Two presidential rallies a few weeks apart highlighted very different energy levels

When Vice President Kamala Harris rallied thousands of supporters in West Allis last week, she hit a reset button on the presidential race, turning concerns from many voters about an inevitable Donald Trump landslide seemingly into ancient history. 

The rally, held 105 days before the election, started a new chapter in the presidential race, leaving behind a disastrous debate, questions about President Joe Biden’s fitness for office and sentiment from many Republican National Convention attendees that a second Trump victory is in the bag.

Voters greeted Harris in West Allis for her first campaign event as the Democratic Party’s standard bearer with a sea of blue signs and shirts. Her remarks were met with near-constant applause, and they hinted at her strategy for the next three months: tough on former President Trump and forward-looking on a Harris administration’s policy goals.

It was a stark contrast from when Biden took the stage in Madison July 5 to double down on staying in the race after a rocky debate performance.

The crowd at the Biden event skewed older, and the energy level was lower. The president’s remarks were greeted by a few shouts, but not the raucous applause Harris received. And while his supporters still felt assured he could win Wisconsin — expressing consistent concerns about the future of abortion rights, foreign affairs and the economy — it didn’t feel like their enthusiasm would boil out of the room.

Harris’ rally laid bare the issue that had plagued Democrats in recent months: They had a messenger — not a message — problem.

“Kamala Harris is going to win Wisconsin,” Ben Wikler, chair of the Democratic Party in Wisconsin, told Wisconsin Watch in the moments after the rally. “You could see on the stage just now, her ability to lay out a message grounded in her record and her values that make crystal clear that she wants what most Wisconsinites want, which is freedom and opportunity.”

But some prominent Democrats want to proceed with caution.

“I think people should avoid, if you are rooting for Democrats, irrational exuberance at this moment,” said David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama. “(Harris) comes in in a deep hole.”

Yet voter excitement was almost tangible in West Allis, with rally-goers echoing Wikler, many of whom said they feel more thrilled and involved with the Democratic Party than they previously were. 

Tracy Potrzebowksi, who worked polls and the recount during the 2020 election, said she’s more motivated than when Biden was in the race. 

“I feel a similar energy from when Obama was running,” she told Wisconsin Watch. “I obviously always was going to vote for any Democrat because of what is happening in our country, but this is what galvanized me to get into a community and find spaces to really advocate.”

Contrast that with Jeannie Peterson’s take after the July 5 Biden event, reminiscent of a certain cartoon dog sitting nervously in a flaming kitchen. 

“We’re not concerned, his mind is still fine,” Peterson told Wisconsin Watch. “He’s a good, honest man. He’s Irish. We can relate to his values because that’s how we are, we’re ordinary people.”

Rally-goer Tim Lau told Wisconsin Watch that Biden could easily make it through the final stretch.

“The crowd seemed ready and receptive for President Biden, and I was happy to just be in the vicinity,” Lau said. “I got to within five feet of him, and it was a special moment for me. But it’s not about that. It’s about hearing that he stayed in the race, that he is going toward November for the final election and that he’s not going to drop out of the race.”

Supporters had no trouble pivoting away from Biden in West Allis. 

After Harris’ speech, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who lost a close race for U.S. Senate in 2022 to U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, told Wisconsin Watch his opinion solidified that Harris can organize voters in a way that Democrats were lacking. 

He said many people were “convincing themselves” there was Democratic energy, but after Biden dropped out he said the involvement “now is real.”

“It is very apparent how much energy was in this room today,” Barnes said, “and it is hard to imagine that would’ve been the case a week ago.”

This article first appeared on Wisconsin Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.