Irish America has the power to swing the US election, rally call hears

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The first Irish Americans for Harris-Walz national organizing call, hosted on Tuesday, August 13 at 8 pm EST, emphasized the strength of Irish America as a voting bloc.

Instilling a sense of urgency, the clear theme of the call is that the upcoming election will be close and that Irish America has the power to swing it in favor of the Democratic Harris-Walz ticket.

It's not hyperbole - more than 38 million people said they were Irish alone or in any combination during the 2020 Census, making up 16.4% of the overall White alone or in combination population in the US.

With those figures, the effort to organize Irish America is a smart move for Democrats.

Speakers on the call - which ranged from politicians to celebrities - estimated that the election will come down to a few tens of thousands of votes and or a couple of swing states.

Indeed, ahead of the call on Tuesday, The Hill reported that Harris was narrowly leading Trump nationally 47.8% to 46.4%.

Like some said during the call, Democrats are approaching the election as the underdogs and behaving like they're ten points down in the polls.

As such, a key element of Tuesday's call was to motivate people to get involved in the campaign by texting IRISH to 30330 or by signing up online for the weekly Harris-Walz phone bank.

Further, Irish Americans on the call were encouraged to 'go old school' by tapping into their communities, knocking on doors, and simply just talking about the campaign.

Not only will the election be close, it will be consequential. Many of the speakers expressed that a return of Donald Trump to the White House would be a step backward for the country.

It is an "extraordinary" moment in time, as many of the speakers, including Governor of New Jersey Phil Murphy, said.

“The Irish among us have the ability to make the difference in this election," Murphy said. "Let’s leave no stone unturned. Let’s leave no shamrock uncharmed.”

As expected, the majority of the Kennedy family - Irish America's 'royal family,' so to speak - are endorsing the Harris-Walz ticket.

Speaking back to back on the call were filmmaker Rory Kennedy, whose brother Robert F Kennedy Jr is running as an independent in the election, and Rory's nephew, US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland Joe Kennedy III.

Of course, Rory's uncle Joe's great-uncle was John F Kennedy, the first Irish American Catholic President of the United States.

“Our Irish heritage is so deeply meaningful to our entire family,” Rory said. “It’s been so beautiful for us."

Agreeing that the election will be close, she added: “Everything that we can do to say that Irish Americans are behind this ticket will make the world of difference."

Later, in a particularly colorful moment, Congressman Brendan Boyle - whose father is a native of the Donegal Gaeltacht - quipped that the only thing Trump knows about Irish culture is McDonald's annual Shamrock Shake offering.

Playing up the crucial role that Irish America can play in the wider scope of US politics, Boyle pointed to the Good Friday Agreement, which the US helped broker and is now a guarantor of. He said the Agreement, which he hailed as one of the most important accords ever, would not have happened if not for Irish America. He also praised President Biden for his work in helping preserve the Good Friday Agreement throughout Brexit.

Boyle went on to mention charged rhetoric currently surrounding immigration, noting that the same things that are said and printed about immigrants today were once said about the Irish.

There were several instances of reflection on the hard journey that so many Irish people who came to America, often fleeing famine and oppression, endured, only to now be "represented in the frontlines of American society," as Governor Murphy said.

The call got a dose of Hollywood near the end when Lynda Carter ("Wonder Woman") and Michael Kelly ("House of Cards") each spoke.

Carter said that Irish Americans share "this great, great survivor’s spirit," while Kelly reiterated Governor Walz's message of not hoping to win, but planning, preparing, and working to win.

Interestingly, but not surprisingly, Governor Tim Walz’s distant Irish roots were frequently referenced throughout the call. Indeed, genealogist Megan Smolenyak recently found that the VP contender's heritage is "1/8th Irish."

According to Smolenyak's research, Walz's great-great-grandfather James 'Jimmie' Sullivan was baptized in Co Wexford, which, coincidentally, is the ancestral county of President John F. Kennedy.

Smolenyak noted that Sullivan's obituary said in part: "He sowed the seeds of kindness, not of hate, he reaped the rich harvest of love, for I know that James Sullivan had not one enemy in all the world, and that is the grandest epitaph that can be written on the tomb of man.”

Not much could be found about Sullivan's wife Anna, except that she had come to be known as "Grandma Sullivan."

"Sometimes it’s the non-physical traits that get passed down in families that matter most," Smolenyak wrote.

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