Obama campaigns with Clinton in North Carolina on Tuesday.

Obama campaigns with Clinton in North Carolina on Tuesday. John Bazemore/AP

Obama Makes His Debut on the Campaign Trail

The president joined Hillary Clinton in Charlotte, North Carolina, Tuesday, singing her praises as a friend and former rival.

In his 2016 campaign-trail debut, President Obama characterized his relationship with Hillary Clinton as one not only of colleagues, but of kindred spirits. Repeatedly drawing connections between her political goals and his—like expanding health care and securing a nuclear deal with Iran—Obama’s implicit message to voters came through: to admire me is to admire Clinton, and to trust me is to trust her.

“We may have gone toe-to-toe, from coast to coast, but we stood shoulder-to-shoulder for the ideals that we share,” Obama said, referring to their work together after the 2008 Democratic primary. Later describing her tenure as secretary of state, Obama added: “My faith in Hillary Clinton has always been rewarded.”

Obama’s appearance with Clinton Tuesday in Charlotte, North Carolina, comes roughly one month after Obama formally endorsed Clinton, in what was “perhaps the least shocking development of the 2016 presidential campaign,” as David Graham put it. And it’s likely the first joint appearance of many this general-election season. Obama is expected to be a powerful advocate for Clinton, as he can credibly draw contrasts between his former secretary of state and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Political surrogates’ effectiveness can vary depending on their closeness to the candidate or their rank within a political party, as George Washington University political scientist Lara Brown put it earlier this spring. Obama has high marks in both categories: He worked with or close to Clinton for years—in the Senate, on the campaign trail, and in his administration—and he occupies the highest rank of all in the Democratic Party. Clinton explicitly mentioned their multilayered relationship as she introduced Obama Tuesday, noting that “we went from political rivals to partners to friends.”

Another X factor is Obama’s widespread popularity, especially among key constituencies like black and Hispanic voters and young women. His approval rating among Democrats is high, and it’s high among voters at large: According to Gallup’s most recent survey, 51 percent of those polled approve of Obama’s job performance. In a recent ABC News / Washington Post poll, that figure was even higher: Fifty-six percent of adults surveyed approved of how Obama is handling his job, including 77 percent of non-whites. Clinton’s favorability ratings in the general public are not as impressive, with a RealClearPolitics average of roughly 40 percent.

But Obama’s role may be more focused on creating excitement and ginning up voter turnout than delivering specific voters to Clinton, as Andrew Taylor, a North Carolina State University political scientist, told me. The Clinton camp seems to be thinking along these lines, too: Aides told the Associated Press recently Obama will encourage Democratic voter registration. “There’s just about no Democratic voting group” Obama can’t help with, said Alan Abramowitz, an Emory University political scientist. He cited younger voters, unmarried women, minority groups, and Sanders supporters as groups Obama could encourage to vote, because he’s favored among all of them. Those demographics will be as key in North Carolina as anywhere else. Black voters, who heavily turned out for Obama in his past elections, comprise over 20 percent of the state’s population, with Latinos at roughly 2 percent. And a 2016 Tufts University index ranks North Carolina among the top 10 states where the youth vote could heavily influence which candidate wins.

Clinton and Obama originally planned to campaign together in Wisconsin last month, but they rescheduled after the deadly Orlando shooting. Wisconsin wasn’t randomly chosen for their debut, nor was its substitute, North Carolina. Obama, who won Wisconsin twice, was supposed to help Clinton “build a bulwark here against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, who badly needs blue-collar white voters in states like Wisconsin to reach the White House,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported last month. When that event was canceled, the Clinton campaign pivoted to North Carolina, a redder state that’s seen as a 2016 battleground, and where Obama could help rally voters. The state represents a “potential opportunity” for Clinton to build upon Obama’s 2012 victory map, The New York Times noted—not just match it. Obama won North Carolina in 2008—the first Democrat to do so since the 1970s—before losing it in a close race four years later. In the Democratic primary, Clinton won North Carolina with roughly 55 percent.

Obama seemed to start his get-out-the-vote effort early during his speech Tuesday. As he encouraged ralliers to hit the polls in November, Obama said the choice between Clinton and Trump isn’t a partisan one, but rather a choice “between whether we are going to cling to some imaginary past or whether we’re going to reach for the future.” Shortly thereafter, when the crowd started booing Trump’s immigration plan, Obama cut in: “Don’t boo—vote. Booing doesn’t help.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.