"It was the stuff of Republican nightmares."

[Rubyshoo]

I Was at the Harris-Walz Philadelphia Rally. My Ears Are Still Ringing.

Inside the arena, everything was set up for a sensory-expanding laser show. Each rallygoer was given an LED wristband that flickered between red, white, and blue, as if this was the American leg of a multiyear global tour. A DJ was spinning the house music; the audience was swag surfing (some better than others). On the concourse outside the arena, lines to get food and drinks were long to the extent that even when individual vendors ran out of food and drink, as they mostly did, there were still, for some reason, lines.

The atmosphere was so suspiciously bustling, in fact, that I had to check to make sure I was at the right place: Wasn’t this supposed to be a rally for a Democratic presidential ticket?

The last two Democratic presidential nominees, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, had their own political skill sets. Generating arena-rock electricity was not among them. The sheer energy of the crowd at the Philadelphia introduction of the Kamala Harris–Tim Walz presidential ticket on Tuesday—an event from which my ears are still ringing—was something I hadn’t seen in Democratic presidential politics since the early days of the last Democratic president. There will be plenty of twists, turns, and down moments to come for Harris-Walz in the next 90 days. But the fresh new Democratic ticket, and the recognition that Democrats don’t have to submit to defeat in November, has unlocked a euphoria that Democratic audiences have long kept suppressed behind caution and fear.

The ecstasy was ever the more impressive given the awkwardness of the day’s news. Despite the debut of the ticket being in Philadelphia, the most populous city of the election’s pivotal swing state, the Democratic nominee had just that morning denied the state’s popular governor, Josh Shapiro, a spot on the ticket. Philly will let you know what it thinks—and you could’ve taken me blindfolded to a mystery site and I would’ve been able to tell instantly by the crowd that this was Philly—and there was some risk that Walz might not have gotten the best reception.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/i-was-at-the-harris-walz-philadelphia-rally-my-ears-are-still-ringing/ar-AA1or5Y4