“It is good to be back in Atlanta,” Vice President Kamala Harris said to a crowd of 23,000 people in Clarkston, Ga. during an Oct. 24 rally. Harris’ speech, which took place at the James R. Hallford Stadium, followed a star-studded lineup, with former President Barack Obama, musician Bruce Springsteen and Georgia community leaders directly addressing voters about Harris’ qualifications and character — and former President Donald Trump’s alleged lack thereof.
The speakers, including director Spike Lee and actor Samuel L. Jackson, emphasized the importance of voting in Georgia throughout the night. A recent New York Times/Siena National Poll shows that Harris and Trump are effectively tied in the national race, with the vice president trailing Trump by 1.7% in Georgia, according to FiveThirtyEight polling.
Trump held a rally in Duluth, Ga. on Oct. 23, which drew about 10,000 Georgians who came to see the former president share the stage with former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., political commentator Tucker Carlson and former U.S. Rep. for Hawaii Tulsi Gabbard.
Both of Georgia’s senators were among the community leaders in attendance at Harris’ rally.
“This election will be won or lost here in Georgia,” Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) said.
Ossoff and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) emphasized Georgia's vital role in the 2020 election. Analysts attributed President Joe Biden’s victory in the state to a growing number of non-white voters in Atlanta’s suburbs. Warnock spoke specifically to Black male voters, citing reports that Trump is gaining traction among Black men in this election while Harris is faltering.
“There’s a lot of talk these days about what Black men are going to do,” Warnock said. “I don’t believe that significant numbers of Black men are going to vote for the likes of Donald Trump.”
Film producer and 2022 Emory University commencement speaker Tyler Perry addressed allegations of racism against Trump, mentioning a 1973 discrimination lawsuit brought against the former president, as well as Trump’s support of the “birther” conspiracy theory that Obama was not born in the U.S.
Perry also made an appeal to low-income Atlantans, another demographic that could sway the election.
“I also know … how expensive it is to be poor,” Perry said, pulling from his own experience as a young Atlantan who slept in his car and worked to make a $20 grocery budget stretch a week at the Winn-Dixie on Buford Highway.
College students also attended the rally, with individuals wearing Georgia State University, Kennesaw State University (Ga.) and Emory merchandise moving throughout the stadium.
Young Democrats of Emory Senior Advisor Daniela Parra del Riego Valencia (25B) watched the speeches with other Emory students. She discussed excitement among Emory community members, saying that Young Democrats registered over 1,000 voters in the first six weeks of school.
“I've been talking with friends all over the country, and it's clear that Georgia is front and center,” Parra del Riego Valencia said. “People are paying full attention to us, what we're doing. Seeing the amount of people here and seeing the range of people that we're seeing is incredibly empowering.”
Parra del Riego Valencia added that Emory students feel “really energized” given Georgia’s role as a battleground state in the election.
“There's a good amount of Emory folk here, but even on campus, my friends that I would expect to be apolitical or who normally would tell me ‘Let's talk about another topic,’ are willing to talk about the issues that matter, because they're realizing that everything is political,” Parra del Riego Valencia said. “There's nothing separate from what's going on at the national level.”
The majority of attendees, however, were non-students who piled into the stadium to show support for Harris’ campaign.
One pair of friends, including Romy Maloon, said they scored VIP tickets through involvement in a union. Maloon, an Atlanta-based project manager, said she was looking forward to seeing “The Boss,” a.k.a Springsteen.
“My friend Erin does a lot of work for the union, so she invited me to join, and I thought it seemed like a positive, fun way to show my support,” Maloon said.
Obama spoke toward the end of the rally, coming onstage to ear-splitting cheers and drawing whoops from the crowd as he continuously jabbed at Trump.
“In politics, a good rule of thumb is: Don’t say you want to do anything like Hitler,” Obama said, citing reports from General John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff, that the former president wanted generals like Hitler’s — which Trump denied.
Obama’s speech drew comparisons between Harris and Trump, urging voters to focus on the candidates’ priorities. He described Trump as a “wannabe dictator,” noting his lengthy speeches and interest in status.
“[Harris] will not be focused on her problems, her ego, her money,” Obama said. “She’s gonna be focused on you.”
Harris came on stage just before 8 p.m., an uproar of cheering rising from the crowd as she clasped Obama’s hand. The crowd engaged with the vice president throughout her speech, breaking into chants of “Yes we can” and “Not going back” as she spoke about her plans to codify abortion access into federal law, remedy childhood poverty and combat corporate price gouging.
Harris ended by echoing the other speakers with a call for Georgians to vote.
“Your vote is your voice,” Harris said. “And your voice is your power.”
