Dispatches from Harris’ ‘Vote for Freedom’ rally and concert

It was a long night before what’s expected to be a very long Election Day.

The Democrats’ “Vote for Freedom” rally and concert, which culminated in a near-midnight appearance by Vice President Kamala Harris, hugging it out with Oprah Winfrey, drew a crowd of about 30,000 to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at the foot of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  It started at 5 p.m. and continued all the way to about midnight. Thankfully, it was a comfortable, 50 degree evening.

Crowds were pressed against metal barricades in front, some standing in the same spot for the entire night waiting to see Harris. Farther from the stage, the scene was much like a music festival, with lights strung through the trees, food trucks, and some attendees sitting on the grass. 

Long stretches of the night were occupied by livestreams from concurrent rallies across the country. But performances from The Roots, Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin and others punctuated the wait for Harris and brought energy to the crowd, with many folks dancing and rushing to get closer to the stage when the musicians were on.

Harris arrived later than expected, after she and her husband Doug Emhoff flew to town from an earlier rally in Pittsburgh. They had started the day in Allentown.

Philly is a crucial source of votes for the Vice President, and turnout in the city could well determine who takes the White House. Harris visited Philly often in the weeks leading up to the ballot count. Former President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance were in the region on Monday, too.

Billy Penn spoke to folks during the event to get a sense of their mood and hopes. WHYY’s Carmen Russell Sluchansky was there, too, and provides this overview of the event.

High hopes and Philly in the spotlight

Uchechi Tarver, a Roxborough resident, came to the rally with family and college friends from Bucks County and New Jersey. She said that the amount of attention on Philly was “exhilarating.”

“I feel kind of privileged, not only being from a battleground state but in a city that they all need to win,” Tarver said. “It feels good that our efforts, our volunteer efforts, our votes are actually meaningful. Not that they’re not meaningful elsewhere, but it feels that much more impactful.”

Roxanne Alexandre, from Lansdowne, and her friend wore matching shirts they made the previous night in preparation that read “We don’t eat the dogs” and “We don’t eat the cats” – a reference to Trump’s discredited remarks about the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio during his sole debate with Harris. Alexandre said people had been coming up to her all night asking for photos of the shirt. 

“Women’s rights, immigration rights,” she said when asked what brought her to the rally. “We are from the Caribbean, so, you know, Trump is just bad overall.” 

Alexandre said it felt “amazing” to be at the rally. 

“Fired up. I’m loving it,” she said. “I’m optimistic. I feel like it’s going to be close, but I feel like she will pull through.”

Upper Darby councilwoman feeling confident for Harris

Upper Darby Councilwoman Danyelle Blackwell, a Democrat, was at the “Vote for Freedom” rally in Philly Monday night. She stood in an ADA section close to the stage, dancing with others nearby. She said she’s feeling confident about tomorrow.

“Oh, we’re going to win,” she said. “It’s going to be the first woman [president]. It’s going to be historic. We’re going to work together and we’re going to have peace.”

“And the Electoral College, they better not do the same thing they did with Hillary,” Blackwell added, referring to the fact Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College tally, 304-227. “Because we got the popular vote — we got it already. We got it before and we’re doing it again.” 

Asked about what an event like this offers, Blackwell said it would help get out the vote, but also that it was a good experience for possibly anxious voters across the region.

“You need music. Music calms the soul. Human nature needs to have the arts, theater. We need this to help us calm down.”

These college students identify as moderates, and Harris supporters

Henry Bailey, Nathan Nazareth, Oden Calvert and Eric Stellato, all seniors at Drexel University, said Monday night’s “Vote for Freedom” rally was the first political event any of them had been to — and that they skipped class to get in line early. 

“It’s historic,” Stellato said. “We gotta show our support and show that, I don’t know, people do generally care about this. Even people like us.”

When asked what he meant, Stellato explained that he might not fit the mold of someone you’d instantly identify as a Harris supporter.

“We might not be vocal about it, we might not wear stuff or stuff like that or post about it or anything,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean we don’t care, you know? And we definitely talk to our friends about it and have serious conversations.”

Stellato said he liked Trump in 2016 when he was a teenager and “didn’t know better,” but changed his opinion throughout the course of the following four years. Going to college after that, he said, was also a big shift.

“I think we see it with a lot of people now — they see it as like the edgier thing, like the rebellious thing to do,” he said of supporting Trump. “If you’re not informed, his stuff might sound whatever. Then once you realize he’s lying every single sentence, then you start to realize — you might learn better.” 

Stellato said he’s concerned that his father, an Ecuadorian immigrant who is now a U.S. citizen, could be harmed by what he imagines could be a sweeping and disorganized mass deportation in a Trump presidency. He also worries about his gay and transgender friends, as well as the women in his life. 

Bailey, a registered Democrat who identifies as a moderate, agreed that he was concerned about women’s reproductive rights under a second Trump presidency. Bailey said that while he sometimes wishes Harris leaned more conservative in certain topics, like immigration, he thinks the Republican Party as it stands today is a “total sham.” 

“Even if there’s things I don’t agree with her about, it’s way better than Donald Trump,” Bailey said. “He’s made it clear that he doesn’t believe in certain things as far as the Constitution. And also, it’s clear that he’s for the rich. He’s a rich-person president. Not that we haven’t had rich presidents, but he’s clearly a lot more, I guess, Hollywood about it.” 
The group of four said that they were excited, nervous and “cautiously optimistic” about what Election Day would bring.

Oh, there were politicians too

Governor Josh Shapiro took the stage at about 10 p.m. to wax poetic about Philadelphia and the American experiment.

“248 years ago it was here in Philly, just down the street, we declared our independence from a king. And hear me on this — we are not going back to a king in this country!” Shapiro said to the crowd.

“My fellow Pennsylvanians, my fellow Americans, the test now falls to us.”

Mayor Cherelle Parker delivered a similar message earlier in the night after reminding attendees that Trump won the state by 45,000 votes in 2016 and lost it by 80,000 in 2020. 

“The eyes of the world are on that great Commonwealth and on that great city of Philadelphia — yes, birthplace of democracy, hub of intellectualism and innovation, and some of the best medical and educational institutions in the world,” Parker said to cheers from the crowd. 

Senator Bob Casey also spoke, making a final argument for his campaign as well as the vice president’s. He touted his and Dave McCormick’s policy differences on voting rights, abortion, and union organizing, and said that McCormick would support lowering the age that individuals are no longer covered by their parents’ health insurance.

“Imagine this. He opposed the provision that allows a young person in our state or anywhere in the country to stay on their parents’ insurance until they’re 26,” Casey said. “He opposes that, and he’ll be a vote to destroy the Affordable Care Act.”

Polling from earlier Monday showed Casey and McCormick locked in a tie, mirroring Harris and Trump in the Keystone state. 

“Are you ready to elect Kamala Harris? Are you ready to keep a majority in the Senate?” Casey said to the crowd, and held up his iPhone Lock Screen display, showing the time (and a family photo). 

“We’re going to work up until 24 hours from now — 7:53 — so we’ve got 24 hours and a couple of minutes to get the vote out.”