Former President Barack Obama is still the guy for Democrats — despite questions about his reach with the voters the party is losing.
They’re deploying Obama across swing states to turn out some of the most important voters in their base, and he’s spent October appearing at rallies on behalf of Kamala Harris’ campaign. On Thursday, he’ll appear on the campaign trail with the vice president for the first time since he endorsed her.
Obama has maintained a relatively high approval rating since leaving office, only rarely weighing in on the day-to-day minutiae of politics. Still, even he managed to get some blowback earlier this month, including from prominent sports broadcaster Stephen A. Smith, after he suggested that sexism is part of why Harris hasn’t done well with Black men at a rally in Pittsburgh.