Harris-Walz Ticket Brings a Message of Hope to Battleground State Michigan

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By Levi Rickert and Neely Bardwell

August 08, 2024

Native Vote 2024 — DETROIT — During the second day of a five-state blitz to battleground states, the Harris-Walz campaign made a stop in Detroit on Wednesday evening.

The rally came one day after Vice President Kamala Harris announced she selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate. The tour is the campaign’s way to introduce the two-term governor to the country.

The rally took place in a hangar at Detroit Metro Airport where an enthusiastic and excited crowd of 15,000, as reported by the campaign, overflowed onto the tarmac. It was the campaign’s largest crowd to date, according to campaign officials.

Some of the crowd arrived in the early afternoon to Motown music for the rally that began shortly after 5 pm when Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison opened the rally. 

“The most important thing we can do this election year is vote to protect the vote,” Harrison said.

The crowd roared when Air Force Two, carrying the vice president, landed shortly before 6:30 p.m. and taxied to a spot just outside the hangar bringing the trappings of the vice presidency with her–along with her new running mate, Gov. Walz.

While waiting for Harris and Walz, the crowd was warmed up by U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), who is the Democratic nominee in this general election, and several other Democratic members of Congress. 

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer energized the crowd by saying “we fight for the middle-class in Michigan and we are not going back.”

“We cannot trust Donald Trump. He certainly has no right to get back to the White House. You wouldn't buy a used car from him, you certainly can’t trust him to run the auto industry.”

Whitmer said she has worked closely with her fellow Great Lakes governor, Gov. Walz and can relate to common citizens. Several speakers referred to Gov. Walz as “Coach Walz,” in reference to his days as a high school football coach before he entered into politics.

Throughout the rally, many speakers emphasized the importance of winning this election and ensuring that this country does not “go back.”

Several chants were shouted during the event, some popular slogans that were shouted during the rally, including “We’re not going back,” “Mama-la,” “lock him up”and “U-A-W” due to the large attendance of United Auto Workers who endorsed the Harris-Walz campaign. 

Walz, who only the day before received the call from Harris to be on the ticket, said “it has been an interesting 24 hours” and to be her running mate is an honor of a lifetime.

Walz's speech was one filled with a message of hope for the country. He said the other campaign wants to concentrate on taking the country backwards, but the Democrats are seeking a better future for better lives for everyone, not just a select few.

“One thing I won’t forgive them for is they want to steal the joy from this country,” Walz said.

Walz, a former high school social studies teacher, relayed to the crowd that his students encouraged him to run for office, so he entered into politics.

“My students are the ones who encouraged me to run for office.  I never thought much about it. But they saw -- they saw in me what I hope to instill in them: a commitment to the common good, a true belief that one person truly can make a difference -- can make a difference in the world,” Walz said.

The crowd broke into a “Vote! Vote! Vote!” chant.

Harris said their campaign has embarked on a pathway to the White House.

She spoke of the need to reduce consumer prices. 

“While we have made progress on many parts of the economy, we know prices are still too high,” Harris said. “When the middle-class is strong, America is strong.”

“As attorney general, I held the big Wall Street banks accountable for fraud.  Well, Donald Trump was just found guilty of fraud -- 34 counts, to be exact,” Harris said.

The crowd broke out into a “lock him up” chant.

“Here’s the thing. The courts are going to handle that.  We're going to beat them in November. We’re going to beat him in November, okay?  We'll beat him in November. We'll handle that,” Harris said. But all that to say, in this campaign, I proudly put my record against his, any day of the week -- any day of the week. But make no mistake, our campaign -- this campaign is not just about us versus Donald Trump. It's bigger than that.  It is about two very different visions for the future of our nation -- one, ours, focused on the future and the other focused on the past.”

While Harris was speaking, pro-Palestinian demonstrators heckled with a chant that sounded like “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide. You are supporting genocide.” The crowd chanted to drown them out as the demonstrators were escorted out. 

Harris responded to them by saying she was, "here because I believe in democracy and everybody's voice matters, but I am speaking now.” When they kept chanting, she said “You know what, if you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I'm speaking," which elicited cheers from the audience. 

Harris ended her speech by saying: “We believe in freedom. We believe in the promise of America.”

Wednesday’s visit was the fifth trip to the battleground state of Michigan by Harris this year. The Harris-Walz ticket will hold similar rallies in Phoenix on Friday and Las Vegas on Saturday. 

• 15,000 showed up 15,000 showed up
• Electrified crowd Electrified crowd
• Michigan Gov.Gretchen Whitmer Michigan Gov.Gretchen Whitmer
• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz
• Vice President Kamala Harris Vice President Kamala Harris
• Air Force II Air Force II
• Vice President Kamala Harris Vice President Kamala Harris
• Vice President Kamala Harris Vice President Kamala Harris
• Harris and Walz with Michigan leaders Harris and Walz with Michigan leaders
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