Vice President Kamala Harris, left and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz greet a crowd of 12,000 during a rally at Temple University on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO/KAYLA BROWN
by by Marco Cerino
Philadelphia Tribune Staff Writer
In their first public appearance together as running mates, Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz greeted a large, ecstatic crowd inside the Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University in North Philadelphia.
The highly anticipated event came hours after Harris announced she chose Walz over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. Despite the heavy campaigning of local and state leaders for Shapiro, Walz earned the seat on the ticket with his interview on Sunday and his appeal to a wider swath of voters. Harris secured the Democratic nominee via virtual roll call Monday night.
Harris went on at 6 p.m. and spoke for about 30 minutes after a two-minute thunderous ovation, thanking a list of Philadelphia area leaders and praising Shapiro for his work. She emphasized her work as a prosecutor and said “I know Donald Trump’s type.”
“This campaign is a fight for the future,” she said. “In Pennsylvania, we fight for the future.”
Vice President Kamala Harris greets a crowd of 12,000 during a rally at Temple University on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO/KAYLA BROWN
Harris listed her reasoning behind picking Walz as her running mate, along with some of the professional titles he’s held in his career as a teacher, National Guardsman, and member of Congress. She told voters that with Walz as her vice president, she will pass universal background checks for gun purchases and legislation to federally codify reproductive rights.
Two weeks before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Walz spoke for about 20 minutes and praised Shapiro, who “can bring the fire” and took him to see Bruce Springsteen. He told his own story of working on a family farm, raised by parents who instilled in him a pursuit of the common good. That led Walz to serve in the National Guard for 24 years and go into teaching, which included winning a state title as a football coach.
“It gave me the strength to care about something greater than myself,” he said of his upbringing and time in the Guard. He used the GI Bill to go to college, as his father did.
Walz credited his students for convincing him to run for Congress, where he flipped a traditionally Republican seat and worked across the aisle on veterans issues. He mentioned his commitment to gun rights but also a commitment to gun violence reduction and safety regulations.
He compared his commitment to Trump’s self-serving efforts to weaken the economy, failing in the pandemic, and undermine values. When Walz brought up Trump’s own crimes, he brought the Liacouras Center to their feet and “Lock Him Up!” chants.
Walz pinned Project 2025 on Trump and Vance, decrying Vance’s path to power and said, “I can’t wait to debate that guy. That is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and do it.
“Don’t believe him when he plays dumb,” Walz added of Trump. “He knows exactly what Project 2025 will do. It’ll rig the economy to assist the rich. If Trump gets a chance to return, he will pick up exactly where he left off four years ago. Only this time, it will be much, much worse.”
Many expected that hosting the event in Philadelphia meant Shapiro would be the selection. Despite not being on the ticket, the governor of Pennsylvania was greeted with a minute-long ovation and thanked the crowd, noting how hard he works for them in his current role. He also praised Harris, who he has called a friend for 20 years.
“She is court-room tough,” Shapiro said of Harris. “She has a big heart, and she is battle-tested and ready to go.”
Shapiro also warned the crowd that Trump can take away more freedoms and isolate America in a second term, now that he knows what to do and has stacked the Supreme Court in his favor. These attacks elicited “We’re not going back!” chants from the crowd, and “he’s a weirdo” chants about Vance. Shapiro praised Walz and called him “a great patriot.”
“Lori [Shapiro’s wife] and I feel blessed to have Tim and Gwen [Walz] in our lives,” he said of the chair of the Democratic Governors Association and his wife. “They are outstanding public servants and I can’t wait for you Philly, the rest of this commonwealth, and our entire country to get to know the Walzes.”
Mayor Cherelle Parker received a huge ovation when she came out to speak. She called for party unity after the contentious selection process, which included a video from her campaign social media account to promote Shapiro that may have factored into Harris’ selection to not bring him onto the ticket. She related it to a story from her childhood, where her grandmother gave her a “tongue-lashing” for telling a neighbor that her family was arguing.
Sen. Bob Casey will be running for a fourth Senate term this year and spoke to support the Democratic presidential ticket. He hyped up Harris’ record and resume, especially her work in the current presidential administration, while also mentioning his campaign promises to cut off fentanyl distribution, “greedflation,” and going after his opponent Dave McCormick. Casey accused McCormick of investing in fentanyl-producing Chinese companies as part of his hedge fund.
Sen. John Fetterman took some heat for admitting his allegiance to the Steelers and Sheetz. However, he won the crowd back by calling the Republican ticket “weird dudes,” especially Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, who spoke earlier in the day in South Philadelphia.
The consensus among Democrats since Harris replaced President Joe Biden atop the ticket in July is the move infused new energy and excitement into the campaign. That was evident and folks waited hours before the event began and danced to upbeat music in the seating bowl.
While Biden and Harris have appeared before in Philadelphia, Tuesday’s rally was by far the biggest venue and crowd drawn for a campaign event.
Unlike Trump’s appearance in June, the upper level of the Liacouras Center was open and filled with folks and their color-changing wristbands. A campaign staffer said the crowd was over 12,000, with overflow watching the simulcast at McGonigle Hall across the street.
Democratic national party chair Jamie Harrison talked about his experiences with Walz and laid out the stark differences between the two candidates, warning about Project 2025 and noting that Harris was the right person to “prosecute the case against Donald Trump.”
“The Republican party is built on fear,” Harrison said. “This party, the Democratic party, is built on hope.”
This article originally appeared in the Philadelphia Tribune
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