HOUSTON — Vice President Kamala Harris is making a significant visit to Houston on Friday. It's a journey that underscores several crucial political dynamics and strategies as Election Day approaches.

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We reached out to 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 attributed the Harris visit to four main reasons:

Internal survey

I want to know what her insides are saying and what (Colin) Allred's insides are saying, because I don't think people focus on 2028 or 2032 just out of hope. I think there must be something in their internal polls that suggests going to Texas, not there Floridabecause there is also an active Senate race in Florida and a state that is expected to be red. So why does she come here and not there? So you know, what the internal leaders say, we won't know until the election is decided. And then we only learn what we are told about the internal parts. And that applies to every campaign, not just Vice President Harris. This is how surveys work and how candidates protect their internal numbers.

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Increase support for Colin Allred

The Senate race, — Colin Allred vs Ted Cruz — which has become significantly worse.

Highlight abortion rights

So if you go back and think about it, Roe v. Wade came out TexasRight? Sarah Weddington was a very young lawyer who took on the Norma McCorvey case, called “Roe,” because it was filed anonymously and it was a class action lawsuit. And that came in Dallas in the early 1970s and led to the 1973 decision, which has since been overturned by Dobbs. I think that's a bit of political poetry coming to Texas. But I think it also highlights how terrible this has been for women's health care and for the health care of people who might become pregnant. It was just a nightmare for everyone, whether someone who doesn't want to be pregnant and gets pregnant or someone who desperately wants to be pregnant and gets a tragic diagnosis. And everything between rape and incest. So I think she's going to make a really strong argument that this really shouldn't be a partisan issue because these issues happen to people regardless of their party affiliation. And that's why I think we'll hear that from her on this topic as well.

RELATED: Harris ad features Texas woman who lost her baby and nearly died of sepsis despite a strict abortion ban

The Future of Texas Politics

I think this is about the future of Texas politics and the possibility of Texas moving to the middle and turning purple in more parts of the state. So Harris County, Dallas County, Travis County, Bexar County, El Pasoalready vote pretty reliably for Democrats in presidential and statewide races. But to make Texas competitive, which is the Democrats' dream, suburban counties and smaller urban counties would have to be brought into the mix. So this could be a long one.

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We have Dr. Young also asked about the star power at Friday's rally and what she thought of it:

So Beyonce has already made it clear that she supports Harris and Harris plays Beyoncé music for her walkout at her rallies. You know, Beyoncé is already part of the campaign in this regard. But I think this would be the first time Beyoncé has performed at a Harris rally. Megan Thee Stallion has played at Harris rallies, Eminem has been to a Harris rally and Obama has rapped Eminem Lyrics earlier this week. And other entertainers were hot on Harris' trail. But having the queen bee there is a big deal. And in Beyonce's hometown, no one should miss that. This brings me back to what's going on inside. You know, is Texas closer than anyone thought? And is there some kind of reciprocal synergy between the Harris campaign and the Allred campaign, and is there a chance that both will be successful at the ballot box before long?

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

I think it's a big part of it. And I think there's some shadow thrown back and forth between the two campaigns, right? Because we have the, OK, I'll say it, the really, really weird thing Trump What about a week ago when he just stopped answering questions after 20, 30 minutes and just jammed along to the tunes for 38, 39 minutes, which has never happened before? And if you remember, in his campaign speech immediately afterwards, Obama said: What would they say in the press if Kamala did that or I did that or some Democrat did that? ? And then he said if we did, we'd have better music. And that's the shadowy part I meant. Not that there's anything wrong with the Village People or the rest of the music played at the Trump rally. The other interesting thing about the musicians who performed at the Trump rally is how many of them have filed cease-and-desist suits against Trump – stopping playing our music because we don't support your political values. So this is another way in which popular culture is conflicted about this presidential election.

RELATED: Harris is relying on big names like Obama, Beyoncé and Springsteen to complete her campaign

Rally expectations

So I'm expecting a really excited, enthusiastic audience. I expect that the two candidates on stage will be very excited along with the locals who are around them. I hope Beyonce actually sings a song for us and doesn't just talk from the stage. I assume that the topic of abortion will definitely be discussed. And I think there will be strong encouragement to vote. I suspect that Harris' speech will pretty much be her stump speech. She could try out some of what she'll say in her speech at the Ellipse in DC next week, or she could, you know, try out some of her closing arguments. And maybe not, she could stick with what she's been saying ever since she set out. But yes, I suspect it will be a very energetic audience.

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