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21-10-2024
WASHINGTON/ ATLANTA: United States Vice President Kamala Harris has deployed some of the music industry’s star power to rally voters in the final weeks before November’s presidential election.
Two of the Democratic nominee’s events were headlined by prominent musicians.
At her first stop, in Detroit, Michigan, the singer and rapper Lizzo warmed up the crowd with a passionate on-stage endorsement.
“I already voted early and I voted for Harris,” the musician, a Detroit native, told a cheering crowd.
Michigan is one of about seven key swing states in the presidential race, which could tilt either towards the Democrat or her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump.
Later in the day, Harris visited another pivotal battleground: the southern state of Georgia.
There, she had also lined up another hometown hero, the musician Usher, who began his music career in Atlanta, the state’s capital. Usher sang a few bars with the crowd before starting his speech.
“It’s really great to be home. I’m here, home, for my Past Present Future Tour but took a quick break from that to come here, share a few words with you about the significance of this moment,” he said.
“I feel that this is a momentous opportunity for each and every one of us. It’s just 17 days away from a very important election, as we all know, and we have the opportunity to choose a new generation of leadership for our country.”
Harris’s visit to Michigan on Saturday coincided with the first day of in-person early voting in Detroit.
Absentee voting by mail had already begun in the state. Michigan’s online “voting dashboard” indicated that, by Saturday morning, more than 1 million mail-in ballots had been received.
It was one of several strong showings across the country, indicating a possible surge in voter enthusiasm. States like North Carolina and Georgia have notched records for early-voting turnout this week, according to officials.
The chief operating officer for Georgia’s secretary of state, Gabriel Sterling, posted on social media that turnout continues to be high. Georgia’s first day of early voting was Tuesday.
“Congratulations to the counties and especially our great Georgia voters. Y’all have broken another RECORD. Biggest turnout ever for a General Election Saturday,” Sterling wrote.
While experts caution against extrapolating too much from the numbers, political analysts note that Democrats have traditionally seen a boost from large early turnouts.
Harris sought to build on this year’s momentum during her weekend campaign stops.
“Georgia started early voting, broke historic records. North Carolina started early voting, broke historic records in North Carolina. Now, who is the capital of producing records?” she told supporters in Detroit, with a winking reference to the city’s music industry.
“So we are going to break some records here in Detroit today.”
During her visit to Michigan, Harris also took the opportunity to repeat her call for a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel has led a yearlong military campaign, killing more than 42,500 Palestinians.
US support for Israel and its war has eroded support for Democrats among Arab and Muslim Americans in Michigan. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
