KALAMAZOO, US: Unwaveringly popular and seen as “cool,” Barack and Michelle Obama are throwing not just their political weight but also their star power behind Kamala Harris in the final stretch of the US election. With just 10 days to go before the November 5 vote, Michelle Obama appeared before a rapturous Harris rally Saturday in Kalamazoo, Michigan, walking on stage to a deafening standing ovation.

Energizing the crowd, she had the audience chanting “Do something!” a refrain from her speech at the Democratic National Convention in August, when she urged Harris’s voters to take action.

Harris has rolled out a variety of A-list admirers to make her case in the campaign’s final days. But for Josette Lantis, who spoke to AFP ahead of the Kalamazoo rally, it’s the “nostalgia” for the Obamas that makes them particularly powerful advocates. “I like their vibe. I like to hear them talk, you know, they just set people straight,” the 48-year-old said. “When they were in office, they didn’t have any scandals, the country wasn’t as divided, and they were a great family,” she added.

The Kalamazoo rally marked the second major campaign event featuring Michelle Obama, while Barack Obama has already made several high-profile appearances. Harris’s strong lineup of star power has included Beyonce at a rally Friday, and appearances by rapper Eminem, singer Lizzo and R&B star Usher in recent days. As for the Obamas, “it brings great credibility that they are both willing to take their time to do this,” Craig McDonald, who attended the rally, told AFP.

Harris’s Republican opponent, Donald Trump, the oldest major presidential nominee in US history and the first to be running with a criminal record, has campaigned on a dark vision of a declining America. In Kalamazoo, Michelle Obama galvanized the audience, launching an impassioned appeal for the defense of women’s rights and reproductive freedom, critical Harris campaign planks.

“To anyone out there thinking about sitting out this election or voting for Donald Trump or a third party candidate in protest because you’re fed up, let me warn you, your rage does not exist in a vacuum,” Obama said. “If we don’t get this election right, your wife, your daughter, your mother, we as women will become collateral damage to your rage.” 

Sonia Gipson Rankin, a law professor at the University of New Mexico, said each of the Obamas plays a different role in Harris’s campaign. The former president’s support “serves as a powerful affirmation of her qualifications” since he once held the office she is seeking. His advocacy “is particularly meaningful for the Black community,” which feels a strong sense of kinship with Harris.

As for Michelle Obama, she “is one of the most compelling and impactful speakers of our time. Her ability to emotionally connect with listeners is truly remarkable,” Gipson Rankin said.

Although Harris is half Black, half Asian American and would be the first woman president, she has refrained from playing up her race or gender. Barack Obama, the only Black president in US history, has honed his campaign efforts on Black men, who according to polls are more likely to vote for Trump than in 2020. Speaking bluntly in October, Obama addressed hesitant Black men: “Part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president.”

Rally attendee Kimberly Whittaker told AFP she believed “a lot of people think, well, he didn’t do anything for Black people.” “But he wasn’t for just Black people, he was for the people,” she said.

The Obamas’ links to Harris’s campaign are not only publicity-related. Harris has recruited David Plouffe, who spearheaded Barack Obama’s victorious 2008 campaign, to advise her until Election Day. With the poll expected to decided on razor-thin margins, both Harris and Trump were spending the penultimate weekend of campaigning battling for holdout votes across US swing states such as Michigan. — AFP