Former President Barack Obama will hit the campaign trail for Vice President Kamala Harris next week, launching an assault on battleground states in the Pittsburgh area on Thursday, a senior campaign official confirmed.
The two have been friends for over 20 years. Harris was an early supporter of Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, at a time when most of the Democratic Party backed Hillary Clinton, who was making her first bid for the oval office. Harris traveled to Iowa to knock on doors before the caucuses, which Obama won. Then-President Obama later endorsed Harris in her 2016 bid for the U.S. Senate, which she won easily.
Obama delivered a rousing speech at the Democratic National Convention in August, praising Harris as ready to become president.
‘Hope Returns’: Obamas Support Kamala Harris
“He is a person who has spent his life fighting on behalf of people who need a voice and a champion. “Kamala was not born into privilege,” Obama said. “She had to work for what she had, and she actually cares about what other people are going through.”
Obama remains a reliable target for Democrats; AND YouGov poll from September 30 found that the former president enjoys an approval rating of 57% among his fellow party members, and more than half of Democrats surveyed said they would vote for him again if he ran in 2024 (which is not possible due to presidential term limits ).
Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have spent a significant amount of time in Pennsylvania since President Joe Biden withdrew his reelection bid and endorsed Harris. For both Harris and the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes represent a mandatory victory.
First Gentleman Doug Emhoff will headline a Friday night concert in Pittsburgh featuring Jason Isbell and Michael Stipe. Trump will be in Butler on Saturday to hold a rally at the same site where he survived the July attack.
The latest poll results Harris and Trump are not even among Pennsylvania’s likely voters.
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