Milwaukee: Tuesday, November 1, was an unusual day for Milwaukee, a usually calm US city known for its cattle farms and craft beers. The city had an evening abuzz with political activities as Kamala Harris and Donald J Trump, locked in a neck-to-neck battle for the White House, descended there for their rallies just around 10 km apart. Milwaukee is in Wisconsin, one of the seven swing states that will play a crucial role in choosing the next US president in the November 5 election.
Vice President Harris, the Democratic party candidate, and former president Trump contesting on the Republican ticket for the third election in a row, had been touring Wisconsin in the past few days as their campaigns entered the final leg. To put it in perspective, Wisconsin chose the winner of the past six presidential elections by a margin of less than 1 per cent. Moreover, in the past four elections, the candidate who won the state went on to win the poll. The state holds a crucial ten electoral votes.
Though they were only a short distance away during their rallies, the events they attended were poles apart in their style, people, and language. Perhaps the only similarity between the two rallies is that both Trump and Harris were late for their final political show in Wisconsin.
Harris addressed her supporters in a star-studded event at the Exposition Center during the Wisconsin State Fair while Trump spoke to his fans at Finserve Forum. Harris spoke for 24 minutes through the well-fixed mike while Trump went on for 90 minutes, holding his microphone in his hands due to a technical glitch. The real difference was, however, in what they spoke and who they talked to. The Trump crowd was mostly white people while Harris had a mix of white and black people.
Both rallies were political celebrations in their own ways. Harris had her celebrity endorsers ready, and they kept the audience engaged until the presidential candidate turned up. GloRilla, Flo Milli, MC Lyte and DJ Gemini Gilly were the celebs who attended the Harris rally. CardiB, the sensational rapper, delivered an electrifying endorsement speech, saying she chose to vote in this election only after Harris entered the fray. She had to read the speech directly from her phone screen because of a teleprompter glitch. It, however, did not dampen her spirit.
The Trump supporters waited for their hero, enjoying songs such as Bob Seger's 'Old Time Rock and Roll' and Tears for Fears's 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World', as is usual at Republican rallies.
'Kamala, Kamala'
Harris entered with her signature smile, clapping and cheering the crowd. On the dais, she was confidence personified. She stuck to the Democratic playbook in her speech, positioning herself as a leader of all, unlike her opponent, whose political narrative is often about divisions. "It's either going to be him walking into that office stewing over his enemies list or, when I am elected, walking in on your behalf with my to-do list," she said to an applauding crowd.
Harris said the Trump era was powered by the idea that Americans should be pointing fingers at each other. "We all know that we have more in common than what separates us," she said. "Unlike Donald Trump, I don't believe that people who disagree with me are my enemies. He wants to put them in jail; I will give them a seat at the table," she said. She said she would even like to have a Republican in her cabinet. Throughout the campaign, she has been trying to woo the Republican dissenters unhappy with the Trump style.
The crowd holding 'Freedom' placards and wearing a wristband emitting blue light gave her several rounds of applause every time she made a point. They also chanted 'Kamala, Kamala' in between. However, there was more desperation than hope in the crowd. Like Cardi B, they might have left it to fate during the campaign's initial phase. However, Harris' entry reinvigorated their hope. They are desperate to see her win despite knowing the fight is too close.
A doctor from South India expressed his concerns at the rally, "It would be dangerous if Trump wins. He wants all of us out of the country. He will not hesitate to do anything."
Trump and a troubled mike
The former president had overwhelming support from the crowd that had been ready to wait for him for a long time, but not from the microphone on the dais. The crowd, which had gathered to hear Trump, was unhappy with the troublesome microphone and wanted it fixed.
Trump's penchant for veering off the script and making his address a show was evident in Milwaukee, too. The mike instantly became a property in his hand. "Mike stinks," he said, and pulled it off the stand. It looked like a heroic act to his fans, and they couldn't hide their admiration. After a point, Trump was also frustrated, and he asked the crowd, jokingly: "You wanna see me knock the hell out of people backstage?"
He also used the word 'stinking' for the economy and called the press the most dishonest people, all to the cheers of the crowd comprising all age groups, holding placards that read 'Dream Big Again' and 'Trump will Fix it'. The youngsters in the crowd were all too happy every time Trump called the media some names. They showed thumbs down and booed.
As usual, he tore into Harris, saying, "She has no vision, no ideas, no brain power to get solutions." He said all she spoke about was 'Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump.' It was a cue for the campaign team. On multiple occasions, a video with Harris saying 'Donald Trump' appeared on the screen.
The Trump speech also was high on emotional quotient when he brought up his favourite theme – illegal immigration. In a video played, a young mother was shown narrating emotionally how she lost her 12-year-old daughter to illegal immigrants. The woman in the video says Kamala Harris was in charge of immigration when the incident happened, and she could not prevent it. She also expressed hope that President Trump would be back in office so that her next child would be safe in the country.
When it comes to his audience, Trump knows where to pause, where to mimic and where to curse. And, in him, maybe they see someone who speaks like them.