Former President Obama on Thursday night did what many Democrats had been craving.
He said the quiet part out loud.
For days, Democrats have been worried about a lack of enthusiasm among segments of their base.
So when Obama made an unannounced campaign stop at a field office in Pittsburgh, he used the opportunity — with television cameras rolling — to issue a call to action to Black men specifically.
“You’re coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses; I’ve got a problem with that,” he said. “Because part of it makes me think — and I’m speaking to men directly — part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.”
Obama’s clarion call to his party gave breath to the nervousness Democrats have been feeling in recent days.
If the party doesn’t figure out a way to close the gender gap with former President Trump among men, and if it cannot convince men of color to come out in droves for Vice President Harris, Trump will win reelection to another four years in office.
With the remarks on Thursday, Obama gave his party a warning while seeking to start a difficult conversation that could turn around some of those numbers.
Obama’s comments were reflective of the current state of the race, which shows Harris in a dead heat with Trump in all of the battleground states.
And while Democrats were on a sugar-high following President Biden’s withdrawal from the race in July, they have begun to worry in recent days that Harris isn’t where she should be with parts of her base.
While the vice president has far surpassed Trump with women, she is underperforming with Latino men and Black men, two voting blocs that were key to Obama’s coalition for his own races. Recent polls show both Biden and Hillary Clinton were ahead of Harris with those groups in 2020 and 2016 respectively.
“He is uniquely positioned with a lot of these voters to have those hard conversations,” said Democratic strategist Steve Schale, who ran Obama’s Florida operation during the former president’s 2008 race. “And it starts with being okay to admit there’s a problem. We have a gender gap right now and it’s with men and that’s not working in our favor.”
And Democrats say the former president is one of the few people in the party who can serve that role.
“My side thinks we should meet voters where they should be and the thing I’ve always appreciated about his skillset is he meets voters where they are,” Schale said.
Schale said Obama recognizes the gender gap could cost Harris the election and used deliberatively provocative language to make news and get the word out. Obama, he said, has “earned a ton of political capital with a lot of voters — particularly with African American voters — and he spent some of that capital last night and I think it’s important.”
In his remarks, Obama sought to draw a clear distinction between the two candidates.
“On the one hand, you have somebody who grew up like you, knows you, went to college with you, understands the struggles and pain and joy that comes from those experiences,” Obama said before launching into a list of Harris’s policies.
Trump, he continued, “has consistently shown disregard, not just for the communities, but for you as a person … And you are thinking about sitting out?”
During a packed rally Thursday at the University of Pittsburgh, Obama also sought to speak directly to men, many of whom supported his candidacies but moved on to Trump in the 2016 and 2020 races.
“I’m sorry gentlemen. I’ve noticed this, especially with some men who seem to think Trump’s behavior, the bullying and the putting people down is a sign of strength,” Obama said. “I am here to tell you that is not what real strength is and has never been.”
Obama is expected to travel to key states including Arizona and Nevada in the coming week, the campaign announced Friday.
A source familiar with Obama’s travel said the former president is also expected to appear in Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia and North Carolina later this month before returning to Pennsylvania.
Harris has tried to make inroads with men in recent days, appearing on Howard Stern’s radio program, as well as a podcast hosted by two former NBA players. She has also highlighted her law enforcement background and openly discussed owning a Glock handgun and shooting it at a firing range.
Her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is also participating in a male-specific blitz to help lure men to the Democratic column.
On Friday, the Harris campaign announced the vice president would participate in a town hall in Detroit hosted by Charlamagne tha God, whose radio program is popular with Black millennials.
In the meantime, Democrats say Obama is the best surrogate to help move the needle with Black men in an election they feel they can win.
“Obama has 100 percent name ID and historically high trust with Black male voters,” said Democratic strategist Joel Payne, who served as the director of African American paid media for Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. “His words will amplify the work the campaign is doing to teach these voters.”
Democratic strategist Eddie Vale said Obama took the first step.
“You can’t address or fix something if you aren’t talking about it,” Vale said. “Is it going to change 100 percent of everyone’s minds? Nope. But in this close election everything matters. So even if it can only change a few folks’s minds, it’s worth it.”
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