Barack Obama took the stage on the second night of the Democratic National Convention and pitched Kamala Harris as the natural successor to his legacy.
“Yes she can,” he said in the middle of his speech. “I am feeling hopeful.”
The echoes of Obama’s early political career were strong on Tuesday night (“This convention has always been pretty good to kids with funny names who believe in a country where anything is possible,” he said Tuesday, referencing his famous 2004 DNC speech). Chants reminiscent of Obama’s two presidential campaigns filled the United Center in Chicago as he and his wife delivered remarks to loud cheers.
But it has been a long 16 years since Obama was first elected. And this time, Obama’s iconic message of hope came with a caveat and stark warning: Democrats must not become complacent, even as momentum around Harris’ presidential bid builds.
“Make no mistake, it will be a fight. For all of the incredible energy we have been able to generate over the last few weeks, for all of the rallies and the memes, this will still be a tight race in a closely divided country,” Obama said.
Both Obama and his wife, Michelle, tied the Harris campaign directly to the former president’s first campaign. “Hope is making a comeback,” Michelle Obama said to some of the loudest cheers of the night, referencing the “Hope” slogan that defined the ‘08 general election.
Many veterans of the 2008 Obama campaign have likened Harris’ ascendancy to that historic campaign, which built tremendous momentum from a coalition of Black and young voters that Harris has now begun to reach. But so far, Harris’ new coalition is much less powerful than Obama’s ever was, holding her to basically a tie in the polls at this time with Trump.
And her momentum isn’t the only familiar aspect of Harris’ campaign, the Obamas said. Trump’s attacks on Harris’ intelligence, competence and race bear some similarities to what Obama experienced.
“For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us,” Michelle Obama said. “See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black.”
“Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those Black jobs?” she finished, making a well-received jab at Trump’s recent rants that baselessly — and confusingly — claim immigrants are taking “Black jobs.”
While Barack Obama waited to endorse Harris until after many other Democratic Party leaders — reportedly to maintain neutrality — he is expected to campaign for Harris in battleground states in the months leading up to the election.
Both Obamas cautioned that Democrats must understand their excitement and early momentum won’t necessarily translate into a victory.
“Let us not forget the despair we have felt. Let us not forget what we are up against,” Michelle Obama said. “Don’t complain if no one from the campaign has specifically reached out to you to ask for your support. There is simply no time for that kind of foolishness.”
Chants of “do something” then echoed through the crowd as she urged action.
The direction was well heeded in the room.
“They told us what to do, how to do it and why it needed to be done. All we’ve got to do now is fall asleep,” Rep. Danny Davis told NOTUS after Barack and Michelle Obama’s speeches.
Both Obamas hewed closely to the message embraced by most of the speakers over the course of the evening: Harris is pitching herself to the American people as a defender of the working class — both a fighter and a caretaker — in contrast to Republicans and Trump, who Democrats have billed as “weird” and corrupt.
While Barack Obama’s speech at the 2020 DNC described the election as a referendum on democracy and urged a defense of American institutions for future generations, this time he made it more personal. Trump was “bluster and bumbling and chaos,” and Harris, by contrast, “the neighbor rushing over to help.”
“Going small — it’s petty, it’s unhealthy, and quite frankly, it’s unpresidential,” Michelle Obama said.
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Anna Kramer is a reporter at NOTUS. Calen Razor, a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow, contributed to this report from Chicago.