Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 35, and Senator Bernie Sanders, 83, take the stage of a theater this Monday evening in Madison, the most progressive and ascendant city in decisive and divided Wisconsin. They are the stars of the left of the Democratic Party, and present the “progressive argument” in favor of Kamala Harris with a message centered on the fight against inequality and racism illustrated during Donald Trump’s meeting a few hours earlier in New York.
Ocasio-Cortez enters with salsa music. Sanders, with Power to the people. They hug, congratulate and ask the thousands of already convinced people who lined up around the theater to mobilize their neighbors to vote for Harris in one of the states that has the most power to decide the outcome on December 5 . . Polls show a near tie in Wisconsin and the outcome could be decided by a few thousand votes.
What happened at Madison Square Garden
The Democratic congresswoman from New York, born in the Bronx to a Puerto Rican family, passionately defends the unity of the country against the racist messages spoken a few hours before at Madison Square Garden in his city. The Republican candidate’s rally included insults against Puerto Ricans, Latinos, Palestinians and Jews. A comedian said Puerto Rico is “a floating trash island,” the only supposed joke the Trump campaign has distanced itself from.
“Let’s forget the idea that it’s just a joke or that it was just a comedian. We all saw there were two teleprompters on both sides of this screen. They were loaded with words. And it’s not just about the fact that Donald Trump brought together tens of thousands of Americans to applaud these words, ”says Ocasio-Cortez, who recalls Trump’s actions and condemnations.
“The identity of our country is much deeper than the division they want to stoke between us,” Ocasio-Cortez said, her voice almost breaking. “He’s talking about us, he’s talking about you. “He’s talking about all of us.”
“This racism is not a name or an insult. It is a description of a belief system. And Donald Trump believes that Americans are not equal. When you echo the words of Adolf Hitler… When you say “America for the Americans,” you’re not talking about American citizens: you’re talking about those who you think are loyal enough to Donald Trump, and that’s those you consider American. We cannot allow this to happen to our country. No, we must defend our nation,” proclaims the MP to applause. “Kamala Harris has a vision for the future of our country… The polls are close, but the election is clear.”
“We cannot elect a pathological liar and someone who works night and day to destroy American democracy,” Sanders would later insist.
Billionaires
The two talk about Harris’ proposals to expand public health services, raise the minimum wage and protect union rights. Both take aim at billionaires who fund Trump’s campaign, like Elon Musk, or who fear retaliation, citing Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon and the Washington Postwhich prevented its editorial team from publishing its op-ed supporting Harris.
“If you’re a billionaire, Donald Trump has a better economic plan for you,” Ocasio-Cortez says. Harris’ plans, he points out, are ones that work for most workers.
Sanders insists that fighting “greed” is one of the areas where the United States has not progressed, although he also praises the current administration for some progress. For example, Sanders claims that for the first time in the United States there was an administration, that of Joe Biden and Harris, that “had the courage” to confront the “greedy” pharmaceutical lobby.
Before going on stage, Sanders also asks to vote for Harris in a video intended in particular to criticize the Biden administration for not doing more against the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. In the video, he points out the difference with what Trump says, who criticizes Biden for trying to stop the Israeli leader.
Convinced public
Madison’s is a convinced audience, even among those who have already voted. On stage, a group of guitarists surrounded by banners with the messages “freedom” and “a new way forward” play classics. Program channels Knocking on heaven’s door by Bob Dylan with the most disturbing It’s the end of the world as we know it (and I feel good) REM
“Have you voted yet?” the singer asks amid cries of approval from the audience, made up of a mix of women and university students in the campus neighborhood. “We have to take three other friends to vote.” In Wisconsin, early voting has been possible for a week. When asked who has already voted, the majority of the audience raises their hands.
Among the participants, a 19-year-old student voting for the first time in a presidential election and a political veteran on the verge of retirement are seated together.
Political science student Cameron Craig has already seen Barack Obama, Harris and Tim Walz at several rallies in Wisconsin. His first presidential elections seemed “somewhat terrifying” to him because of the closeness of the results, according to polls. “It’s normal that it’s right after Halloween, but I’m hopeful. I hope things go the way we want them to. Otherwise, I will continue to fight to try to change things as much as I can,” he says.
“We women are going to save the country,” encourages her neighbor, Deb Dell, with decades of political activism and former director of a hypermarket chain who now works for a non-profit organization.
She says that although she is from Madison, she also campaigned in New York for Ocasio-Cortez and hopes that one day she will be president. She cares for her ailing mother and is particularly interested in Harris’ plans to provide more assistance with care and protection of abortion rights with her nieces and nephews in mind. On the day of the debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in June, he shared a photo message online: “It has to be Kamala.” “I think she’s going to win, especially after what happened last night,” Dell says, referring to the rally at Madison Square Garden and conversations with her Puerto Rican and conservative friends from Tennessee.
Fastest Growing County
Madison is one of the keys to victory in divided Wisconsin. Home to the government and a major university, it is the majority-Democratic city in Dane County, where Biden beat Trump in 2020 by more than 50 points. Dane is also the county with the most population growth compared to the rest of the state.
Milwaukee, the other large city in the state, also traditionally Democratic, remains the most populous, with more than 500,000 inhabitants, but it has continued to lose inhabitants in recent years. Meanwhile, since 2010, Dane County’s population has increased by 18%, and the indicators are in favor.
“It’s the capital. The state university is here. Its population is large, predominantly young, with a preference for people with higher education and 75% of Democratic voters. If these young, highly educated voters go to the polls in large numbers, it can win the state,” Jonathan Kasparek, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, tells elDiario.es. “It’s like the tail wags the dog.”
