'JOYFUL WARRIORS.' Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, greeted an audience estimated at 12,000 at a campaign rally Wednesday, Aug. 7, in Eau Claire.

Minnesota and Wisconsin may frequently be rivals, but a sense of Upper Midwest solidarity was on display Wednesday in Eau Claire as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz joined Vice President Kamala Harris at a campaign rally that drew an estimated 12,000 people to the Eau Claire Event District.

Harris and Walz, who was in his first full day as Harris’s running mate, spoke to an enthusiastic – but hot – crowd that stood in the intense August sun for several hours waiting for the candidates.

“Now look, we’re pretty neighborly with Wisconsin,” Walz told the crowd, after being introduced by Cadott dairy farmer Les Danielson. “We get our friendly battles, but in Minnesota just like in Wisconsin, we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make. Even if we wouldn’t make the same choices for ourselves, because we know there’s a golden rule: ‘Mind your own damn business!’ ”

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The path to the White House runs right through this state.

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS

A few minutes later, Harris took the stage and emphasized how critical Wisconsin will be in the Nov. 5 election. Four years ago, the state’s 10 electoral votes went narrowly to fellow Democrat Joe Biden, while in 2016 the state had tipped to Republican Donald Trump.

“The path to the White House runs right through this state,” declared Harris, who stepped in to replace Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket barely two weeks earlier. “And with your help, we will win in November.”

The rally – whose exact location and time were only announced to supporters the previous day – drew one of the largest political audiences in recent memory to the grounds that host Country Jam and other music festivals. Attendees reported being caught in traffic for hours or even walking miles to reach the event.

Bon Iver Offers Musical Interlude

Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon performed with bandmates Michael Lewis and Sean Carey at the Harris-Walz rally.

Before the candidates spoke, the crowd was serenaded by Eau Claire-based indie rockers Bon Iver. Halfway through the band’s set, frontman Justin Vernon replaced his headwear with a camouflage Harris-Walz cap.

Between songs, Vernon joked that bandmate Michael Lewis “might have one up on us today” because he was from Minnesota, before pivoting into Packer fan mode: “I just got a ‘Packers Rule!’ down here,” he indicated to the crowd, “which is absolutely correct.”

Joined by Lewis on bass and Sean Carey on drums, Vernon performed four songs: “Towers” (from Bon Iver, Bon Iver), “666 ʇ” (from 22, A Million), “Flume” (from For Emma, Forever Ago), and finally “The Battle Cry of Freedom,” a Civil War-era tune that Vernon introduced as “a nice old patriotic song that’s been rolling around my head these last months.”

It wasn’t Bon Iver’s first time on a political platform. The band performed at Eau Claire rallies for then-presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020, and has engaged in get-out-the-vote efforts in several elections cycles.

Later, Walz joked about attempting his own musical performance: “I thought about doing the ‘Minnesota Rouser’ but I thought that might be too much over here.”

Photo by Andrea Paulseth

High-Profile Shoppers in The Local Store at Volume One World Headquarters

After the rally, Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Tim Walz, and their entourage – including Justin Vernon – made an unannounced stop at The Local Store, 205 N. Dewey St., bring national media with them. You can find more photos right here.

Even if the crowd seemed united in support of the Democratic ticket, their state loyalties were clearly divided: When Walz asked if there were Minnesotans were in the audience, a huge cheer erupted.

“Hello Eau Claire!” he said at the beginning of his remarks. “Isn’t it good to have a candidate who can pronounce the name correctly?” (Coincidentally, a recorded voice introducing Bon Iver earlier had mispronounced the band’s name.)

During his speech, Walz laid out his biography – governor, congressman, National Guard veteran, high school teacher, football coach – and said he looked forward to debating JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee. As it happens, Vance had spoken to reporters earlier Wednesday at Wollard International, an Eau Claire manufacturing company, and nearly crossed paths with Harris and Walz on the tarmac at the Chippewa Valley Regional Airport. Vance reportedly joked that, “I just wanted to check out my future plane,” in regard to Air Force Two. After speaking at his event, Vance sampled some Mocha Mud Pie at Olson’s Ice Cream in downtown Eau Claire.

Lending a Hand on a Hot Day

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, left, introduced his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris.

While the Democratic candidates drew frequent applause and chants during their speeches, perhaps the most dramatic – and awkward – moment came during an extended period of dead air. While Walz was speaking, an audience member apparently was overcome by the heat.

“Somebody’s hot, can we get somebody to help,” Walz remarked, directing attendees and aides to the person. “Drink some water folks, it is hot out.”

Walz stopped the speech until the person was assisted, and then resumed with an appeal toward Midwestern neighborliness. “Take care of one another on this. … This idea of caring for our neighbor and kindness and a hand up when somebody needs it – or just the sense that people go through things, and to be able to be there when they need it – that’s who we are. It’s not about mocking, it’s not name-calling.”

“In this fight, as Tim Walz likes to point out, we are joyful warriors,” Harris said after taking the stage to the booming sound of Beyonce’s “Freedom.” The phrase echoes the nickname of another Minnesotan, Hubert Humphrey: Dubbed “The Happy Warrior,” Humphrey himself was vice president in the 1960s.

Harris outlined her experience as a prosecutor and attorney general in California, and contrasted her record with that of former president Trump, who was convicted of 34 felonies earlier this year. “In this campaign, I will proudly put my record against his any day of the week,” she said.

Harris noted that she was greeted by a Girl Scout troop when she arrived in Eau Claire: “One of those young leaders had a shirt on that said, ‘You are powerful, and your voice matters.’ From the mouths of babes, they’re telling us. … Let’s remember our power, let’s remember our voice matters.” 

Missed the rally? You can watch the whole thing on YouTube courtesy of PBS NewsHour.

The rally drew an estimated 12,000 people to the Eau Claire Event District, the home of Country Jam and other music festivals.