HOUSTON – Vice President Kamala Harris is making an important visit Houston on Friday. This is a trip that underlines many critical political dynamics and strategies as election day approaches.

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We caught up with University of Houston History Professor Nancy Beck Young to talk about why this stop so close to election day is important. Full disclosure: Dr. Young plans to attend the rally.

Dr. Young boiled down the Harris visit to four main reasons:

internal voting

I want to know what his insiders are saying and what (Colin) Allred’s insiders are saying because I don’t think you’re just going to hopefully make a game for 2028 or 2032. I think there must be something in their internal polls that suggests going to Texas and not going to Texas. FloridaBecause there is also an active Senate race in Florida, a state that is predicted to be red. So why does he come here and not there? So, you know, we won’t know what the interior is saying until the election is decided. And then we will only know what we have been told about the insides. And that’s true of every campaign, it’s not unique to Vice President Harris. That’s how voting works, and how candidates protect their inside numbers.

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Support increased for Colin Allred

Senate race, — Colin Allred etc Ted Cruz — significantly tightened.

Emphasizing Abortion Rights

So if you think back, Roe v Wade came about. TexasRight? Sarah Weddington was a very young lawyer who took the Norma McCorvey case, Roe, because it was filed anonymously and it was a class action lawsuit. And that came out of Dallas in the early 1970s and was overturned by Dobbs after the 1973 ruling. I think his coming to Texas is a bit of political poetry. But I think it also highlights the horror of what this means for women’s healthcare and the healthcare of people who might get pregnant. So it’s been a nightmare for everyone, whether it’s someone who doesn’t want to be pregnant and finds themselves pregnant, or someone who desperately wants to be pregnant and finds themselves facing a tragic diagnosis. And everything in between cases of rape and incest. So I think it makes a really strong argument that this shouldn’t actually be a partisan issue because these issues happen to people regardless of party identification. And I think that’s what we’ll hear from him on this issue.

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The Future of Texas Politics

I think this has to do with the future of Texas politics and the possibility of Texas moving toward the center and turning purple in more parts of the state. For this reason Harris County, Dallas County, Travis County, Bexar County, El PasoThey already vote pretty reliably Democratic in presidential elections and statewide races. But to make Texas competitive, which is Democrats’ dream, it is necessary to include suburban counties and smaller urban counties in the mix. So this could be a long game.

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Also Dr. We asked Young about the star power at Friday’s rally and what he made of it:

For this reason Beyonce She has already made it clear that she supports Harris, and Harris has been playing Beyonce music at her rallies. So Beyonce is already a part of the campaign in this way. But I think this will be Beyoncé’s first appearance at the Harris rally. Megan Thee Stallion He was already playing at Harris rallies, Eminem was at the Harris rally and Obama was rapping eminem lyrics earlier this week. And other artists were after Harris, too. But having a Queen Bee is very important. And in Beyoncé’s hometown, this is something no one should miss. Which brings me back to what’s going on inland. You know if Texas is closer than everyone thinks? And is there a two-way synergy between Harris’ campaign and Allred’s campaign, and is there a possibility that both will achieve success at the ballot box soon?

Is star power an effective strategy in the closing message of presidential campaigns?

I think that’s a big part of it. And I think there are some shades between the two campaigns, right? ‘Cause we, okay, I’ll go ahead and say, this is really weird Embers City Hall, about a week ago, stopped answering questions within 20, 30 minutes and engaged in music for 38, 39 minutes, which has never happened before. If you remember, Obama said in his stump speech right after this: If Kamala had done this, if I had done that, or if any Democrat had done that, what would they say in the press, they would really be on us. ? Then he said, if we do this, we’ll get better music. And that’s the throwing shade part I meant. There’s nothing wrong with the Village People or the rest of the music played at the Trump rally. The other thing that’s interesting about the musical artists playing at the Trump rally is that many of them have cease and desist filing lawsuits against Trump; Stop playing our music because we do not approve of your political values. This is just another way pop culture is conflicting about this presidential election.

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Rally expectations

So I’m expecting a really excited, enthusiastic crowd. I expect both candidates on stage to be very excited, along with the local people who are with them. I’m hoping Beyoncé will actually sing a song for us and not just talk from the stage. I expect the issue of abortion to be discussed. And I think there will be intense incentive to opt out. I suspect Harris’ speech will largely be her stump speech. He might try some of the things he’ll say in his speech at the Ellipse in D.C. next week, or he might try some of his closing arguments. And he may not do that, he may stay true to what he has said on the road since he set out. But yeah, I suspect it will be a very energetic crowd.

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