Former President Bill Clinton travels to Georgia to rally rural Black voters to the polls

ALBANY, Ga. — Former President Bill Clinton called on churchgoers in Albany, Georgia, on Sunday to rally behind the vice president’s optimistic campaign Kamala Harris for the office he once held.

“Uniting people and building, repairing the breach, as Isaiah says, those are the things that work,” Clinton said. “Blame, divide, humiliate – they get you a lot of votes at election time, but they don’t do that. work.”

Although Mount Zion Baptist Church was not yet completely full, a large crowd welcomed Clinton with a standing ovation. Many attendees were older, but some younger people were scattered among the benches.

“I think it was a great step forward for Southwest Georgia that the former president came to honor us at church today and spread the word about voting, especially among our young people,” said Takisha Campbell.

Georgia is one of seven states considered crucial in this year’s presidential race, and turnout among black voters could be key for Democrats to win the state’s 16 electoral votes. Harris and former president Donald Trump are neck-and-neck in the state polls, and president Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020 by just 11,779 votes out of more than 5 million votes cast. That was the first time a Democratic president had won the state since Clinton’s victory in 1992. Four years later, Clinton lost the state to Senator Bob Dole, the Republican candidate, but won reelection.

In 1992, Clinton and then-Sen. Al Gore drove a campaign bus through southwest Georgia to court voters in rural areas. Harris and Gov. Tim Walz revived the approach earlier this year by visiting Savannah and Liberty County in the southeastern part of the state, but they did not travel west.

On Mount Zion, Clinton reminisced about a time when politics was less polarized and lamented a political climate poisoned by wrong information. He pointed to U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s post on J.D. Vancewho has repeatedly failed to acknowledge Trump’s 2020 defeat in this year’s campaign, a “yes man” to Trump.

He also praised Harris’ achievements and promises, including her involvement in Biden’s work to lower insulin costs and revive the economy. He said she would pave the way for greater economic opportunity, citing her plan to provide financial assistance to first-time homeowners.

Regina Whearry, who attended the service, said she wished more people knew the former president was coming. But she appreciated the way Clinton touched on both policy and Scripture.

“It was desperately needed because we have very low turnout in this area, especially among our black men,” Whearry said.

Democrats see Clinton as someone who can mobilize rural voters as well as black voters. But while Clinton has been recognized for his popularity in southern black communities, it remains to be seen whether he can still inspire black voters as the population familiar with his presidency ages. But he didn’t hesitate to describe the stakes of this year’s race.

“This entire election and the future of the country will turn out to be what people who weren’t yet sure about voting will do over the next three and a half weeks,” Clinton said. “It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Black registered voters have overwhelmingly positive views of Harris and negative views of Trump despite his attempts to appeal to non-white voters, according to a recent poll by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. But the poll also shows that many black voters are unsure whether Harris would improve the country in general or their own lives.

Albany was an early battleground in the struggle for civil rights. The city gained national attention when hundreds of protesters, including Martin Luther King Jr., were arrested and jailed in 1961 and 1962.

Clinton, who was governor of Arkansas before becoming president, also spoke at the campaign office in Albany, where he told attendees that he had asked the campaign to send him to the rural areas where he feels most at home.

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Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon