Kamala Harris woos young voters in Madison with star performers – The Capital Times

In her second appearance in Madison on the campaign trail, Vice President Kamala Harris packed the Alliant Energy Center Coliseum with 13,000 attendees Wednesday night, bringing an all-star musical lineup.

As Harris and former President Donald Trump go head-to-head in Wisconsin, Harris’ event targeted young voters, especially University of Wisconsin-Madison students, with performances by Gracie Abrams, Remy Wolff, Mumford & Sons, and Aaron Dessner and Matt Berninger by The National band.

Students could prove to be a critical voting bloc in the presidential race. Wisconsin students can vote, even if they are out-of-state residents, with a valid voter ID if they have resided in Wisconsin for at least 28 days prior to the Nov. 5 election.

Harris delivered his standard rallying speech with a special shout-out to young voters, saying he loves Gen Z because they are eager for change.

“I see the promise of America in all the young leaders who are voting for the first time,” she said.

Harris was briefly interrupted early in her speech by attendees who shouted and held a “no funding for war crimes” sign, which was promptly taken down by event security.

At the rally, students wore UW-Madison and Harris handmade gear like cowboy hats with “USA” sequins and shirts emblazoned with “Smart Sexy Badgers Vote.”

At the same time, Trump campaigned in Green Bay with his own celebrity — legendary Packers quarterback Brett Favre, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.

Mike Wagner, a UW-Madison professor who studies media and political behavior, said celebrity endorsements and special guests at political events have no direct impact on who voters choose to support. But endorsements and appearances can affect voter engagement in elections by drawing more attention to a candidate or race, he said.

“Attention is a precious commodity, and celebrities get that attention more often than almost anyone else,” Wagner said. “So it’s a way for candidates to get the attention of groups that are hard to reach.”

For UW-Madison graduate student Austin Brown, the Harris Rally musicians were the main draw attending the event, he told the Cap Times.

“Honestly, all the artists that come here, I really like a lot of them,” he said. “So that piqued my interest, but so did Harris obviously.”

More Democratic-leaning, Brown said he plans to vote for Harris but hasn’t delved into her policies. Voting in Wisconsin, where every vote counts, is both scary and exciting, he said.

A Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday showed Harris leading Trump 50 percent to 49 percent in Wisconsin. With a 4.4% margin of error, the race is essentially a toss-up.

Harris is expected to win Dane County, a historic stronghold for Democratic candidates, but the margins could sway the state’s outcome. Trump’s campaign highlighted the district’s importance with an Oct. 1 appearance in Waunakee — the first time a Republican presidential candidate has visited the district in 25 years.

Ashley Ranalli, a UW-Oshkosh junior, attended the Harris Rally on Wednesday wearing a neon green “kamala IS brat” T-shirt — a reference to the popular summer album “brat” by British artist Charli XCX. Ranalli drove from Oshkosh for the event, drawn by the lure of entertainers like Abrams and the chance to see the vice president, she said.

Planning to vote for Harris, Ranalli is voting for the first time since he was too young to vote in the 2020 presidential election.

“I actually like her politics, but I also hate Donald Trump until the day I die,” she said.

Jayda Khane, a freshman at UW-Milwaukee, borrowed a friend’s car to attend the Harris rally with other friends.

“We’re at that age where you can participate in these things now,” Hahn said. “I felt like it would be really nice to start now at a younger age.”

Harris and Trump are scheduled to return to Wisconsin on Friday. As a child, Harris lived briefly in Madison when her father was a professor at UW-Madison.