Obama, Springsteen and Perry help Democrats secure votes in Georgia

Former President Barack Obama led a rally for Kamala Harris in Georgia on Thursday, as Democrats try to shore up support from the state’s powerful base of black voters.

“You have to remind the people who were on the sidelines of the election that the election is about more than principles, it’s about principles and it’s about caring,” Obama told the crowd.

Obama was preceded by actor Samuel L Jackson, director Spike Lee, and director and actor Tyler Perry, as well as Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock and rocker Bruce Springsteen.

Opinion polls show that while Democrats are still expected to win a majority of black voters, Harris has lost ground in demographics.

About 70% of black men said they supported Harris in this election, compared to 85% who supported his predecessor Joe Biden in the 2020 election, in October. New York Times/Siena College poll suggested.

Keeping their numbers high for Democrats is essential for Harris to win the presidency.

However, at James L Hallford Stadium in the Atlanta area, the excitement was palpable. Harris held a rally in DeKalb County, a loyal Democratic stronghold that plays a key role in the party’s success in Georgia.

Addressing a crowd of more than 20,000 mostly black voters, speaker after speaker pointed to the Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump’s behavior as the reason Georgians rejected his election.

Warnock pointed to Trump’s history of spreading the theory that Obama was not born in the US.

And he asked for Trump statements about the Central Park Fivea group of black and Latino men were wrongly convicted of beating a runner in 1989 and acquitted years later.

“I can’t believe there will be this wave… [this] a large number of black men will vote for Donald Trump,” said Warnock.

Perry, an actor and producer, took up where Warnock left off.

“In Donald Trump’s America there is no dream like mine,” he said.

Obama himself has previously been criticized that some black men did not support Harris because she is a woman.

On Thursday, he made a general argument aimed at men who might find Trump’s tough persona attractive.

“I’ve seen this, especially from some men, who think Trump’s behavior is a sign of power,” Obama said. “I’m here to tell you that’s not what real power is.”

LaDena Bolton, who is running for office in DeKalb County, has found voter apathy among black men.

“There have been many discussions about how they can make or break the race,” he said.

He believes the appearances of Jackson, Lee, Perry and Obama will help Harris.

For others, the former president, who lived in the White House between 2009 and 2017, was a big event – a number of those who attended the rally headed for the exit after Obama spoke.

“I am ready to vote for Kamala,” said Nur Ali, who brought her nine-year-old daughter to the rally and stayed until the end.

The Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness program has eliminated more than $200,000 in debt, Ms. Ali said.

But he was very happy to see “my boy”, Obama.

Harris himself made a closing pitch that touched on Trump’s fitness for office, and his promise to protect abortion rights.

He tried to emphasize his economic plans for working Americans in the final weeks of the race while portraying Trump as a danger to democracy.

“He has been the vice president for the past four years,” said Kri Pek, who attended Harris’ meeting. “He definitely knows what it takes, and we support him.”

LaTanya Taylor was excited about the historic nature of her nomination and what she stands for.

“I pray that it goes well for him, because everyone needs a change,” said Ms. Taylor.

Trump argued with black voters that his economic policies would be better for their community than the Harris administration, and cast Democrats as a party that takes their votes for granted but doesn’t deliver results.

That was heard from those who attended Trump’s rally in Duluth on Wednesday.

“His views on the border, his views on the economy” won the vote of Antonio Kelly, 45, who brought his family to the Trump rally with him. “I like the fact that when he ran for the first time, everything he said he was going to do, he did.”

“He’s American first, and the other party is focused on anyone other than America,” said D’Angelo, who voted for Trump and asked the BBC to withhold his last name.

“Democrats just rolled their eyes … what I’ve seen from Trump is that he’s doing the things he says he’s going to do,” D’Angelo said.

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