Arizona Women for Harris React to the Harris-Oprah Virtual Rally

Joy, optimism, awe, and sadness were the emotions expressed by the guests who filled the living room and outdoor pool area of Marlene Galan Wood’s house in Phoenix this evening as members of the Arizona Women for Harris Coalition watched the Harris-Oprah Virtual Unite for America Rally.

Just before the event occurred, Ms. Woods reminded the guests that “freedom is what were fighting for” and letting “Donald Trump back in the White House. It would be a catastrophe for our daughters, nieces, and granddaughters.”

At the end of the virtual rally, Ms. Woods called the guests to action and organize because “Arizona was key” to Harris winning and:

“We need to be an army out there. And this is the work that we can do. The people in this room, I don’t need to preach to you about all the issues that we’re, you know, now we have to fight. Now, we have to work done here in Arizona in our neighborhood. So let’s do this because women get shit done.”

During the event Oprah Winfrey continually stressed, to the guest’s approval and constant applause that “We should all be united to get the vote out for Harris” and there should be an “Emphasis on working hard to turn out the vote. What can you do in your own home, community, and district to get out the vote.”

She also said this was an election where “you will choose to vote for your values.”

At the end of the event, she said:

“We want to create a world where our children will be safe in school again. And as my friends and Mentor Maya Angelou always said when you know better, you got to do that…We hope you keep fighting for us and the country we deserve to have.”

Activists, public figures, and celebrities who were invited to speak and celebrities who ZOOMed in also relayed, with the guests enthusiasm and approval, the same message as Oprah.

Actor Bryan Cranston hailed the Harris/Walz campaign for bringing back the “sense of optimism and beating back the cynicism. I hope we will ride this wave into Washington. I think she (Harris) is going to be a terrific President.”

Actor Chris Rock said “I want to bring my daughters to the White House to meet this Black Woman President. I’m ready to turn the page.”

Actor Ben Stiller noted that the “energy (of the campaign) has gone from a Stop Trump vote to a Vote for Kamala vote.“

Actress Julia Roberts was happy that the first ever vote her two children will make will be for Harris and that if she wins, people overseas will say “Oh, you’re an American” in a positive way.

Actress Meryl Streep got the guests clapping when she said “Hello President Harris…We’re done with the hatred.”

The guests clapped when they heard a Wisconsin activist say “We won’t have to remember what we thought. We will remember what we did.”

People clapped again when another supporter called on voters to remember to vote up and down the ballot and “Childless women have elevated culture…You don’t need to have a baby to move humanity.”

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer appeared before Vice President Harris and said “We’re feeling good (about winning Michigan) but we have to transform that feeling into action. We have a leader that is strong and kind. We have to do the hard work.”

Harris/Walz Campaign Manager Jen O’Malley Dillion stressed “This campaign is so inspired by the grassroots organizations…this is still a margin of error race…It’s going to take all of us to get to 270 Electoral Votes.”

Before the Vice President entered, the guests all laughed when they played back Trump at the debate talking about the false story in Springfield and the killing of the pets with a cat trying to scratch at him.

When the Vice President sat down and started sharing her thoughts with Oprah, all the guests were drawn in to Harris talking about unity, what we all have in common, how “each of us has the power to shape our Democracy” and treating people with dignity and kindness. It was during times like this where the only thing I could hear was myself typing. 

The guests clapped when she said “the real strength of a leader is who you lift up.”

Ms. Winfrey then brought up the topics of immigration, the cost of living, reproductive freedom, school shootings, and what Trump might do the day after the elections if he loses.

She invited questions from the audience who were there or attending virtually.

On what she would do to reform immigration, Harris discussed her career committed to American safety and a secure border. She also brought up Trump’s sabotaging the Border Agent supported border security bill that could have stemmed the flow of fentanyl for political reasons, saying “he put his personal security above border security” and “Is it about either running away from problems or fixing them.” People clapped when she said she would sign that bill if it gets to her desk.

On how she would tackle the high cost of living, the Vice President highlighted her components of her Opportunity Economy agenda including providing a $25,000 tax credit for first time home buyers, more aid to start a small business to the tune of a $50,000 tax deduction, and expanding the Child Tax Credit including $6,000 for the first year of a newborn’s life.

Getting laughs when she reminded the people that “Trump was handed everything and went bankrupt six times”, she said her vision, which has been phrased by Nobel Prize Economists and Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs, differed from his because hers “focuses on the future” and “lifting you up.”

When the subjects turned to reproductive freedom and school shootings, you could hear a pin drop in the room. There were tears from some of guests when the family members of the victims of Trump abortion bans and a recent school shooting in Georgia told their stories of the horrors they and their families had to endure.

On Reproductive Freedom Hadley Duvall, an activist whose step father sexually abused her and impregnated her when she was 12, spoke up and said, “There are going to be more people like me out there…We need to show up for her (Harris) like she is showing up for us.” People clapped for her when she said that. They applauded again when Duvall said the Vice President gave her strength.

The guests were especially saddened when hearing the mother and sisters of Amber Thurman, a woman who needlessly lost her life because physicians in Georgia waited 20 hours to try to help her because they were more scared about going to jail than treating her from abortion pill complications.

The guests were moved when Amber Thurman’s mother Shanette said, “Amber was not a statistic…We would have done whatever to get her the help she needed…Women around the world need to know that it was preventable. Two years later…You are looking at a mother that is broken…”

One sister said “They just let her die because of a stupid abortion ban.”

Another sister offered that it was “Disheartening to let her suffer for 20 hours.”

Harris responded to Thurman’s family, saying  “I’m just so sorry. The courage you have shown is so extraordinary. The word over and over in (the mothers) mind is preventable.” The Vice President blamed Trump for creating the situation of putting women in danger because doctors fear being prosecuted. Harris declared, “She has to be on death’s door before you can help” and this is a “Health care crisis that affects the patient and the profession…telling these stories is extraordinary and helpful.”

Guests clapped when she called legislators and governors taking away women’s health care choices “immoral” and “government should not have that say” in a woman’s reproductive choices.

On school shootings with the latest occurring in Georgia two weeks ago, Ms. Winfrey noted that 383,000 students have experienced this. 

She also commented “It’s a number until it’s your child. It’s not normal and it’s not right. Other countries do not have this issue…We have to do better.” People applauded when they heard her say that.

They cried when they heard one of the surviving victims of the Georgia shooting, a young lady, and her mother recount the events and the horror for a parent being first told of the attack.

The mother echoed Winfrey when she said, “You do not know how it feels until it’s you…I’m ready to make a noise to stop it…Let’s make a change.”

The guests clapped when Harris said she was for an assault weapons ban and universal background checks. They laughed when Harris said she owns guns and “anyone who breaks into my house is going to get shot.”

On the school shootings, the Vice President remarked “This is not the sign of a civil society” and rebuked Trump for telling victims to “Get over it.”

In response to Meryl Streep’s question about what happens the day after the election if Trump loses, Harris said January 6, 2021 “Was a bridge too far” for a lot of people like the many in the Republicans Against Trump and Republicans for Harris groups. 

She also said that the lawyers are working on what might happen with election challenges the day after. She also said it was important to stand up for poll and election workers and people should be told “not to be afraid to vote.”

Guests clapped when she said:

“Your vote does matter. We cannot let anyone take away our power…Let’s make sure everyone votes…We’re going to win because we know what we’re fighting for and we know what we stand for.”

The guests also applauded the Vice Presidents closing when she said:

“We love our country. We take pride in the privilege of being an American…Let’s come together…We are an optimistic people…We have dreams and aspirations for what is possible. We believe in fighting for that…to fight for the ideals of who we are and freedom…It’s about what we’re fighting for. Not what we’re fighting against.” 

Reaction to the Virtual Rally

Words like “fabulous,” “informative,” “invigorating,” “the strength of women,” and “abortion rights.” were examples of the initial reactions to the Harris-Oprah Virtual Rally.

Marlene Galan Woods, the host of the event commented on the virtual rally:

I thought it was fantastic. The spirit of it. The joy in it. The hope in it. That’s what everyone in this country is craving. We’re craving hope and solutions to people’s everyday problems. And that is just a glimpse of what we will get with President Harris. I am just thrilled to have all these women in a room who are going to be an army out there in Maricopa County and make sure that we elect Kamala Harris and that she gets our Arizona electoral votes. If Maricopa County goes for Harris. Arizona goes for Harris.”

Mesa City Councilwoman Julie Spilsbury added that Harris winning the East Valley of Maricopa County was key to winning the County and the Grand Canyon state.

Crystal Price, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints, said the event was a “wonderful meeting.”

On Vice President Harris, she said:

“She’s nice. She’s not divisive. She’s kind. I think she’s the 1 that can build unity. I’m really passionate about moderation and unity and I’m solid in the middle, kind of politically homeless. But I feel like she is the one that is not extreme. Her values align with mine. She knows what it’s like to come from, a regular, like, middle class home. She just has heart and she has an innate ability as a woman to empathize and to reach out to other people. And we need a woman…I’m finally ready to to speak up and do something and to be politically active after I did vote for Trump in 2020.”

When I asked Ms. Price if January 6th was a bridge too far for her, she responded “Oh, it was above and beyond my comfort level.”