With the red light flashing, Kamala Harris is breaking glass and mashing the button. With less than three weeks until election day and Donald Trump far overperforming his 2016 and 2020 polling, the vice president is trotting out Barack and Michelle Obama to try to close the deal.
As RedState reported, President Joe Biden and Barack Obama were caught discussing the failures of the Harris campaign, with the latter mentioning “It’s important we have some time together.” That was an apparent reference to campaigning with the vice president, and now that’s confirmed.
Michelle Obama is not only finally hitting the campaign trail for Kamala Harris: She’s hitting it with Harris. (Her husband is, too.)
The vice president will appear with former President Barack Obama at a Thursday rally in Georgia, followed by an Oct. 26 appearance with former first lady Michelle Obama, according to a senior campaign official granted anonymity to discuss the unannounced campaign plans.
The event will mark Michelle Obama’s first appearance on the campaign trail for Harris — and comes amid private speculations among Democrats over when the former first lady would make a public campaign appearance and answer her own emphatic call at the Democratic National Convention for Democrats to “do something.”
It’s worth noting that Politico’s headline reads “Harris to join Michelle and Barack Obama on the Campaign Trail.” Last I checked, it’s the vice president who is running and being joined on the campaign trail, yet the press, in all their slavish devotion, still gives deference to the Obamas.
Does this matter, though? While Beltway journalists are treating this as some game-changing affair, I’m skeptical it moves the needle at all. No doubt, the Obamas enjoyed a cult-like following some years ago, especially among members of the press, but does the average blue-collar worker in Pennsylvania care what Michelle Obama has to say about politics? And the last time Barack Obama made news, it was because he was wagging his finger at black men for not reflexively voting for Harris.
SEE: The Thrill Is Gone, As Barack Obama’s Scolding of Black Men Torched By Prominent African Americans
OBAMA: And you’re coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses, I’ve got a problem with that. Because part of it makes me think — and I’m speaking to men directly — part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that. That’s not acceptable.
The Obamas flying in from Martha’s Vineyard to talk down to voters seems like a less-than-stellar strategy. I know that’s always gotten the journalistic class excited, but it’s not 2012 anymore. If the Obamas had the ability to sway elections, Hillary Clinton would be finishing up her second term right now.
At the end of the day, Harris is the Democratic Party nominee, and the Obamas are not on the ballot. She’s going to sink or swim on her own. Manufactured enthusiasm may appeal to the chattering class, but voters are looking for answers, not lectures.
