WASHINGTON — Barack Obama has begun stumping for Vice President Kamala Harris. Bill Clinton is holding a series of campaign events for her in battleground states.
Yet the Democratic superstar many members of the party would like to see helping Harris has been absent from the campaign trail so far.
With just 20 days until the election, Michelle Obama has worked behind the scenes to boost turnout in key swing states, but she has yet to schedule an official appearance for Harris since the Democratic National Convention. Two people familiar with the matter said she has expressed fresh concerns about security following two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump.
Both Harris and Trump are receiving an unprecedented level of security after the former president faced two apparent attempts on his life this summer. Measures like more Secret Service agents and bulletproof glass are now commonplace on the campaign trail.
“After the two assassination attempts against former President Trump, the staffs of all the former presidents and first ladies recognized the new reality and so does the Secret Service,” a person familiar with the matter said, calling them “a wake-up call to everyone” to redouble their efforts on security “in light of the new reality.”
Her low profile stands out after her rousing speech in August at the Democratic National Convention, when she implored members of her party not to get complacent about the November election and repeatedly urged voters to instead “do something!”
Michelle Obama is expected to add Harris campaign events to her schedule as Election Day nears, five people familiar with the planning said, though nothing has been finalized at this point. She is expected to play a role in the “closing arguments” for the Democratic campaign, three of those people said.
By the time polls close on Nov. 5, another one of the sources said, “she will have made her voice heard.”
Michelle Obama’s office and the Harris campaign both declined to comment.
“While we are not able to comment on the specifics of our protective operations, safeguarding former President and Mrs. Obama is a top priority for the Secret Service,” USSS spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement.
Several Democratic strategists have been eager to see an all-hands-on-deck effort from the biggest names in the party.
Another former first lady — Hillary Clinton — is scheduled to start campaigning for Harris in the closing two weeks, after holding several fundraisers for Harris since she took over the top of the ticket. Michelle Obama has not done any fundraisers for Harris during that period.
Michelle Obama has the unique appeal of being the most popular Democratic surrogate, in part because she has never run for elected office. In a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, she was the only one to receive majority favorability among registered voters.
For the most part, Obama has focused her political efforts in 2024 on “When We All Vote,” the voter registration and engagement initiative she launched in 2018, which will seek to mobilize 5 million voters this cycle, according to the group.
She views her role as a high-profile surrogate quite differently than her husband does, according to two people familiar with the dynamic.
“People sometimes forget: she’s not a politician,” one of the people said.
Obama has been open about her disdain for partisan politics, despite some in both parties speculating about her running for office in the future. Earlier this year, her office flatly stated that she does not intend to seek the presidency and reiterated her reluctance to re-enter the political fray in such a manner.
Last year, a Trump supporter who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 was arrested near the Obamas’ Washington home, where he was found with two guns and 400 rounds of ammunition, federal authorities said at the time.
Former President Obama, who benefited from his wife’s appearances during his campaigns, invoked her during an unscheduled appearance at a Harris campaign office in Oakland, Pennsylvania, on Thursday to make the point that voters might not “have enough of a sense of what’s at stake” in the November election.
“These aren’t ordinary times, and these are not ordinary elections. You’re lucky Michelle’s not here,” he said, to chuckles. “She really talks serious about this stuff.”
The former president kicked off a series of appearances for Harris last week with two stops in Pennsylvania, and he has rallies scheduled for Tucson and Las Vegas this week, according to a Harris campaign official and an Obama spokesperson. He’s expected to continue to stump for the Democratic ticket regularly through the final push, they said.
Former President Clinton hit rural areas in Georgia Sunday and Monday, and he will kick off a bus tour in North Carolina later in the week. He’s expected to travel to all the battleground states to rally voters for Harris before Election Day, according to two people familiar with his schedule.
There is a sense among some party insiders that deploying Michelle Obama might be most effective at the very end, according to the person familiar with the dynamic.
“You have to pick the moment when you can move the needle the most,” this person said, “and that hasn’t happened yet.”
At the Democratic National Convention, Michelle Obama used the phrase “do something” in her speech at least six times, each met with raucous cheers.
“If we see a mountain in front of us, we don’t expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top,” she said. “No. We put our heads down. We get to work. In America, we do something.”
She then initiated a call and response with the audience
“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?
“DO SOMETHING!” the crowd roared back.
“So, consider this to be your official ask,” she concluded. “Michelle Obama is asking you — no, I’m telling y’all — to do something.”
