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Michelle Obama will rally voters for Kamala Harris

Harry October 26, 2024

DETROIT – Michelle Obama will urge voters to get off the sidelines and vote for Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday in a rare campaign appearance that coincides with the first day of early voting across Michigan.

Obama will support Harris in Kalamazoo, a district in the critical western part of the state where the Vice President’s campaign needs serious support from the Democratic Party base.

“She is by far our most effective messenger, our most effective confidant, and I think to oppose Donald Trump, you want someone like Michelle Obama who will spark the conversation,” said Ashley Etienne, Harris’ former communications director. He was a special assistant to Barack Obama during his White House years.

This is Michelle Obama’s first rally of the election cycle and the only one she plans to attend alongside Harris, who is currently vying with Trump in the Nov. 5 election.

He will also speak at a star-studded rally in Atlanta on Tuesday organized by When We All Vote, his nonprofit organization that aims to educate, register and engage young people and voters of color.

Michelle Obama seen as main motivator

Among members of the Obama party most popular Contemporary figures and Democrats see the former first lady, who preferred to stay out of partisan politics, as uniquely positioned to motivate politically disengaged Americans.

“Michelle Obama is probably more popular than Barack Obama,” said Democratic strategist Ashley Allison, an Obama White House graduate. “Who wouldn’t want Michelle Obama at this point?”

Just as voters who could decide this election are starting to tune in, Harris’ campaign is turning to the former first lady for help.

Obama’s pressure on Democrats at the summer convention “do something” Helping Harris was seen as one of the most powerful prime time moments of the nationally televised meeting. Obama also mocked Trump for referencing “Black jobs” during his debate against President Joe Biden in June.

In his 2016 election convention speech, Obama rallied Democrats around his mandate that “when they go down, we go up,” while former secretary of state Hillary Clinton was campaigning against Trump.

He has since said that this statement does not mean doing nothing. “This is about making sure your work is taken into account and your voice is heard in a way that is authentic to you and constructive to others,” he said.

Obama appeared at several rallies, including with Clinton in the final weeks of the race in Winston-Salem. Clinton won the popular vote that year, but fell short of the votes needed to win the Electoral College and lost the election to Trump.

The former first lady chose not to campaign in person in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden defeated Trump, who replaced her husband, in this election.

It’s dead hot in Michigan

Obama’s arrival in Michigan comes at a crucial time in the campaign.

Biden beat Trump in Kalamazoo by nearly 27,000 votes. He helped turn the state around, significantly improving Democratic vote totals from four years ago.

vice president affiliated with Trump is in Michigan, with just over a week until Election Day.

“This is when they’re getting closer, and that’s it,” said a person familiar with the discussions.

Harris was in Detroit last weekend to kick off early voting in the city. Obama’s husband, former President Barack Obama, campaigned with rapper Eminem in Detroit on Monday.

On Thursday, he campaigned with Harris alongside Bruce Springsteen at a rally in Atlanta that drew a crowd of 23,000, making it Harris’ largest campaign rally to date.

Barack Obama became a critical surrogate for Harris on the campaign trail in the final weeks of the campaign. It has been sweeping the country since mid-October; He supports Harris in Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Tucson and Madison.

The Obamas endorsed Harris in late July after she became the presumptive Democratic nominee after Biden abruptly dropped out of the race. Michelle Obama has since defended Harris in social media posts.

Throughout the year and before Harris filled the ticket, Obama had been working to register new voters through the nonprofit he founded in 2018.

Voter suppression for the first time in Georgia

Kyle Lierman, chief executive officer of Civic Nation, the umbrella group for Obama’s nonprofit initiatives, said the organization chose Georgia for Tuesday’s event because of its historical significance. The state was integral to the success of the civil rights movement.

Obama said he aims to use his platform in Georgia to attract the attention of first-time voters.

“To make sure it resonates across the country, it’s obviously important for him to pick his niche in terms of when, where and how he shows up,” said Lierman, who helped Obama launch the voter registration initiative.

The event will feature artists such as Ciara, Kerry Washington and Shonda Rhimes.

Obama announced Thursday that he had already cast his ballot by mail. Registered in Chicago.