Jon Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: Kamala Harris speaks at a rally in Glendale on Friday. It was the sixth stop out of seven rallies in five days for the Harris/Walz ticket.
By Jon Johnson
GLENDALE – The crowd began lining up hours before the event, clad in clothes echoing campaign comments and chanting slogans for their side. More than 15,000 people attended a political rally at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale on Friday. But no, it wasn’t a MAGA event, it was the Harris/Walz campaign taking note and battling rally for rally.
It was the sixth stop in a whirlwind week. Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz held campaign rallies in Philadelphia, Wisconsin, Detroit, North Carolina, and Georgia before heading to Glendale. The final stop was in Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon.
Harris became the Democratic nominee after President Joe Biden declined to run for a second term, and Harris secured the necessary amount of pledged delegates to become the nominee on Monday. She then announced Walz as her Vice President running mate on Tuesday.
National news organizations packed a riser at the rally in Glendale on Friday, with correspondents standing shoulder to shoulder to cover the event. The rally was also shown live on C-SPAN and can be viewed here.
The Glendale rally featured a who’s who of the upper Democratic leadership in the state, including a rousing welcome for Senator Mark Kelly – who was among the final vice president candidates – and his wife, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who the crowd welcomed by chanting “Gabby” over and over.
Kelly spoke about his time as an astronaut and fighter pilot and said that he accomplished his goals through the assistance of others and that “it takes a team of people, working together to accomplish a mission.”
That mission, in Arizona, includes electing Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) to Krysten Sinema’s open Senate seat over his Republican opponent, Kari Lake. Gallego also spoke at the rally, as well as Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ-04).
However, the event opened with three local mayors speaking to the crowd. Two you would expect to see – Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego (D), and Tempe Mayor Corey Woods (D) – and one who was a bit out of his element, Mesa Mayor John Giles (R).
“I feel, maybe a little out of place today,” Giles said. “Partly because we’re in beautiful Glendale, ok, there’s that. But, as you may know, I’m a lifelong Republican.”
Giles, who is Arizona co-chair for Republicans for Harris, went on to advocate her for president.
“I do not recognize my party,” he said. “The Republican Party has been taken over by extremists that are committed to forcing people in the center of the political spectrum out of the party,” Giles said. “So, I have something to say to those of us who are in the political middle. You don’t owe a damn thing to that political party. In particular, you do not owe anything to a party that is out of touch and is hellbent on taking our country backward.”
While that drew big cheers, the biggest response came for the last two speakers of the night in Walz and Harris.
Walz opened his remarks by commenting on those who were in attendance at the event and thanked them for taking the time. He said the more than 15,000 people at the event were the biggest crowd for the week.
“You might have seen a few people showed up in Philadelphia the other night,” Walz commented. “And then 10,000+ walked into a field in western Wisconsin. And then, on Wednesday, the largest crowd of the campaign showed up in Detroit, Michigan. But Arizona just couldn’t leave it alone, could ya’? Wow. You know, it’s not as if anybody cares about crowd size or anything.”
Walz comes from an educator’s background in his family and taught high school social studies for 20 years and even coached a state championship football team. He also served in the Army National Guard for 24 years.
He spoke about various issues possibly in play in this election and said basic human rights were at stake. He also elaborated on how the Democratic Party views the Republican candidate.
“Again, and again, and again Donald Trump weakens our country to strengthen his own hand,” Walz said. “You’ve watched him muck our laws; you watched him sow chaos and division at every opportunity. And that’s to say nothing of his record as president . . . And let’s be very clear, the statistics and the facts are clear about this, violent crime was up under Donald Trump. And we don’t even have to count his crimes in that to make it up.”
He added that as president Harris would take on predators, fraudsters, and transnational gangs and stand up to corporate interests to put Middle America first. He then called on those in attendance for action.
“I know I’m preaching to the choir, a damn big and beautiful choir,” Walz said. “But practice is over people. The choir needs to sing.”
Walz then introduced Vice President Kamala Harris as the arena erupted in cheers.
“It’s great to be back in Arizona,” Harris proclaimed. “Good evening everyone. Oh my goodness. Thank you all so very much. Oh, it is good to be back. Let me just say. Let me just start by thanking everyone who is here. Thank you all so very much. We’re going to do this. We’re going to do this. We are going to do this.”
Harris thanked the previous speakers and gave a shoutout to President Joe Biden. She then went into her speech for a few minutes before being interrupted by Palestine protestors chanting from the upper decks. At first, the crowd overchanted the protesters with a rousing “USA, USA”, but after that died down Harris was still being interrupted, so she took time to address their concerns and then continued with her remarks.
“We’re here to fight for our democracy,” Harris said. “Which includes respecting the voices that I think that we are hearing from. And let me just say this, on topic, of what I think I’m hearing over there. Let me just speak to that for a moment and then let me get back to the business at hand. So let me say – I have been clear – now is the time to get a cease-fire deal and get the hostage deal done. Now is the time, and the president and I are working around the clock every day to get that cease-fire deal done and bring the hostages home. So, I respect your voices but we are to now talk about this race in 2024.”
In pointing out her differences with Donald Trump, Vice-President Kamala Harris listed her background as a prosecutor.
“So I took on – in these roles – perpetrators of all kinds; predators who abused women; fraudsters who ripped off consumers; scammers who broke the rules for personal gain,” she said. “So Arizona, hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump’s type. I do. In fact, I’ve been dealing with people like him my entire career.”
Harris elaborated on the differences in the campaigns. She said the Democrats fight for a future with affordable health and child care, paid leave, and a broad-based economy with opportunities for all. At the same time, the Republicans want to go backward in time and protect the concerns of big business and a select few billionaires.
Flanked by a wall of Secret Service members, Harris greeted supporters on the floor after her speech, giving High-fives as she slowly made her way through the mass of people to her exit.
“We’re going to win in November,” Harris said. “In this campaign, I will proudly put my record against his every day of the week.”
Harris is set to debate former President Donald Trump on Sept. 10 hosted by ABC News.
