Barack Obama to Hit the Trail for Kamala Harris. What About Michelle?

Barack Obama will start stumping for Kamala Harris in the homestretch of the campaign, starting with an appearance later this week in Pennsylvania that comes as the former president is said to be concerned about the vice president’s narrow margins in the polls.

While both Barack and Michelle Obama have formally endorsed Harris for president, neither has hit the road to campaign for her, with the exception of their appearances at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in August.

But now former President Obama will lean on his star power and role as the de facto elder statesman of the Democratic party — as well as one of the most popular politicians in America — in an attempt to sway undecided voters and motivate his party’s base to turn out in the closing days of the race.

“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,” said Eric Schulz, a senior adviser to Obama, in a statement last week.

Obama will begin his campaign swing in Pittsburgh on Thursday. It will be his first major public event on behalf of Harris since the DNC, when both he and Michelle delivered sharp critiques of Trump and the Republican Party.

Whether the former first lady — who is even more popular than her husband — will hit the trail in force remains one of the bigger open questions of the campaign season.

Michelle, who famously abhors partisan politics almost as much as she loathes Donald Trump, has not been particularly active this election cycle. Her most recent social media post praising Kamala Harris was on September 10, shortly after the first and only presidential debate.

Since then, she has primarily appeared at book signings, including a recent event in New York. On social media, she has posted several times since September 10, urging people to register to vote and donate to Hurricane Helene recovery efforts, and promoting her memoir’s paperback release.

In 2020, during a highly irregular presidential election cycle that happened amidst the pandemic, she did not campaign in person for Biden but delivered a closing argument for him via video in October. In 2016, she made her first solo appearance for Hillary Clinton in Virginia in mid-September, followed by several campaign stops before the election.

The former first lady consistently polls as the most popular Democrat in America, with some surveys earlier this year suggesting she would easily beat Trump in a head-to-head match up. But her importance as a surrogate for Harris is less certain.

While the Obamas are “highly influential and popular, relying solely on their support may not be enough for Kamala Harris to win over independent voters,” Imani M. Cheers, professor at the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University, told Newsweek.

“Historical precedents, like the 2016 election, show that popularity does not always translate into votes.”

With less than 30 days until the election, the Harris campaign is ramping up its efforts in the media. Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, are set to appear in several interviews with both traditional and new media figures throughout the coming week.

Barack Obama’s presence on the campaign trail fits this strategy, Cheers said, noting that the former president will “surely” draw attention to Harris’s rallies in key swing states.

“Voters quickly forget earlier gaps or mistakes, such as Harris not engaging with the media sooner. It seems that their plan is for people to focus on what’s happening now, and Harris can still shape her campaign’s narrative effectively with her current media strategy,” she added.

Democrats remain hopeful that Michelle Obama will eventually join her husband to recreate the dynamic they had at the DNC. Her speech on the second night of the convention, teeing up her husband while slamming Trump as unfit for office, not only resonated with Democrats but also went viral across social media — the kind of engagement that could sway casual voters who are not particularly tuned into the election.

Among the pundit class, her role as a surrogate for the Harris campaign also comes with a dose of palace intrigue.

Michelle was noticeably absent from the campaign trail when President Biden was still on the ticket, reportedly due to unresolved frustrations she had with how the Biden family treated her close friend, Kathleen Buhle, after Buhle’s divorce from Hunter Biden. But there are no indications that those issues carried over to the Harris camp after Biden dropped out.

Newsweek has reached out to the Harris campaign and the Obamas’ press office for comment.