Amy McGrath’s campaign held a GOTV concert in Louisville at Lynn Family Stadium, with both in-person attendees and a live stream on social media. A number of Kentucky musicians performed, and passionate speeches were delivered by candidates and elected officials, including McGrath herself.
Forward Kentucky photographer Del Ramey was there and captured both some great photos and excerpts of the speeches and comments. Rather than put all of them into one giant gallery, we are going to intersperse the photos with the text, to make it easier to read the story itself.
Getting ready
A retired Lt. Colonel with combat experience is entitled to a little flag display. |
 Seating was spaced out, with some chairs reserved, seemingly for space. |
 After going through security checks, people were checked in at a table also stocked with t-shirts. The Erickson family is everywhere a Democratic candidate is looking for support. |
A half hour before the rally, but a good commander checks the preparation of her team. |
 A little fist and elbow bumping went on in the no-press area. |
 The weather was threatening, so the tent was needed. Note the video camera; the rally was recorded/streamed for a wider audience. |
 Honi Goldman and this other woman were having a lively, friendly conversation. Honi’s button caught my attention, “Vote or STFU.” I later asked her if she knew what “STFU” meant. She called over a younger woman who had given her the button. That woman looked a bit embarrassed and just agreed with my “I can guess” statement. Honi seemed amused. |
 “We support Tomorrow.” JC AESP-AFSCME Local 4011. |
 Yes, there will be music! |
The rally begins
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When a Lt. Colonel says it starts at 1pm, you are ready at 1pm! |
 “Good to see everyone in Louisville! Early voting is happening right now. You do not need to wait! The names on the ballot are not going to change. My opponent Mitch McConnell is certainly not going to change! Kentucky can do so much better. And our country deserves better.” |
 Intern and small business owner Lindsey Johnson: “While Amy has been traveling the Commonwealth and talking to voters, … Mitch has prioritized pushing through a Supreme Court justice that nobody here wants. … That Covid relief bill has been sitting on his desk for a really long time. … Without that relief we won’t be able to continue.” |
Becky Warren
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Amy asks Becky about the personal experiences behind much of her music. Becky: “I used to be an Army wife. … It’s just really hard to hear the President talk about our service members as losers. … It’s hard to know that Kentucky is represented by a Senator who said nothing to object to that. … That’s not what Kentuckians feel about veterans.”
Amy in response: “We absolutely have to have leadership that prioritizes helping these individuals. They are our fellow Americans. … We have veterans right now who are homeless. We have a senator … that not only can’t stand up for them, but can’t stand up for … troops … overseas when a foreign adversary puts bounties on their heads. Enough is enough!”
Lisa Ann (a volunteer)
 Lisa Ann: “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe after this whole campaign, I’m sharing the stage with THE Amy McGrath! Aiee!” |
 “The reason we’re all here is because Mitch McConnell would never support artists in this way. … Does he even listen to music?” |
S.G. Goodman
“I’m from western Kentucky, Fulton County on the Mississippi River. That’s right, we exist. Lots of people don’t think western Kentucky goes past Bowling Green, but I’m here to tell you different. … I was fortunate enough to be raised in a farming family. And I’d just like to say before God and everybody Mitch McConnell has not been a friend to the farmer.”
(singing) “Which side are you on? Which side are you on? … I hear in Harlan County, there are no neutrals there. You’ll either be a union man or a thug for J.H. Blair. … Well I am a farmers daughter, raised by a farmers son. Oh but there won’t be no land for me, once the banks have come. So which side are you on?”
Amy responds: “As you look at this election, … it’s … about places in rural Kentucky that have been left behind. We need investments in infrastructure, investments in education, investments in healthcare. These are things that I will prioritize, that Senator McConnell HASN’T prioritized for the last 36 years. … No business is going to come to a county in Kentucky that cannot talk to the modern world.”
More guests
 Ben Sollee, with what I assume is his “It looks like rain!” cello. |
 Guest vocalist, song writer, Scott T. Smith. |
 Colonel Pamela Stevenson, retired, U.S. Air Force, candidate for District 43 KY House representative |
Colonel Stevenson: “Never before has the world been in one conversation looking for answers about what to do about health care, what to do about social injustice, what to do about the things that are plaguing the human condition. And they are looking to Kentucky for that answer. We are the state, we are the people that this world can count on. … We can get from the bottom of the list to the top of the list and lead the world. … Amy McGrath can bring us health care, Amy McGrath can bring us social justice, Amy McGrath will be the stand for people having a voice.”
Holds up paper ‘I voted’ wrist band: “We like to talk about jewelry. This is the best, most priceless piece of jewelry. And everybody that you talk to, you should check their jewelry. … And when they can’t produce their jewelry, you take them where they can get one! And the best part about it is you don’t even have to pay for it! … We have seven days. And they created a world in seven days, and we can create a US Senator. VOTE!”
The War and Treaty
 “Are we fired up? Are we fired up?” |
 “We’re happy about change, always, right? We’re so excited that we get to redefine our 2020 with this vote, right?” |
 “It represents you, it represents us! We’re ready to win!” |
Congressman John Yarmuth
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US Rep. John Yarmuth talks to his people: “I’m Mitch McConnell’s congressman. Although I don’t think he’s ever voted for me. But I don’t think I’ve ever voted for him either. … I’ve actually known Mitch for more than 50 years. I’m not particularly proud of that. But knowing somebody for that long gives you a certain valuable insight. And my insight is that, you know a lot of people think that he’s somebody who’s just out for his own power and will do anything he has to do, trample anybody he has to do to achieve it. So, … actually, … he’s worse than that. … He’s worse than that. This is a guy who spends everyday, virtually every day, as the self identified Grim Reaper killing really good policy prescriptions that are on his desk. Right now around 400 bills, most of them bipartisan, he won’t even give them a vote because he’s too busy stuffing neo-con justices onto our nation’s courts. … We have a choice between a man who for 36 years has done virtually nothing to help the citizens who have elected him. … On the other hand we have a woman … dedicated to public service … and is committed to making government work for them, not having government work for her.”
Jim James of My Morning Jacket
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 Asked how people can get involved in the campaign: “Schoo, how can they NOT get involved? That’s more the question. What can you not do? You know, do everything you can! … Of course, voting is the bare minimum. … Get involved with issues that matter to you.” |
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Jasmine Jones tells her story
“I started 2020 like many of you, thinking this is my year. Bills going to be in check, you know, direct deposit, all of that, making sure I’m never over drafted. … The things I’ve prayed for, I’m going to work hard for them. … That all came crashing down March 17th when I was furloughed from my job. It came crashing down March 18th when I was let go of my internship … And I cried, I cried alone. I cried when I logged into my now remote classes at UofL, in front of Congressman John Yarmuth, and my department chair. And they let me. … I’ve never been in a global pandemic, but I know this is not how I should feel. In one of the greatest countries in the world, I shouldn’t feel as if I’m the burden. As if COVID was my fault. … We can change that. … There are people in the West End alone that are coming up to us … ‘Is it too late to register?’ … ‘Where is my polling place?’ … ‘I don’t know how I’m getting there because I lost my car.’ … There are people in Paducah who don’t know where their polling place is. … We do have vans right outside that can take you to a polling place!”
The closing
“There are still 25% of absentee mail-in ballots that have not been returned yet in Kentucky. … Please ask your friends and family, remind them, if they have their ballot, fill it in, drop it in a drop box, send it in the mail today! … You can call your friends and family. … Take out your cell phone and … send them a text. … You can sign up to text bank, or phone bank at AmyMcGrath.com. … Remind them to vote, … and that they can do it … Monday through Friday! … Remind them, … Sen. McConnell has been around 36 years, and how we doin’? … That’s how you can change your country. That’s how we win this thing.”
Honi Goldman reminds people of all the opportunities for voting, and warns that it is too late to drop ballots in the mail – take them to a drop box.
After the rally
 Tara Bassett and other livestreamers and “fake news” folk line up for after event questions with Amy. |
 Referring to KET debate which McConnell skipped: “There’s your contrast right there. You have a guy who’d rather play politics than come back and be part of a conversation with Kentucky voters about what we need. … It’s not important to him. … He was in Washington D.C. ramming through a Supreme Court nominee who’s going to take away your health care.” |
 Lawrence Smith, WDRB: “So is the fix adding more justices, as many Democrats are calling for now?” |
 Responding to Smith’s SCOTUS question: “We’re going to have to fix it. And those of us who are a new generation of leaders are going to have to look at this. … But I’m not willing to throw away 200 years of tradition, just because one man … has destroyed it. … Let’s get him out first. And then let’s see if we can repair it going forward. And I’m not willing to throw away 200 years of tradition right off the bat.” |
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Moments
 Woman remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg |
 Fuzzy hat, sharp photo |
 Tai Chi photography? |
 Col. Stevenson and volunteer hover over a phone. Checking campaign schedules or pictures of grandchildren? |
 What is the new term for Kodak Moments? |
 Three Ericksons, three Nikons! |
 “We are no longer accepting the things we can not change, we are changing the things we no longer accept.” Based on Angela Davis quote. |
 And it’s a photo wrap, with Brenda Erickson! |
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