(AFP) – Before Barack Obama’s ascent to the White House, Diana Vahabzadeh was a registered Independent who had never voted for a Democrat in her life. But the first Black president of the United States won the now 63-year-old over during his initial 2008 campaign, and she’s leaned left ever since. He was back on the trail Thursday and so was she, along with thousands of people at a rally in Pittsburgh backing Kamala Harris, which kicks off Obama’s stumping blitz across swing states vital to winning November’s neck-and-neck election.
Vahabzadeh has “loved him for years,” she said: “This is a great opportunity to be able to see him and also support the ticket.” A playlist of pop classics and TikTok hits spun in the university gym where the marquee speaker’s “Yes We Can” slogan from 2008 was repurposed as “Yes She Can,” a message emblazoned on both homemade posters and an electric scoreboard in the field house. “We love you Barack!” shouted one rallygoer as he appeared, soundtracked by U2’s “City of Blinding Lights,” a frequent track during his own presidential bids.
Flashing his megawatt smile, Obama cast the Republican nominee Donald Trump as a selfish businessman concerned only with his own accumulation of wealth and power, in contrast with Harris, who he said “is as prepared for the job as any nominee for president as ever been.” “That’s who Kamala is.” In closing, he tapped the crowd-rousing vigor that propelled him to the top of the Democratic party decades ago, his voice rapidly amplifying as he dropped his demands: “Do not just sit back and hope for the best — get off your couch and vote.” “Put down your phone, and vote!” he shouted to cheers. “Vote for Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States.”
– ‘Powerful’ – The energy hit for Tia Douglas, a 20-year-old college student who was on the cusp of primary-school age when Obama first won office. “It felt so powerful to be able to hear him speak,” she told AFP with bright eyes and a wide smile following the rally. “Listening to him made me even more excited to get out there in the next 26 days.” The Harris campaign is hoping the 63-year-old former president — who led the US from 2009 to 2017 — can imbue their White House bid with star power and help fend off Trump’s potential return.
Obama walked out to ardent applause at the Pittsburgh field house, which was packed with a crowd diverse in background and age. “I love seeing and hearing his articulate self,” said Valerie Brown, a 66-year-old retired public schoolteacher. She told AFP she hopes his words “might stimulate some others who are reluctant” to vote Harris. Vice President Harris enjoyed a honeymoon surge in the polls when she replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee over the summer, capturing the social media zeitgeist and raking in a reported billion dollars in fundraising.
But whether she ultimately can bat back Republican Trump, who is seeking a second term and still maintains a fervent base of support, remains anyone’s guess, with key battleground states like Pennsylvania still vacillating between the candidates in the polls. “I get it, why people are looking to shake things up,” Obama said onstage, before drawing chuckles after riffing on his own former platform: “I mean, I’m the hopey-changey guy.” “I understand people feeling frustrated and people feeling we can do better,” he continued. “What I cannot understand is why anybody would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that is good for you, Pennsylvania.”
– ‘Lifetime icon’ – In the lead-up to the evening rally, supporters snaked around the block of the University of Pittsburgh field house hoping for a spot inside. To see Harris and Obama “join forces for the greater good,” Douglas said, “I think is really amazing.” Douglas’s friend Julia Palchikoff, a 20-year-old journalism major, said maturing in the Trump era made her appreciate Obama even more. “Being in a swing state in an election like this, it’s just a historical moment, and I feel like I have to do my part,” said the Alaska native who moved to Pennsylvania for school. “When I heard Obama was coming here, I was, like, I loved him as a kid — and Kamala, honestly, it just feels like we’re on the precipice of something really great.”
Was it the Obama she expected? “It totally was,” she said, before lavishing a little more praise on the former leader: “Lifetime icon.” – Maggy DONALDSON
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