The Final Sprint… Obama Rallies to Win Over Black Voters

12th October 2024

4 minutes read

The Final Sprint... Obama Rallies to Win Over Black Voters

The clock is ticking toward the U.S. elections, and with it, the race to secure a ticket to the White House intensifies.

With less than a month to go until the elections scheduled for November 5, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are making their final appeals to voters as the battle for the White House remains extremely close.

Both the Republican and Democratic parties are working to reassure their supporters and rally undecided voters.

Pennsylvania… the First Stop

The latest moves include a trip by former President Barack Obama, who traveled from Washington to Pennsylvania, one of the key swing states, to urge voters there to support Harris.

During his stop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a state seen as crucial to Harris’s path to victory, Obama, the first African-American U.S. president, urged Black voters to back the Democratic candidate in this state where competition with Trump is fierce.

Obama questioned how voters, particularly Black voters, could be undecided about whether to support Harris or Trump, stating that the choice between them “is not difficult.”

He added, “Based on the reports I’m getting from campaigns and local communities, we haven’t yet seen the same energy and turnout in all our neighborhoods and communities as we did when I was running,” emphasizing that “it’s even more evident with the brothers.”

Describing Harris, he told the crowd, “Here’s someone who grew up like you, knows you, went to college with you, and understands the struggles, pain, and joy that come from those experiences.”

The Numbers Speak

U.S. media reports indicate that Black male voters are a weak spot for Harris, after Joe Biden won 80% of the vote in 2020, down from Hillary Clinton’s 82% in 2016.

In all seven key states, which also include Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona, Trump and Harris are effectively tied.

Harris’s campaign expects an extremely close presidential race that will be decided by a very narrow margin.

Obama’s efforts will focus largely on states and counties where early voting has already begun, hoping his presence can prompt voters to take immediate action and cast their ballots.

However, his message to Black men on Thursday, according to the “Washington Post,” was a “departure” from the optimistic and upbeat message Harris, her running mate Tim Walz, and others have stuck to in their efforts to motivate the small number of undecided voters across all key states.

In this regard, David Axelrod, former senior adviser to Obama, said in an interview that the direct speech to Black men was “the right thing to do,” believing that Obama could rally the key groups Harris needs to win.

Axelrod added, speaking of Obama: “He is one of the most popular and influential figures within the party.” “And he has particular access to certain electorates that need to be mobilized, such as younger voters, particularly Blacks.”

It has been reported in U.S. media that Obama and Harris are likely to appear together at some point before the election, though it is not yet clear when.

Are Democrats Worried?

The “New York Times” described the former president’s words as “stern,” noting that they aimed to “address worrying signs for Harris, including that her support among Black voters remains lower than what President Biden received when he won the state in 2020,” according to a poll conducted last month by the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Siena College.

The American website “The Hill” also pointed out that Obama’s stern appeal to Black voters “might suggest that Harris’s support among this demographic is waning.”

The site quoted a part of his speech: “We haven’t yet seen the same energy and turnout in all our neighborhoods and communities as when I was running.”

Obama, the Savior

Harris‘s advisers and several Democratic strategists believe that if anyone can boost turnout among Black voters, it’s Obama.

On this subject, Democratic strategist James Carville told the “New York Times,” “It’s obvious that he (Obama) has enormous appeal to Black voters, and enormous popularity among suburban whites, which drives Trump crazy.”

The paper highlights that Obama remains beloved among Democrats, making him a natural stand-in for Harris on the campaign stage.

According to an August poll conducted by the “Economist” and “YouGov,” more than 90% of Democrats and many independents hold a favorable opinion of Obama, far surpassing the ratings of other Democrats, including Biden, Bill Clinton, and Hillary Clinton.

Harris was an early supporter of Obama, traveling to Iowa in 2007 to knock on doors for the Illinois senator while she was serving as San Francisco’s district attorney.