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Nearly a week after President Joe Biden announced that he was dropping out of the upcoming presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack and Michelle Obama have finally endorsed Harris as well. Their endorsement comes after public outcry from those waiting for the Obamas to act.

Oprah And Michelle Obama in The Light We Carry Is Our TV Pick This Week

Oprah And Michelle Obama in The Light We Carry Is Our TV Pick This Week

In a video that has been making its rounds on social media, the Obamas are seen calling Harris to officially lend their support. We called to say Michelle and I couldnt be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office, the former president says.

Michelle Obama chimes in, I cant have this phone call without saying to my girl Kamala: I am proud of you. This is going to be historic. Barack also states: Bottom line is, we are ready to get to work. We are telling everybody to kick off those bedroom slippers and get off the couch and start knocking on doors and making phone calls.

The support from the Obamas couldnt come at a better time. On Thursday, a campaign spokesman for Donald Trump speculated that Obama was planning to select a different candidate.

There is a strong sense by many in the Democrat Party namely Barack Hussein Obama that Kamala Harris is a Marxist fraud who cannot beat President Trump, and they are still holding out for someone better, Cheung said in a statement.

Therefore, it would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds. However, folks have speculated that Obama held off the endorsement to not overshadow Bidens Wednesday night address to the nation.

Other prominent Democrats who have endorsed Harris as the Democratic nominee include Minority House Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Former Speaker Of The House Nancy Pelosi and Bill and Hillary Clinton.

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WATCH: Praise Be! Barack And Michelle Obama Call Kamala Harris With Some Good News...Listen In - The Root

Hope and change? Photo: Leah Millis/Reuters

During her brief run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2019, Kamala Harris was widely believed to be emulating Barack Obamas 2008 campaign strategy. She treated South Carolina, the first primary state with a substantial Black electorate, as the site of her potential breakthrough. But she front-loaded resources into Iowa to prepare for that breakthrough by reassuring Black voters that she could win in the largely white jurisdiction. She had the added advantage of being from the large state of California, where the primary had just been moved up to Super Tuesday (March 3). For a thrilling moment, after her commanding performance in a June 2019 debate, Harris seemed on track to pull off this feat, threatening Joe Bidens hold on South Carolina in the polls and surging in Iowa. But neither she nor Cory Booker, who also relied on the Obama precedent, could displace Biden as the favorite of Black voters or strike gold in the crowded Iowa field. Out of money and luck, Harris dropped out before voters voted.

Now Kamala Harris is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee for 2024 without having to navigate any primaries. But she still faces some key strategic decisions. Joe Biden was consistently trailing Donald Trump in the polls in no small part because he was underperforming among young and non-white voters, the very heart of the much-discussed Obama coalition. Can Harris recoup some of these potential losses without sacrificing support elsewhere in the electorate? That is a question she must address at the very beginning of her general-election campaign.

Theres a chance that Harris can inject a bit of the Obama hope and change magic into a Democratic ticket that had previously felt like a desperate effort to defend an unpopular administration led by a low-energy incumbent, as Ron Brownstein suggests in The Atlantic:

Polls have shown that a significant share of Americansdoubt the mental capacity of Trump, who has stumbled through his own procession of verbal flubs, memory lapses, and incomprehensible tangents during stump speeches and interviews to relatively little attention in the shadow of Bidens difficulties. Particularly if Harris picks a younger running mate, she could top a ticket that embodies the generational change that many voters indicated they were yearning for when facing a Trump-Biden rematch

In the best-case scenario for this line of thinking, Harris could regain ground among the younger voters and Black and Hispanic voterswho have drifted away from Biden since 2020. At the same time, she could further expand Democrats already solid margins among college-educated women who support abortion rights.

Team Trump seems to believe it can offset these potential gains by depicting Harris as a California radical and a symbol of diversity who might alienate the older white voters with whom Biden had some residual strength. Obama overcame similar race-saturated appeals in 2008, but he had a lot of help from a financial collapse and an unpopular war presided over by the party of his opponent.

Harriss likely effort to follow Obamas path has major strategic implications in terms of the battleground map. Any significant improvement over Bidens performance among Black, Latino, and under-30 voters might put Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, and North Carolina very nearly conceded to Trump in recent weeks back into play. But erosion of Bidens support among older and/or non-college-educated white voters could create potholes in his narrow Rust Belt path to victory in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

These strategic choices could definitely affect Harriss choice of a running-mate, not just in terms of potentially picking a veep from a battleground state, but as a way of amplifying the shift produced by Bidens withdrawal. Brownstein even thinks Harris might consider following Bill Clintons 1992 example of doubling down on her own strengths:

The other option that energizes many Democrats would be for Harris to take the bold, historic option of selecting another woman: Whitmer. That would be a greater gamble, but a possible model would be 1992, when Bill Clinton chose Al Gore as his running mate; Gore was, like him, a centrist Baby Boomer southernerrather than an older D.C. hand. I love Josh Shapiro and I think he would be a great VP candidate, but I would double down with Whitmer, [Democratci consultant Mike] Mikus told me. I dont think you have to go with a moderate white guy. I think you can be bold [with a pick] that electrifies your base. I heard similar views from several consultants.

Whitmers expressed disinterest in the veepstakes may take that particular option off the table, but the broader point remains: Harris does not have to and may not be able to simply adopt Bidens strategy and tweak it slightly. She may be able to contemplate gains in the electorate that were unimaginable for an 81-year-old white male incumbent. But the strategic opportunity to follow Obamas path to the White House will first depend on Harriss ability to refocus persuadable voters on Trumps shaky record, bad character, and extremist agenda. Biden could not do that after the debate debacle of June 27. His successor must begin taking the battle to the former president right now.

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Harris May Follow Obamas Path to the White House After All - New York Magazine

Former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama on Friday endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

The Harris campaign announced the endorsement in a video showing the Obamas calling the veep to inform her of their backing.

We called to say Michelle and I couldnt be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office, the former president says.

I cant have this phone call without saying to my girl Kamala: I am proud of you. This is going to be historic, the former first lady said.

Despite questions in the media about Obamas lack of endorsement following President Joe Bidens decision to drop out of the race on Sunday, NBC News reported that Obama has been in regular contact with Harris all week and has advised on campaign strategy.

The Obamas in a separate statement on Friday vowed to do everything we can to election Harris, touting her accomplishments.

But Kamala has more than a rsum. She has the vision, the character, and the strength that this critical moment demands, they wrote. There is no doubt in our mind that Kamala Harris has exactly what it takes to win this election and deliver for the American people. At a time when the stakes have never been higher, she gives us all reason to hope.

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"She gives us all reason to hope": Barack and Michelle Obama endorse Kamala Harris - Salon

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Barack and Michelle Obama endorse Harris: 'She gives us all reason to hope' - The Daily News Online

Former President Barack Obama and Matt Damon had a famous back-and-forth in 2011 when they went at each other in public. Damon had supported Obama in the 2008 U.S. Presidential elections but went on to state in a 2011 interview that he was no longer a fan of him. Obama also fired back, joking that he felt the same after watching Damons film The Adjustment Bureau.

Barack Obama with the cast of The Monument Men including Matt Damon (credits: White House | Wikimedia Commons)

While Damon found the joke funny, he was still critical of the 44th U.S. President. The Adjustment Bureau starred Damon and Emily Blunt, who played the roles of a young congressman and a beautiful ballerina.

Barack Obama Destroyed Matt Damon With A Joke After Actor Spoke Against Him Emily Blunt and Matt Damon in a still from The Adjustment Bureau | Media Rights Capital

Jason Bourne actor Matt...

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Well, Matt, I just saw The Adjustment Bureau: Even Barack Obama Didnt Spare Matt Damon After What the Actor ... - imdb