Obama, Springsteen headline Philadelphia rally for Kamala Harris

For the thousands of people able to get into the Liacouras Center on Temple University’s campus in North Philadelphia – there were estimates that despite the arena’s 10,200-seat capacity, more than double that amount of people were turned away from entering – what awaited them was part house party, part tent revival, part “MTV Unplugged” – and part halftime speech from an all-star assemblage of politicians and performers.

They were there on Monday to support Vice President Kamala Harris in her presidential campaign’s latest foray into the commonwealth. While Harris herself wasn’t part of the run of show – she was stumping in Michigan after spending the weekend in Pennsylvania – she was ably represented by a full roster of surrogates, including John Legend as the opening musical act for headliners Bruce Springsteen and former President Barack Obama.

Opening speakers Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, Speaker of the Pennsylvania House Joanna McClinton, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta each hewed in some way to the general thematic points of the evening: Hit the Trump campaign and the GOP hard on everything from the racism festival at Madison Square Garden Sunday to Project 2025 to denying reproductive rights; highlight the hope, joy and readiness of Harris; and hammer home how it’s only possible to win Pennsylvania if everyone pitches in to get out the vote.

Kenyatta, the Democratic candidate for state Auditor General, emphasized just how crucial it was for attendees to do more than stand up and cheer at the rally. “What are you willing to do when you leave?” he asked. “How many doors are you willing to knock on, how many phone calls are you willing to make, how many postcards are you willing to send? In Pennsylvania, we birthed American democracy – and in Pennsylvania, we are going to save it!”

Casey, who spent most of his time onstage taking potshots at GOP challenger Dave McCormick, got off one of the evening’s best lines just before introducing Springsteen to the crowd when he said, “You can’t trust my opponent to stand up for women's reproductive rights. I don't believe our daughters should have fewer rights than their mothers or grandmothers.”

In a brief set that conveyed a shocking sense of intimacy considering the cavernous space, Springsteen, accompanied only by his acoustic guitar and harmonica, performed three songs – “Promised Land,” “Land of Hope and Dreams,” and “Dancing in the Dark” – that underscored how long, difficult and rewarding the journey to the American Dream can be.

As raucous as the crowd had been for Springsteen, there was no doubt who the star of the show was when Obama took the stage to the loudest cheers of the evening. In rolled-up shirtsleeves, the former president got right to work, hitting Trump hard for his narcissism, racism and for being un-American before weaving together the case for why the race is so close – “I can understand people wanting to shake things up; but I can’t understand why anyone would think Donald Trump is gonna shake things up in a way that’s good for you” – and then making the case for electing Harris. “We have to reject the kind of politics – the division and hatred – that we saw represented at the Madison Square Garden rally,” Obama said. “America is ready for Kamala Harris. The good news is, Kamala Harris is ready for the job.”