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To me, there was never any doubt that the Obamas failed to “joy” the Kamala Harris campaign. How else to explain their lackluster support for the Harris campaign back in the summer? The President’s endorsements are a big deal – especially when laden with the optics of one African-American Democrat “making history” passing the torch to another (and let’s not forget that Harris is also Indian-American and a woman). So Obama’s seal of approval was crucial – and by the time it arrived on July 26, it was overdue.
When it finally came to fruition, it was nothing short of a show stopper. Rather than Harris being on stage with Barack and Michelle sharing a campaign rah-rah or even on the White House lawn, the Obamas literally called to endorse them. Well, they delivered the 2024 equivalent – a pre-recorded video that Harris’ team shared on social media. And it felt as personal and sincere as a voicemail that left some modest clusters on Tinder.
Earlier this week, Michelle and I called our friend @KamalaHarris. We told her that we think she will make a great President of the United States, and that she has our full support. At this critical time for our country, we are going to do everything we can to ensure that she wins in… pic.twitter.com/0UIS0doIbA
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 26, 2024
Lukewarm and downright lazy, it laid the foundation for the couple’s relationship with the Harris campaign — one they seem to be trying to restore as the vice president struggles to the bottom line. Now, just a few weeks before election day, Barack is out there promising black men for not supporting Harris and Michelle will be running with the vice president in Georgia and Michigan next week.
Will it work? The problem is, like the Obamas back in July, voters (of all colors) don’t seem to be buying what Harris is selling. Despite all that inimitable Obama star power, the first couple previously missed their real time to make the Harris campaign their own. After all, Michelle did make an appearance at a California Costco to promote her new health drink last month, but she’s just showing up for Harris now? Where is the sisterhood in that?
Kamala Harris met Barack Obama for the first time during the Democratic National Convention in August, when she accepted her party’s nomination for this election.
He and his wife Michelle gave speeches that received applause from Democratic delegates, after weeks of press reports that the couple had pushed for Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race.
Now, they are becoming a fixture on the campaign trail. Mr Obama spoke with Mr Harris in Michigan on Friday, and they have more events planned in the coming weeks.
It is clear why the Harris campaign is deploying the Obamas in these last weeks of the campaign. Mr. Obama is one of the most electorally successful Americans of all time, and the polls show that Ms. Harris’s support is evident among black men, a constituency he is well-suited to address.
During the debates about who would replace Mr. Biden, Democrats consistently named Mrs. Obama as their preferred nominee – ahead of Ms. Harris.
What is less clear is that the superstar political couple can do anything to help this time.
Both come from an era before Donald Trump, who turned the Democratic Party’s coalition of blue-collar voters and liberals on its head with his seductive brand of populism and machismo.
Mr. Obama made his name as an Illinois senator with a great gift for optimistic rhetoric, but in the last eight years, politics has divided enough that negative campaigning is the name of the game.
When they do speak, the Obamas now directly criticize Trump and repeat Mr. Harris’ weighted messages about the threat to democracy.
This argument has not been effective in winning back support from voters who have turned to Trump over the past four years, many of whom find his message of national renewal more appealing.
There are also differences in the way Ms. Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican-American heritage, thinks and talks about race.
Mr Obama has a complicated legacy, but he is mainly remembered as the first black man to reach the White House.
Ms Harris, meanwhile, avoids the subject of her ethnic background for fear of alienating intolerant voters. The fact that she is a woman – an attribute that put Hillary Clinton at the center of her campaign – is similarly overlooked.
Nor is it clear that the Obamas can help Ms. Harris with the biggest problem facing her campaign, which is that voters don’t trust her on the economy or immigration.
Mr. Obama is remembered for passing the Affordable Care Act and other work on social security, but his record on immigration is largely forgotten. If the subject comes up in political debate, it is usually pointed out that it was too much to address the high number of illegal crossings on the US southern border.
His economic credentials – earned from America’s recovery after the 2008 economic crash – do not translate into an era where inflation, not growth, is the main topic of debate.
In short, the Obamas are good at reminding voters that they once supported a progressive, optimistic party led by, and now represented by, Ms. Harris.
They’re unlikely to do her much harm on the campaign trail, but their political appeal doesn’t carry the weight it once did. Whatever is wrong with the Harris campaign, the Obamas are not the answer.
