Spencer Thomas | editor-in-chief |

Tommy Gambino got off his shift as a janitor at Duquesne on Thursday afternoon and hurried east to Oakland to the Fitzgerald Fieldhouse at the University of Pittsburgh. He didn’t even change out of his Duquesne facilities management jacket. Still, by the time he arrived, there were already hundreds of people already lined up to hear former President Barack Obama speak.

Obama was in town to kick off a campaign tour on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey also spoke to the capacity crowd that evening.

In addition to his job with facilities, Gambino is busy getting his master’s in philosophy on the Bluff but said that making the time to come to the rally and events like it is important to him. 

Gambino is thrilled to see the Democratic party moving as a united front on behalf of its new leader, and that there could be such a significant event without either candidate on the presidential ticket.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the Democratic party come together as quickly as it did in the 24 hours after Biden dropped out. I think people are very excited to defeat Donald Trump again,” he said.

Gambino also volunteers for the campaign, making phone calls and going door-to-door in the seventh ward. He said that the focus of the campaign is narrowing as the election grows closer.

“I think that it’s gonna be getting out the vote at this point,” Gambino said. “If they do a good ground game, which they seem to be doing from what I’ve seen over at the campaign office, I think they’ll turn out a good vote.”

At 7:15 p.m., Obama echoed the same sentiment.

“If you’re at this rally, let’s face it, you’re probably voting unless you are 12,” Obama said. “So you also have to help your friends and family make a plan to vote.”

Leading up to Obama’s speech, crowds gathered outside the building, consisting of older voters toward the front and college-aged students bringing up the rear toward Aliquippa Street to Fifth Avenue.

The front of the line was mostly older people, while college students line stretched down from Aliquippa Street to Fifth Avenue.

Among the masses was Elaine Fatla. It was her second time ever attending a rally, after seeing Hilary Clinton speak during her campaign. A big fan of the former president, Fatla was inspired by the consequences of the election to come and show her support.

“I think this election is the most important we’ve had in my lifetime,” Fatla said. “I don’t feel like there is a way on God’s green earth that Donald Trump can lead our country.”

In his speech, Obama focused heavily on plans to build the economy for American families. He said Harris wanted tax cuts for 100 million middle-class families, and efforts to reduce prices on household items, such as diapers.

“I remember changing diapers,” Obama said. “You think Donald Trump ever changed a diaper?”

Pitt students bound for classes bustled around the lines as traffic in Oakland came to a standstill. Street vendors with heaps of Harris merchandise struggled to push their carts up the steep hill outside the fieldhouse. People took the opportunity to dust off 16-year-old shirts from Obama’s first presidential campaign, while others wore fresh Harris gear.

Outside the security gates, a large bus, sat wrapped with text saying, “Veterans against Trump,” on one side and “I’m not a sucker and loser” on the other. It was from VoteVets, a liberal Political Action Committee, and spent the week “chasing” Vance and Trump rallies in the area, before making a stop at the Obama rally.

Yoni Preuss and Quentin Romero Lauro, both seniors at Pitt, were thrilled to have such an event held so close to home. It was Preuss’ first time attending a large-scale event, being a Boston native meant that campaigns never got this active around him.

“You can really feel the energy in line,” he said. “Pitt Dems does a really good job of bringing in amazing speakers, from Pittsburgh but also the county and also the state.”

Obama is one of many in a barrage of political speakers that have drawn folks like Gambino from Duquesne to a more politically active campus. Earlier in the day, Romero Lauro caught the end of Ro Khanna, a congressman from the Bay Area speaking to students at the William Pitt Union. The night before, County Controller Corey O’Connor spoke. Several weeks ago, conservative activists Charlie Kirk and Vivek Ramaswamy held an event for students.

“The energy of the Pitt Dems this year is like no other,” Lauro said. “I don’t even know the count of the number of events they’ve had this past week. Just seeing so much student energy just getting students out to vote and involved. Pitt Dems has done such an amazing job with that, and you can really feel the energy on campus because of it.”

Duquesne, on the other hand, has stayed clear of the political landscape, and has not yet hosted any sort of rally or campaign event for the 2024 presidential election.

Preuss said that Pitt used to be more like that too.

“It’s definitely changed since I was a freshman. I feel like freshman year we weren’t such a political campus,” he said. “More groups are bringing in speakers to stir up and rally their base. It’s been pretty interesting to see who has been supported.”