Obama could be Biden’s secret weapon with Black voters

America’s first Black president could be an effective surrogate to energize and persuade Black voters, who are unmoved by Biden’s handling of the economy and outraged by Israel’s deadly war in Gaza.

As President Joe Biden navigates shaky terrain with Black voters ahead of the 2024 presidential election, he may have at least one secret weapon on the campaign trail: former President Barack Obama.

“President Obama continues to be an asset for Democrats,” Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist, told theGrio. “Fundraising … [and] mobilizing Black voters is a place he can help.”

“[Obama] was a key part of the closing crew in 2020 [and] … he was engaged in ’22 in some key places,” said Payne, referencing Obama’s stumps throughout the final days of the 2020 presidential election, and the 2022 midterms. The election two years ago resulted in Democrats over-performing in contests against Republican candidates following the majority-conservative U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Payne, who was a staffer with the 2008 presidential campaign of former Sen. John Edwards, Obama’s opponent in the Democratic primary, remembers the effectiveness of Obama’s campaign style and how much it resonated with Democratic voters. That same political savvy can be an asset to his former vice president, Payne believes, by holding together his coalition, particularly Black voters, the Democratic Party’s most reliable and consistent voting bloc.  

America’s first Black president, who maintained a solid approval rating when he left office in 2016, remains a popular political figure who draws turnout and enthusiasm among key groups important to the Biden coalition. That coalition, held together by Black voters and arguably architected by Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, sent Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to the White House. 

Obama could be an effective surrogate to energize and persuade Black voters amid steady polling that shows they remain unmoved by Biden’s handling of the economy and outraged by his administration’s response to Israel’s war in Gaza against the terrorist group Hamas that has so far killed more than 32,000 Palestinians. 

Last week, Obama, along with former President Bill Clinton, joined Biden for a historic fundraiser that drew 5,000 attendees and raised a record $26 million. During a discussion with “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall, Obama made the case for why Biden is the best choice over presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump when it comes to the Middle East conflict. 

The 44th U.S. president said he selected Biden as his vice president because of his “moral conviction and clarity” and willingness to “acknowledge that the world is complicated.” Obama said that while the death toll in Gaza is heartbreaking, there is room for nuance to “say we unequivocally support the people of Israel” and “have our hearts broken watching innocent people being killed.”

“He’s exactly the kind of voice that can convey to Black folk: ‘I know, you may not like everything that’s happening, but I would rather trust our future with Biden, than the risk our future with Trump,’” Michael Blake, a former Obama campaign operative, told theGrio. 

Reflecting on Obama’s winning political trademark of hope and inspiration and how it could benefit Biden, Blake said that Obama “is able to communicate a positive vision for the future in a hopeful manner.” The CEO of the Kairos Democracy Project added, “Running against a man whose entire approach is let’s go backward, I would probably want to have a surrogate in President Obama who’s talking about hope and moving forward.”

Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist and adviser to Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., a Biden confidant, told theGrio that Obama can serve as a validator and “advocate” for Joe Biden the man, as well as for what the Biden-Harris agenda “means for not only this country but for the world and particularly the African-American community.”

“I think that’s a clear contrast to the other side when he can’t even get his own vice president to stand with him,” said Seawright, in reference to former Vice President Mike Pence, who unsuccessfully ran against Trump in the Republican primary. Seawright noted that the electorate seems swayed by “style” over “substance,” seemingly referencing Trump’s continued appeal to certain voters.

“We don’t dismiss that … certainly, Obama brings style and substance,” he said. “It’s gonna take everybody to help this Democratic Party.” 

Payne, who worked on former Sen. Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, noted that while Obama has used his star power to support the Biden agenda in the last few election cycles, it “doesn’t overshadow what President Biden needs to do.”

“I think he has some awareness of the challenges that President Biden is facing,” he said, “and also the fact that he does not need an ex-president not giving him the space to still develop his own political identity.”

Payne predicts the Obama and Biden camps will be “smart and measured about when they use him.”

Blake, who served three terms as a New York state assemblyman and vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, said Black voters have to consider the future they want to see for America at a time when democracy and stability around the world are on the line.

As it relates to the Israel war in Gaza, which has particularly incensed young Black voters, Blake said Black people who care about what’s happening in the Middle East will have to ask themselves, “‘Do you want a president who seeks to be a diplomat and actually resolve conflict, or do you want someone who says that he wants to be a dictator, and wants to create more conflict?’”

“There is no perfect candidate,” he said. “But I would rather put policy in the hands of Joe Biden than ever putting it in the hands again of Donald Trump.”

During last week’s star-studded fundraiser, Obama made clear that the presidential election won’t solely rest on “the negative case against” Trump, but also “the positive case” for Biden’s “outstanding job in the presidency.” The former president listed the Biden-Harris administration’s accomplishments, including “record-breaking” job growth, the lowest recorded unemployment for Black Americans, lowering health care costs, and historic climate-smart investments.

“We also have a positive story to tell about the future, and that is something Joe Biden has worked on diligently each and every day on behalf of working Americans,” said Obama, “and I expect him to continue to do that for the next four years and eight months.”

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