Michelle Obama Could Be the Key to Mobilizing Undecided Voters
Originally published by Nik Popli for Time Magazine
Michelle Obama is set to make her first campaign appearance alongside Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday at a rally in Michigan, a move that Democrats are hoping will help boost voter turnout in the final stretch before the election.
The former First Lady has maintained remarkable popularity since leaving the White House. Polls consistently show both Barack and Michelle Obama enjoying high favorability ratings among the American electorate, particularly among Black voters and suburban women—demographics crucial to Harris’s campaign strategy. A Reuters/Ipsos poll from July found that Michelle stood out as the only Democrat able to defeat Donald Trump in a hypothetical matchup, making her a potential asset on the campaign trail as a Harris surrogate.
Many Democrats had been anxiously awaiting the moment when the Obamas would formally lend their support, especially after Michelle gave an impassioned speech at the Democratic National Convention in August. In that address, she urged party members to “do something” in the face of challenges and potential voter apathy, a rallying cry that has resonated deeply with Democratic voters. “Don’t just sit around and complain. Do something,” she said. “If they lie about her—and they will—we’ve got to do something. If we see a bad poll—and we will—we’ve got to put down that phone and do something. If we start feeling tired, if we start feeling that dread creeping back in, we gotta pick ourselves up, throw water on our face, and what?” she asked the DNC crowd, to which they chanted “do something.”
Now, with Election Day in less than two weeks, Democrats are hoping Michelle can reinforce that message and remind voters the importance of each vote.