Gray hair, jacketless shirt, sporty look, sharp, rhythmic words: Barack Obama entered the campaign trail on Thursday, October 10, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The gymnasium was packed and enthusiastic. Contrary to expectations, Kamala Harris wasn't there. That same afternoon, she was campaigning in Las Vegas, Nevada, then Phoenix, Arizona. But the political scientist's lineage between these two Democratic personalities was claimed. "Yes she can," read the gymnasium screen, an optimistic echo of the slogan that marked Obama's conquest of power in 2008.
Twenty-eight days before the election, with early voting already underway in Pennsylvania and other states, the former president called Harris "as prepared for the job as any nominee for president has ever been." Above all, Obama relentlessly attacked his successor in the White House. "Donald Trump wants us to think that this country is hopelessly divided between us and them, between 'real Americans' who support him and the outsiders who don't. Because having people divided and angry, he figures, boosts his chances of being elected. He doesn't care who gets hurt (...) We don't need four more years of arrogance and bumbling and bluster and division. America is ready to turn the page. We are ready for a better story."
Obama didn't really tailor his speech for the local audience, even though the two campaign teams are adapting their campaign almost street by street in this hotly contested state. He focused his speech on the general values at stake in the election, mocking Trump, portrayed as exclusively self-interested, adept at endless rhetoric. "It's like Fidel Castro, it goes on and on. Constant attempts to sell you stuff. Who does that? Selling you gold sneakers and 100,000-dollar watch and, most recently, a Trump Bible. He wants you to buy the Word of God, Donald Trump edition," laughed Obama. "Got his name right there next to Matthew and Luke."
Made up of loyal supporters, the audience roared with delight at this reference, which is unlikely to change a single vote. Obama also acknowledged the impact of inflation on modest households, the tremors caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. "It's felt like the aspirations of working people have taken a backseat to the priorities of the rich and the powerful," he noted, emphasizing Trump's promised tax cuts for the wealthy. But most of what he had to say was about the contrast between the personalities and their righteousness.
Obama called out conservatives who "make excuses" for Trump's lies, for example about the federal government's supposedly deplorable response to recent hurricanes. The former president also addressed "some men" who "seem to think that Trump's behavior, harassment and putting people down would be a sign of strength. It never has been."
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