For months, Vice President Kamala Harris has been using her campaign rallies to describe Donald Trump as unstable, unhinged, and a threat to democracy. But two days before the election, she notably refrained from mentioning his name at all during a rally on the campus of Michigan State University, capping her final weekend on the campaign trail on a more optimistic tone.
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It marked the first time Harris did not name-check Trump at a rally since becoming the Democratic nominee, a Harris campaign official told TIME, a move that was intended to contrast her vision against what her campaign says is Trump’s darker vision for the country. “America is ready for a fresh start, ready for a new way forward, where we see our fellow Americans not as enemies, but as neighbors,” Harris said in her closing argument to Michigan voters.
Harris was making her fourth stop of the day in Michigan, a vital battleground that flipped from Trump to Biden in the 2020 election by a margin of less than three points. Polls indicate a similarly tight race this time around, with Harris and Trump nearly neck and neck, underscoring the importance of voter turnout and engagement in the state. Trump is holding his final rally of the campaign in Michigan on Monday night.
“We need to finish strong. So for the next two days we still have a lot of work to do but here’s the thing: we like hard work. Hard work is good work. Hard work is joyful work,” Harris said. “And make no mistake, we will win.”
Harris’ strategy to secure Michigan is focused on rallying reliable Democratic voters while also reaching out to disenchanted segments of the electorate. The Harris campaign is concentrating efforts on mobilizing young voters, particularly those from college campuses, where Harris concluded her final swing through Michigan, a campaign official says. The official says Harris has 53 staff members in Michigan focused on organizing young voters on campuses and elsewhere, making it the largest youth turnout operation of any campaign in the country.
The crowd in East Lansing was predominantly youthful, and Harris took the opportunity to connect with Gen-Z voters directly. “I love Gen Z!” she said. “You are all rightly impatient for change.” She cited how the younger generation has grown up only knowing the climate crisis, active shooter drills, and restrictions on women’s reproductive rights. “None of these issues for you are theoretical. This is your lived experience, and I see your power,” Harris said.
Addison Johnson, a 19-year-old student at Michigan State University who recently cast her first-ever ballot for Harris, says that she had never attended a political rally before Sunday, but wanted to hear the Democratic presidential nominee make her final pitch to voters in the crucial swing state. “She talked about issues that really resonate with the Michigan State community,” Johnson said. “Especially with what happened here two years ago with the shooting, to hit on those issues that are really important to students and to voters. I have a lot of friends who still haven’t voted, but hearing her energized me to start conversations with them.”
Youth turnout has been particularly strong among early in-person voting in Michigan’s college towns, says a Democratic strategist close to the campaign, particularly in East Lansing and Ann Arbor. But the Harris campaign is also hoping to win over Michigan’s suburban voters, an older demographic that Trump won in 2020 but has moved rapidly to the left in recent years. The path to winning Michigan, a campaign official says, capitalizes on Trump underperforming in the suburbs. “We need everyone to vote in Michigan. You will make the difference in this election,” Harris said.
She began her address by reaching out to the state’s significant Arab American community, acknowledging the humanitarian suffering for more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza and pledging to do “everything in my power to end the war in Gaza.”
“We are joined today by leaders of the Arab American community, which has deep and proud roots here in Michigan, and I want to say this year has been difficult, given the scale of death and destruction in Gaza and given the civilian casualties and displacement in Lebanon,” she said. “It is devastating, and as President, I will do everything in my power to end the war in Gaza, to bring home the hostages, end the suffering in Gaza, ensure Israel is secure and ensure the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, freedom, security and self-determination,” she added.
Her remarks were a deliberate attempt to engage with voters who feel disillusioned by both political parties’ handling of international issues. The war in Gaza has been a top issue particularly in Michigan, where more than 100,000 voters cast their ballots for “uncommitted” in the state’s primary earlier this year. Harris has been interrupted at campaign stops and rallies across the country by demonstrators calling on her to break with President Joe Biden and support an arms embargo on Israel. In August, at her first rally in Michigan as the Democratic nominee, she fired back at pro-Palestinian protesters as they interrupted her speech: “You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking,” Harris said.
Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who is a Palestinian American and progressive Democrat, declined to endorse Kamala Harris just four days out from Election Day. Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi, who is Muslim, said that he was backing Trump.
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