Former President Barack Obama, still popular, is expected to rally primarily black and young voters to Vice President Kamala Harris in the final weeks before the US election.
Former US President Barack Obama will actively support Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ campaign in the weeks leading up to Election Day on November 5. As Harris’ campaign team announced Friday, Obama will make his first appearance next Thursday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and will hold more rallies in the coming weeks, especially in hotly contested states.
Obama adviser Eric Schultz said the former president is placing too much importance on the results of the Nov. 5 election. “That’s why he’s doing everything he can to get Vice President Harris (…) elected.”
The 63-year-old still enjoys great respect and influence in the Democratic Party. At the Democratic convention in Chicago, where Harris was officially confirmed as the presidential candidate in late August, he and his wife, Michelle, gave highly praised speeches.
With the Nov. 5 election on a knife’s edge, Harris and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump have been neck-and-neck in the polls for weeks. Due to the peculiarities of the American electoral system, some states that have voted sometimes for a Republican and sometimes for a Democratic candidate in past elections are likely to be decided by swing states.
“Yes, she can!”
The states send a total of 538 electors to the Electoral College. To win the election, a candidate must have at least 270 voters. Besides Pennsylvania, which sends 19 electors, six other states are also paying attention: Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada.
Obama, who was elected the first black president in US history in 2008, could use his image to rally black and young voters, particularly to the Democratic Party. If Harris wins the election, she will be the first woman to lead the United States and the first American head of state with Indian-African American roots. In a speech at the party convention in Chicago, Obama hailed the 59-year-old vice president as his political successor.
“Yes, she can!” A new slogan was repeated by the crowd in the hall. Obama’s euphoric “Yes, we can!” during the 2008 election campaign. This slogan is a variant of his claim. (APA/AFP)