Last night, Kamala Harris held an amazing rally in Clarkston, Georgia. Bruce Springsteen performed, Senator Warnock spoke, Tyler Perry spoke, Barack Obama spoke, and then Obama introduced VP Harris and they stood on stage like America’s first two Black presidents (God willing). It was an amazing event and cable news covered a lot of it. On the other side, apparently JD Vance IS campaigning, but it’s like no one is following him or giving him any coverage? And every time Donald Trump opens his mouth, he makes some new authoritarian promise. Yesterday’s promise was that he would fire special prosecutor Jack Smith if he wins the presidency. You better believe Trump will do it too.
Today, VP Harris will be in Houston, Texas. It’s a bold move for the final fortnight of the election cycle, but the Texas trip has multiple purposes. As always, there’s a dream of Blexas (Blue Texas) and the demographics are encouraging. There’s a very competitive senate race and Texas voters might actually fire Ted Cruz. And VP Harris wants to shine a spotlight on Texas’s grotesque anti-choice laws, which are specifically about punishing and abusing women. Yesterday, the Harris campaign confirmed something new about her stop in Texas: Beyonce will be there. Beyonce will PERFORM.
Vice President Kamala Harris might have traveled on Friday to Philadelphia or Milwaukee for the umpteenth time, but motivating tuned-out voters in battleground states required something different.
So her campaign engineered a trip to Houston — the largest city in Texas, decidedly not a presidential battleground state — where she would be joined at a rally by Beyoncé and the country music legend Willie Nelson, both beloved natives of the state. Their ability to transcend traditional politics, Harris aides hope, will deliver the sort of viral content that cuts through a cluttered media environment.
Ms. Harris’s rally in Houston will focus on the strict abortion ban enacted in Texas after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and is meant to offer a warning about the potential spread of such restrictions to voters in faraway states who will soon decide this year’s presidential election.
We’ve been here before with the Beyonce rumors. I still can’t believe how badly everyone got it wrong at the DNC. We really thought Beyonce would perform!! And in the end, the special guest star was Leon Panetta. So no, I won’t believe that Beyonce is performing at a Harris rally until I actually see her on stage. And Willie Nelson will be there too? Amazing. Y’all think it’s going to be Cowboy Carter songs or will Beyonce do “Freedom,” which is the anthem of the Harris campaign? What if Bey does “Spaghetti”?? I ain’t in no gang, but I got shooters and I bang, bang…
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Getty.