(Headline USA) Former President Barack Obama is preparing a campaign blitz for Vice President Kamala Harris in the swing states over the next month.
Obama, who endorsed Harris in July after allegedly working with other top Democratic leaders to push President Joe Biden off the top of the 2024 ticket, will kick off his swing-state tour in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, next week. The state is seen by both Harris’s campaign and former President Donald Trump’s as critical.
“President Obama believes the stakes of this election could not be more consequential, and that is why he is doing everything he can to help elect Vice President Harris, Governor Walz and Democrats across the country,” said Eric Schultz, a senior adviser to Obama, according to CNN. “His goals are to win the White House, keep the U.S. Senate, and take back the House of Representatives.”
Democrats are widely expected to lose the Senate by at least one or two seats, with closely fought races in several swing states, including in Pennsylvania, where centrist GOP businessman David McCormick is hoping to unseat Democrat incumbent Bob Casey.
An enthusiasm gap for the top of the ticket could drag down Democrat voters in the down-ballot races, as well.
Schultz admitted that “many of these races,” including the presidential race between Harris and Trump, “are likely to go down to the wire and nothing should be taken for granted.”
Obama praised Harris during the Democratic National Convention in July, insisting she was “ready for the job” of the presidency.
“This is a person who has spent her life fighting on behalf of people who need a voice and a champion,” he claimed.
“Kamala wasn’t born into privilege,” Obama continued. “She had to work for what she’s got, and she actually cares about what other people are going through.”
Harris’s mother, a cancer researcher, reportedly met her father, a Marxist economist, while the two were both students at the elite University of California, Berkeley.
A recent survey of the swing states showed 47% of respondents believe Trump has more experience to deal with the nation’s current issues, while just 21% said Harris was more seasoned.
On the issue of immigration, specifically, 48% of battleground voters said they preferred Trump, compared to just 33% for Harris. And on the economy, 43% favored Trump, with just 37% choosing Harris.
Obama has not yet publicly campaigned for Harris, though he has held private fundraisers on her behalf. Just last month, he headlined a dinner that raised $4 million, according to Schultz.
