Former US President Barack Obama kicks off Joe Biden’s election campaign Wednesday in an attempt to garner support for his former vice president among young Americans and black voters in the final stretch of the White House race.
As the 59-year-old Obama makes his first campaign appearance in person at a car rally at a sports stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, President Donald Trump will visit North Carolina, one of the key states on the battlefield. to victory on November 3.
The 77-year-old Biden, who leads national polls, had no public events on his schedule for the third day in a row, prompting the 74-year-old Trump to accuse his Democratic opponent of “hiding.”
Biden’s campaign said the former vice president was preparing for the second and final debate against Trump, which will be held in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday.
Obama stayed on the sidelines during the Democratic presidential primaries, but gave his support to Biden after his former MP won the nomination.
Biden’s campaign hopes that the star power of America’s first black president will help boost turnout among young voters and African Americans, who are key to Democratic hopes of regaining the White House.
African Americans voted in record numbers for Obama in 2008 and 2012, but their turnout declined in 2016, a factor that contributed to Trump’s surprising victory over Hillary Clinton.
Obama appealed directly to young voters in a video posted Tuesday.
“One of the most inspiring things this year has been seeing so many young Americans getting excited, organizing and fighting for change,” he said.
“Your generation may be the one that creates a new normal in America, one that is fairer, where the system treats everyone equally and gives everyone opportunities.”
Obama said there was a “growing movement for justice, equality and progress on so many issues” and “that momentum only continues if we win these elections.”
“I know Joe better than almost anyone,” he added. “I am confident that he will be a great president. He’s on the right side of trouble. “
‘Existential matter’
Trump has spent much of his first term in office seeking to erase his predecessor’s legacy, but Obama does not view the election as “a showdown of personal grudge with Trump,” said former Obama chief strategist David Axelrod.
“He sees it as an existential issue for the country and for democracy,” Axelrod told CNN.
Axelrod said Democrats had been strategic in getting Obama to make his first campaign appearance at this late date.
“In terms of its value, it’s been smart not to abuse it,” Axelrod said. “They’ve been using it in digital appeals targeting constituencies that Democrats need to wake up in this election – youth and people of color.”
“He’s always understood that if he was out there constantly, people would want to turn this into a Trump-Obama race,” Axelrod added.
While Biden has kept a low profile in recent days, Trump is trying to regain the enthusiasm of four years ago with daily rallies in battle states.
Trump’s message has been a mixture of optimism, telling Americans that the worsening coronavirus outbreak is all but over, and increasingly extreme attempts to brand Biden as corrupt, even saying Tuesday that he wants the attorney general to open an investigation on your rival.
First lady Melania Trump was scheduled to meet her husband in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, but, in a reminder of the pandemic that has overshadowed her presidency, she was forced to cancel at the last minute, complaining of a “persistent cough. “after his own attack with the virus.
Trump will hold an outdoor campaign rally in Gastonia, North Carolina, on Wednesday, an event that Biden’s campaign said violated state guidelines on coronavirus.
“President Trump does not yet have a plan on how to control this virus,” Biden’s campaign said in a statement.
“Instead, he is targeting our nation’s leading scientists and public health experts, continuing to spread deadly misinformation about the virus, and holding demonstrations that go against North Carolina’s Covid-19 guidelines.”
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris will also be in North Carolina on Wednesday, seeking to encourage voters to cast their votes early.
At least 40 million Americans have already voted, according to the University of Florida’s US Elections Project, nearly 30 percent of the total turnout in 2016.
With less than two weeks to go to the election, Biden has a 7.9-point lead over Trump in an average of national polls, according to the RealClearPolitics website.
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