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Second gentleman Doug Emhoff speaks to the crowd at the Cobb Galleria on Nov. 3, 2024.
Credit: Kristi York Wooten / GPB News
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Tim Walz and Doug Emhoff rally for Harris in Cobb County with Michael Stipe and Jon Bon Jovi
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The Minnesota governor and second gentleman bonded with their favorite rock stars and reinforced Vice President Kamala Harris' closing message at a mini-concert at the Cobb Galleria Sunday afternoon, with less than 48 hours to go before Election Day.
The Harris-Walz campaign rally at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel in the Cumberland district just inside Atlanta's perimeter featured speakers including vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, second gentleman Douglas Emhoff and musical performances Michael Stipe of R.E.M., Jon Bon Jovi and Michael and Tanya Trotter of the duo The War and Treaty.
A crowd of about 1,500 supporters packed the intimate setup at the hotel ballroom to hear Walz hammer Harris' closing argument in the vital swing state of Georgia.
The audience reflected the diversity and changing political landscape in the county — a longtime Republican stronghold that flipped for Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020. At the end of early voting on Nov. 1, the Georgia secretary of state's voter turnout data hub reported more than 60% of Cobb's registered voters had already cast their ballots, including nearly 68% of white voters and 58% of Black voters. 56% of those early voters identified as women, following statewide and national gender gap trends.
Before the main event, speakers including first-time voter and high school senior Tyler Lee; Maya Harris, sister of the vice president; state Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes, who's the first Muslim woman in the Georgia Senate; and U.S. Rep Lucy McBath spoke about the election's key issues of reproductive rights, ending gun violence and creating economic opportunity.
There was a positive "bro" energy in the room as Emhoff said the event was the first time he and Walz had held a full rally together. The two men, both 60, share the common experience of growing up in an America dominated by the popular culture of TV, films and music.
Emhoff walked out to the New Radicals 1999 hit "You Get What You Give" and delivered his remarks in a relatable tone that felt largely unscripted. He described riding with Harris to her Oct. 29 speech on the Ellipse in front of the White House in Washington, D.C., attended by more than 75,000 people.
"It was so surreal for me to experience that," he said. "And as her husband, but also as an American, as someone who loves his wife and loves this country, I have never been more proud of her."
Walz, with his very animated and quick delivery, entered to the sounds of John Mellencamp's "Small Town," a classic campaign song used by politicians on both sides of the aisle.
He hit many of his running mate's primary talking points, including comparing Harris' to-do list with former president Donald Trump's "enemies list," condemning the state's "Trump abortion bans" and touting a ban on price gouging by illustrating the food price crisis with a story about a farmer's rate for corn.
The biggest cheer of the afternoon came when Walz stressed the importance of every vote in what is likely to be a tight race.
"I heard you talking about those 11,700 votes," he said, referring to the infamous phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. "Let's win this thing by more than that here in Georgia."
He then invoked Georgia's two Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
"As a Georgian said one time, that the 'arc of the moral universe' bending towards justice, know it will," Walz said, paraphrasing Martin Luther King Jr.'s words. "So if we win Georgia by — when we win Georgia, if it happened by one vote, it will be Jimmy Carter's vote."
The crowd roared.
After Walz finished, R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe took the stage to share a story about the time he first met Emhoff and Harris in a New York City restaurant years ago.
Then Stipe was joined by Andy LeMaster and David Barbe to perform the 2020 song, "No Time for Love Like Now," which Stipe wrote with Aaron Dessner of The National (who was not in attendance). The trio of musicians then played 1985's "Driver 8" by R.E.M. — Walz's favorite tune by the Grammy-winning Athens, Ga., band, which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame earlier this year.
Next, singer Jon Bon Jovi — whose eponymous band was also inducted into the Rock Hall in 2018 — teamed with The War and Treaty to sing "The People's House," a soulful track from his group's 2024 album, Forever. The Trotters made another splash in Atlanta recently with their powerhouse performance at the Fox Theatre during the Jimmy Carter 100 concert celebrating the former president's 100th birthday on Oct. 1.
During his signature song, "Livin' on a Prayer," Bon Jovi relied on the couple's harmonies as the three singers transformed the working-class arena anthem into an introspective plea for hope.
Bon Jovi then called Michael Stipe to the stage for a rendition of R.E.M.'s 1987 dark, melodic love song, "The One I Love."
Pairing two of the biggest rock stars of the 1980s and 1990s — Stipe and Bon Jovi – was a rare treat for voters who needed a singalong as the nation decides its next leader.
The Trump campaign also rallied in the state, visiting Macon on Sunday.
For more election coverage, see GPB's Election 2024 hub.
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