RALEIGH — At 12:45 a.m. on Election Day, Hillary Clinton stood on the stage of NC State’s Reynolds Coliseum for her final rally, showing the importance of North Carolina in the presidential election.
Her opponent Donald Trump was several miles down the road on Monday afternoon pushing out one of his last messages to voters.
According to polling, North Carolina, with 15 electoral votes, is toss-up on whether it will go red or blue this year. Andrew Taylor, a political science professor at NC State, said although the last minute rallying generally doesn’t sway voters, it shows what role North Carolina could play in this election an important one.
“In terms of actually changing at this stage possibly a few here in there, but that’s not the real reason,” Taylor said. “The reason is for one to demonstrate to the people of North Carolina that this is a really important state and it could be determinative of the outcome and you are demonstrating to the country that you are still full of energy working hard at this very late hour.”
For Clinton’s midnight Get Out the Vote, she invited Lady Gaga, Jon Bon Jovi, DJ Samantha Ronson, Chelsea Clinton and Bill Clinton to encourage attendees to vote or encourage someone else to vote. “The road to the White House goes through your state,” Jon Bon Jovi said.
Clinton told the audience “Between now and when the polls close tomorrow, we are going to be ‘Living on a Prayer.'”
Taylor said he believes the Clinton camp using big names, like Pharrell, Beyonce and Lady Gaga, is to grab the attention of younger voters and African American voters.
“The Clinton campaign has been using people who may appeal to younger voters and also people may appeal to African American voters particularly in the entertainment industry and there is some concern amongst Democrats African American voters aren’t as excited, likely participate this year because Obama isn’t on the ballot,” Taylor said. “There is some worry in the Clinton camp. They really need them to show up. They may create some attention and some energy. In terms of actually moving voters, I’m a little and so is the literature skeptical of that.”
Lady Gaga performed and dedicated “Angel Down” to black lives.
Trump commented on Clinton bringing in various celebrities at his Raleigh rally saying artist Jay-Z and Beyonce couldn’t bring in the crowds like the ones at his rally. Most of the night was spent encouraging people to vote, but Lady Gaga gave another message that Clinton will be a president for everyone.
“She stands in front of us proud like a lady,” Lady Gaga said. “She is ready to be president. We do not need to hate his followers. If we are true Americans, we need to view his followers not as our adversaries but our allies.”
Clinton left on one of her campaign slogans: “Love trumps hate.”
