Barack Obama left the presidency with an overall average approval rating of 48 percent. That’s not stellar; Ronald Reagan left office with roughly 53 percent approval. But it’s better than the befuddled old Joe Biden, who over the last year has struggled to raise his approval ratings out of the 30s — and, as of this writing, Kamala Harris is running — amazingly — at about the same approval rating as former President Obama. But the swing states are starting to move back towards the GOP, so in a seeming attempt to salvage something from this, Barack Obama will now be looking to rekindle his old 2008 magic on a campaign swing through the battleground states on behalf of the Harris/Walz ticket.
President Obama’s Senior Advisor Eric Schultz tells Fox News that the 44th president is determined to help Harris and other Democrats get elected.
“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,” Schultz said.
“His goals are to win the White House, keep the U.S. Senate, and take back the House of Representatives. Now that voting has begun, our focus is on persuading and mobilizing voters, especially in states with key races. Many of these races are likely to go down to the wire and nothing should be taken for granted.”
Eric Schultz is right about that last bit; a lot of this year’s House and Senate races, not to mention the presidential contest, are going to be nail-biters. But does Barack Obama still pull enough weight to help turn the tide, which at the moment seems to be moving away from Kamala Harris?
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We might note that Barack Obama campaigned in 2016 on behalf of Her Imperial Majesty Hillary I, Dowager-Empress of Chappaqua. He was still president at that time, commanding a much higher public profile, and Her Imperial Majesty still lost, decisively, to Donald Trump. So, clearly, Barack Obama’s magic touch isn’t infallible. Now, in 2024, Barack Obama is yesterday’s news. His presence on the campaign trail may energize loyal Democrats to turn out and vote, especially in the urban districts in the Rust Belt that are already Democrat strongholds — but it seems unlikely that he will sway many independents who are voting their wallets, and who are looking back on almost four years of rising prices and stagnant wages.
Still — a word of caution to the GOP is in order. The presidential election will be decided in a few states, Pennsylvania being perhaps the most critical among them; whichever party wins Pennsylvania this year will likely win the White House. Both parties have possible paths to 270 that do not include Pennsylvania, but without the Keystone State, those paths are much harder to tread. The Trump/Vance campaign should not take Barack Obama’s entry into the campaign picture lightly.
In 2016, Donald Trump won Pennsylvania by 44,292 votes. In 2020, Joe Biden claimed Pennsylvania by 80,555 votes. There’s no reason to think this year’s tally won’t be just as close. A few votes along the margins may make all the difference.
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