to sit behind the seal of the United States,” Harris said, raising his voice.

Dan Miller of Pelican Lake, Wisconsin, who was amongst greater than 12,000 individuals who attended the rally in Eau Claire, said Biden “has been an incredible president, but he's just not the same ambassador anymore.”

“And sometimes you need a better ambassador,” Miller said. “And that's Kamala.”

Later, at a night event in an airport hangar outside Detroit, which the campaign said was attended by 15,000 people, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who’s herself steadily mentioned as a future presidential candidate, said: “We need a strong woman in the White House and it is high time.”

“This election is going to be a fight,” Harris said at the identical event. “We like a good fight.”

This change in fact was particularly essential for Harris, as Biden's successful coalition of 4 years ago had shown signs of fragmentation over the summer – particularly in Michigan, which has change into a flashpoint for Democratic divisions over Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

With the president now out of the race, leaders of the Arab-American community and major labor unions say they’re encouraged by Harris's alternative as vp. Walz's inclusion on the list has eased some tensions and signals to some leaders that Harris has heard concerns about one other leading vice presidential contender, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, who they are saying has gone too far in his support for Israel.

“The party recognizes that it needs to rebuild a coalition,” said Abdullah Hammoud, mayor of the heavily Arab-American community of Dearborn, Michigan. “The election of Walz is another sign of goodwill.”

Still, lingering dissent was evident during Harris' speech in Michigan, when she was interrupted by demonstrators protesting Israel's fight against Hamas. Harris first told those that tried to interrupt her, “I'm here because I believe in democracy and every vote counts.”

It was the same response to that of Biden, who often said at his rallies when interrupted that protesters have to be given a likelihood to talk before being removed by security. Harris then quickly took a harder line, nonetheless, continuing, “But I'm speaking now,” which drew cheers from a lot of the audience.

“If you want Donald Trump to win, say so,” the vp continued over the protesters. “Otherwise, I'll do the talking.”

The protesters were eventually led away, but not before a heated confrontation occurred between Harris supporters and protesters who shouted at one another.

Trump, then again, has emphasized his desire to appeal to Midwestern voters by selecting Ohio Senator Vance as his running mate. Vance accomplished the Harris-Walz ticket together with his own campaign appearances in Michigan and Wisconsin on Wednesday.

It overlapped enough that while Harris was still greeting a bunch of Girl Scouts who had come to see her arrive at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport in Wisconsin, Vance's campaign plane landed nearby and taxied in the space. Harris posed for a bunch photo with the women in regards to the same time Vance got off the plane and made his strategy to Air Force Two, followed by his security detail.

The vp eventually got into her convoy and it drove off before they may speak, but that the 2 got so close was still unusual given their fastidiously planned campaign schedules.

“I just wanted to test out my future airplane,” Vance later told reporters, meaning he would fly on Air Force Two if he and Trump were elected in November. He also criticized Harris for not holding any press conferences since running for president.

“If these people want to call me weird, I call it a badge of honor,” Vance said, responding to a nickname Walz had used for him that had made the Minnesota governor famous online in the times before Harris nominated him as her vice presidential candidate.

Walz had some critical words for Vance in Wisconsin and Michigan, but his harshest words were aimed toward Trump. He said the previous president “is making a mockery of our laws, he is sowing chaos and discord among the people, and that doesn't even mention his work as president.”

Walz also stressed that he and Harris would promote neighborhood and community spirit, even hinting that his state's football fans were completely happy for Detroit's long-underperforming NFL team the last time it almost made it to the Super Bowl: “Vikings fans are proud of the Lions.”

In Detroit, where nearly 80 percent of the population is black, this trend could possibly be crucial. Politicians there have been warning the federal government for months that voter fatigue could prove costly in a city that is generally a stronghold of their party.

Rev. Wendell Anthony, president of the Detroit NAACP branch, said the joy in the town right away is “mind-blowing,” comparing it to Barack Obama's first presidential run in 2008, when voters lined up long lines to elect the country's first black president.

But some Democratic politicians in Michigan fear that selecting the mistaken vp could slow that momentum and split a coalition that has only recently begun to form.

Arab-American politicians, who’ve great influence in Michigan because of their strong presence within the Detroit metropolitan area, had been vocal of their opposition to Shapiro due to his past comments on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

These politicians pointed specifically to a comment he made earlier this 12 months about protests on college campuses, which they felt he unfairly compared the actions of student protesters to those of white supremacists. Shapiro, who’s of Jewish descent, has criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but remained a staunch supporter of Israel.

Osama Siblani, publisher of Dearborn-based Arab American News and a distinguished leader of Michigan's large Muslim community, was amongst those that met with White House adviser Tom Perez in Michigan last week. Perez has maintained contact with some Dearborn leaders since he and other senior officials traveled there with Biden to enhance relations with the community.

Siblani said he met with Perez for over an hour on July 29 and told him that if Harris selected Shapiro, it could “end” future talks.

“Not selecting Shapiro is a very good move. It opens the door a little wider for us,” Siblani said.