Former President Barack Obama will hit the campaign trail for Vice President Kamala Harris next week, kicking off a blitz of the battleground states in the Pittsburgh area on Thursday, a senior campaign official confirmed.
The two have been friends for more than 20 years. Harris was an early supporter of Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, at a time when much of the Democratic Party had coalesced behind Hillary Clinton, who was making her first run for the Oval Office. Harris traveled to Iowa to knock on doors ahead of the caucuses, which Obama won. Then-President Obama later endorsed Harris in her bid for U.S. Senate in 2016, a race she won easily.
Obama gave a rousing speech at the Democratic National Convention in August, praising Harris as ready for the job of president.
‘Hope is making a comeback’: The Obamas make the case for Kamala Harris
“This is a person who has spent her life fighting on behalf of people who need a voice and a champion. Kamala wasn’t born into privilege,” Obama said. “She had to work for what she’s got, and she actually cares about what other people are going through.”
Obama remains a reliable draw for Democrats; a Sept. 30 YouGov poll found the former president has a 57% favorability rating among his fellow party members, and more than half of Democrats polled said they would vote for him again if he were running 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 bowed out of his reelection bid and supported Harris’ candidacy. For both Harris and the GOP nominee for president, former President Donald Trump, Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes make it a must-win.
First gentleman Doug Emhoff will headline a concert in Pittsburgh on Friday featuring Jason Isbell and Michael Stipe. Trump will be in Butler on Saturday, to hold a rally at the same venue where he survived an assassination attempt in July.
The latest polling finds Harris and Trump dead even among likely Pennsylvania voters.
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