Harris makes pitch to young voters in Madison Rally-Concert

While former President Trump was name-calling in Green Bay, the vice president sounded themes of unity—with help from several musical guests

Kamala Harris spent Wednesday night rallying an energized Madison crowd that could have rivaled college game day, with a final reminder to a packed Alliant Energy Center: Go vote. 

The “When We Vote, We Win” rally included musical performances from Gracie Abrams, Mumford & Sons, Remi Wolf, and Matt Beringer and Aaron Dessner from The National. 

Harris spoke directly to the young adults about to mark a milestone, “Every day I see the promise of America in all the young leaders who are voting for the first time. And I love your generation.” 

“One of the reasons is you all are rightly impatient for change,” Harris said to loud cheers.

While some may not see Harris as a “change” candidate, her closing remarks focused on character differences between herself and former President Donald Trump and whether America wants to change back to what he represents. 

“We know who Donald Trump is. This is not someone who is thinking about how to make your life better. This is someone who is unstable, … obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance, and out for unchecked power.” 

“If he were elected, on day one, Donald Trump would walk into that office with an enemies list… When I am elected, I will walk in with a to-do list focused on your needs.”

Harris’ stated goal for day one: “Bringing down your cost of living.” 

“We have an opportunity in this election to turn the page on a decade of Donald Trump trying to keep us divided and afraid of each other,” Harris added. 

Adding to the appeal to young voters at the Madison rally, UW-Madison Junior, Ty Schanhofer introduced the vice president, “I left my midterm early to be here.” 

“Trump doesn’t care about students like me or students like you,” Schanhofer said. “He doesn’t care if we’re saddled with student debt when we graduate, and he will continue to shell out big tax breaks for big oil executives as they pollute our planet while reaping massive benefits.” 

“The good news is that we have the power to choose a different future. We’ve got a candidate who has a plan to take on student debt, to protect kids from gun violence, and to ensure that everybody has the freedom to make their own healthcare decisions.”

In between speakers, musical acts hyped the crowd and shared some of their voting plans with attendees. 

Gracie Adams, who has been touring with Taylor Swift, said, “It’s easy to be discouraged, but we know better. We know that unless we vote and preserve our democracy, we won’t be able to fix it when it is our turn.”

Marcus Mumford, lead singer of the folk-rock band Mumford & Sons, told the crowd, “I know I might not sound like it, because I grew up in England, but I was born here.” 

The California-born singer added, “It was my great privilege to vote… I would encourage you to get with your mates and make a voting plan, because every vote will matter.”

Not only will every vote matter in Wisconsin, but Harris reminded voters that “your vote is your voice and your voice is your power.”

Wednesday’s rally marks Kamala Harris’ eighth visit to Wisconsin since launching her presidential campaign. The Harris campaign has announced plans to return to the state on Friday, November 1, with “get out the vote” rallies in Appleton and Milwaukee.