Oprah and Lady Gaga bring the joy back to Kamala Harris’ latest get-together

PHILADELPHIA— Vice President Kamala Harris held her final rally of the campaign Monday night, 106 days after President Biden dropped out, with a heavy dose of celebrity, in an effort to bring back the joy that marked her first weeks on the trail.

At a rally in Philadelphia outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, near the steps where Rocky Balboa ran in the “Rocky” film franchise, she implored a raucous crowd to make a plan to vote.

“One more day, one more day in the most consequential election of our lifetimes,” she said. “And the momentum is on our side.”

The rally was intended as a show of force, bringing celebrity firepower to the largest city in the key swing state that was also the birthplace of American democracy. It featured Fat Joe, Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, the Roots, will.i.am and Oprah Winfrey.

The event was part of a simulcast that lasted more than four hours across multiple cities, including Las Vegas and Phoenix. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz addressed a crowd in Milwaukee. Sugarland performed in Raleigh. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer spoke from Detroit, where Jon Bon Jovi also performed.

“You don’t know who you’re voting for?” said Fat Joe, who introduced a musical number by fellow American Ricky Martin in a speech in Philadelphia criticizing former President Trump for having a comedian insult Puerto Ricans at his rally last week. “You must be joking right now.”

Lady Gaga sang a soulful version of “God Bless America” and spoke about empowering women and electrifying the crowd. Winfrey brought ten new voters onto the stage and asked some why they were voting.

“We vote for healing over hate,” Winfrey said.

The mood was festive, but Democrats are tense. Polls show a nearly even tie with Pennsylvania, the largest of the seven battleground states.

“Everyone is a little tense, which is understandable,” said Sara Grimaldi, 22, who has spent the campaign engaging youth voters for a feminist group.

She came to do some last-minute outreach and to release some of those concerns with Lady Gaga, she said. “Screaming when you’re stressed helps.”

Democrats hope their ground game, two years in the making, will push Harris over the top. About 110,000 volunteers have worked in the state since Harris took over Biden’s ticket three months ago, according to the campaign, on their way to knocking on 5 million doors.

Tal Tigay, a 43-year-old real estate developer, came with her 12-year-old daughter Nina and their friend Ella, also 12. Tigay had taken Nina to a meeting of Hillary Clinton eight years ago to become the first female presidential candidate.

“Unfortunately we didn’t win that one, but it was important for my daughter to be here at this time,” Tigay said.

Violet Perloff, a freshman at George Washington University in Washington, rescheduled a test and took the train home so she could celebrate voting for the first time. She brought along a bejeweled “Harris” sign she made in her dorm room.

“I had the opportunity to show my support,” she said. “So I thought: I want to do it. I want to come out and show that I care about my rights and the future of this country.”