Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has made frequent trips to the Atlanta area since launching her campaign for president, but she brought the stars out for her first rally in DeKalb County.
And her supporters responded by braving snarled traffic, road closures and long lines to fill up James Hallford Stadium in Clarkston.
Rock icon Bruce Springsteen sang three songs with his signature Americana themes, playing an acoustic guitar and harmonica as his only accompaniment. After the first selection, “The Promised Land,” he gave a short speech about why he decided to enter the political fray.
He said he wasn’t just supporting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, he was fully opposed to the prospect of electing former President Donald Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance.
Springsteen cited factors like upholding the Constitution, honoring the rule of law, committing to a peaceful transfer of power and protecting a woman’s right to choose as reasons to support Harris.
“There is only one candidate in this election who holds all those principles dear: Kamala Harris,” he said to cheers.
As for Harris, she urged voters to think ahead to January and what a second Trump administration would look like.
“It’s either Donald Trump in there stewing over his enemies list,” she said, “or me working for you, checking off my to-do list. You have the power to make that decision.”
Springsteen wasn’t the only bold-faced name at the rally. After the rock icon, whose audience skews older and white, the crowd heard from a celebrity whose fan base is mostly Black and female: movie mogul Tyler Perry.
But Perry’s remarks appeared to be tailor made for Black men skeptical of Harris’ candidacy. Recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution polling showed that Black voters are not supporting Harris at the same level they supported Joe Biden four years ago, and Trump has made a point of appealing to Black men.
Perry is wealthy now, but he told the crowd that when he moved to Georgia more than 30 years ago, he struggled to make ends meet.
“Make no mistake, I know and remember how hard it is, and I remember the struggle,” he said. “And I also know how expensive it is to be poor.”
Perry said he even once admired Donald Trump, who appeared to be a macho, rich and successful man. But he said he liked Trump less the more he learned about him, citing Trump’s actions vilifying the new exonerated Central Park Five, his spreading of false conspiracies about the birthplace of former President Barack Obama and accusations he discriminated against tenants of color as a New York landlord.
“Research is important,” Perry said. “Truth is important. Facts are important.”
It was Perry’s task to introduce former President Barack Obama, who toned down some of his preachiness from earlier rallies and encouraged the crowd to vote early and support Harris. While Obama also has been trying to reach Black men, his speech in Clarkston was a more universal message encouraging voters to consider the differences between Harris and Trump.
“I get why people are looking to shake things up,” the former president said. “What I cannot understand is why anybody would think Donald Trump would shake things up in a way that is good for you.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Harris’ warm-up acts included both of Georgia’s U.S. senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson and DeKalb County CEO Mike Thurmond, who noted that the rally was being held in one of the most Democratic-leaning counties in the nation.
Harris, in what has become a familiar stump speech, focused on her plans to pass protections for abortion and voting access while working to address rising costs.
Harris said she is seeking the White House to pass policies that makes America better for all.
“Ours is a fight for the future and it is a fight for freedom,” she said. “For freedom like the fundamental freedom for a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do.”
She said Trump is “increasingly unhinged” and has been abandoned by Republicans who consider him a threat to democracy. Georgia voters have the power to help prevent him from returning to the White House, she said.” As the great Congressman John Lewis reminded us, democracy is not a state,” she said. “It is an act.”
She also acknowledged the first-time voters in the crowd, saying they represented the next generation of leaders.
“I see you, and I see your power,” she said.
Harris and her famous guests attracted an estimated 20,000 people to the DeKalb County stadium. Among them was Robert Port of Dunwoody. He said he doesn’t usually plunge into politics, but that the high stakes made him “itching to do something rather than sitting at home posting on social media.”
“This is the first election in my life where there’s a real threat to a continuation of the principles of the Constitution and fidelity to the rule of law,” said Port. “That’s the top line issue for me. By far.”
Staff writer Greg Bluestein contributed to this article.
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