Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski Agence France-Presse Kamala Harris drew a large crowd Wednesday in Eau Claire, a small town in Wisconsin.
Published at 9:14
This week, crowds of enthusiastic, dense crowds cheered Kamala Harris, mirroring those seen during the travels of her Republican rival Donald Trump, heralding a welcome paradigm shift for the Democratic camp.
In Philadelphia on Tuesday, 14,000 ecstatic spectators awaited the vice president. The next day, in Eau Claire, a small town in Wisconsin, a seemingly endless line of cars heading to one of her rallies made the rounds on social media.
For Donald Trump, these images are nothing unusual. But for Kamala Harris, who is on a whirlwind campaign for the White House after Joe Biden’s shock withdrawal in July, the enthusiasm illustrates a shift.
“Everybody is really excited,” said Kina Johnson, 46, an employee of the carmaker Stellantis, who was among thousands of people in a large hangar at an airfield in Detroit, Michigan, on Wednesday to see Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz.
The crowd even spilled onto the tarmac. These rallies will “get bigger” and more dynamic, she added.
Tim Walz even seemed stunned by the human tide. It was “the largest rally of this campaign,” he said, with the campaign team estimating the number of participants at 15,000.
With less than three months to go until the election that will see her face Donald Trump, Kamala Harris seems to have caught up with her camp and generated a lot of enthusiasm on the ground.
Photo: Carlos Osorio Associated Press A Democratic supporter shows his colors at a Kamala Harris and Tim Walz rally Wednesday in Romulus, Michigan.
The number of participants and the enthusiasm recall the Barack Obama era and contrast sharply with the rallies held by President Joe Biden this year or in 2020, during a presidential campaign halted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000He, like Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, has never managed to compete with the shows of force of Donald Trump, whose supporters sometimes even camp out on site to secure a front-row seat.
A contrast often mocked by the Republican candidate, who assures that the support of the crowds is found in the ballot boxes.
But the tide is turning. Kamala Harris filled a 10,000-seat stadium in Atlanta, in the key state of Georgia, at the end of July with two rap stars guesting on stage.
A few days more Later, on the same platform and in front of a similar crowd, Donald Trump accused his rival of having faced “many empty seats”.
“I don’t I don’t need artists,” said the Republican, before accusing the Democrat of paying her supporters.
“No one (other than me, Editor’s note ) never addressed larger crowds,” Donald Trump assured again on Thursday, expanding on the subject at length during a press conference.
“They say “oh the crowd was so big” (for Kamala Harris). But I had crowds that were ten times, twenty times, thirty times bigger,” he said again.
“The fact that Trump's rallies drew much larger crowds than those for Biden in 2020 or Clinton in 2016 was a source of pride for his supporters,” explains Barry Burden, professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
This visible advantage has also fueled false claims that the 2020 election was won by Donald Trump and not Joe Biden.
But “now that Ms. Harris is speaking to crowds that rival or exceed Mr. Trump’s in size, that reason to believe that Trump is the more advantaged candidate is disappearing,” Burden continues.
The candidate has also not hesitated to borrow some of the tempestuous billionaire’s codes.
When he was president, Donald Trump used the presidential plane Air Force One as a campaign prop, disembarking from the legendary plane to the awe of his supporters.
On Wednesday, the Democrat flew to her rally in Detroit aboard Air Force Two, the vice presidential plane.
Kamala Harris also plays on the patriotic chord. The chants of “USA! USA!” that commonly accompany Donald Trump’s appearances were heard at the Democrat’s rally in Philadelphia.
Welcoming this “very real” enthusiasm, Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton’s former campaign manager, warned on MSNBC on Thursday that it will nevertheless be necessary to “maintain” this momentum: “Energizing our base will not be enough.”
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