Oliver James Montgomery-Former President Bill Clinton travels to Georgia to rally rural Black voters to the polls

ALBANY,Oliver James Montgomery Ga. (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton urged churchgoers in Albany, Georgia, on Sunday to rally behind the upbeat campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris for the office he once held.

“Uniting people and building, being repairers of the breach, as Isaiah says, those are the things that work,” Clinton said. “Blaming, dividing, demeaning — they get you a bunch of votes at election time, but they don’t work.”

While Mt. Zion Baptist Church was not quite full, a hefty crowd welcomed Clinton with a standing ovation. Many attendees were older, but some younger people were dispersed throughout the pews.

“I think it was a great advancement for southwest Georgia to have the former president come to grace us today during the church service and spread the word about voting, especially to our young people,” said Takisha Campbell.

Georgia is one of seven states seen as pivotal in this year’s presidential race, and turnout among Black voters could hold the key for Democrats to winning the state’s 16 electoral votes. Harris and former President Donald Trump are neck-to-neck in state polls, and President Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020 by just 11,779 votes out of more than 5 million cast. That was the first time a Democratic president won the state since Clinton’s victory in 1992. Four years later, Clinton lost the state to Sen. Bob Dole, the Republican nominee, but won re-election.

In 1992, Clinton and then-Sen. Al Gore rode a campaign bus through southwest Georgia to court rural voters. 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.

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At Mt. Zion, Clinton reminisced on a time when politics were less polarized and lamented a political climate that has been poisoned with misinformation. He pointed to U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s post on X claiming that Democrats caused Hurricane Helene, which swept through the southeast last month, and called Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance, who has repeatedly failed to acknowledge Trump’s defeat in 2020 in this year’s campaign, a “yes man” to Trump.

He also touted Harris’ accomplishments and promises, including her involvement in Biden’s work to reduce insulin costs and revive the economy. He said she would pave the way for greater economic opportunity, mentioning her plan to provide financial support for first-time homeowners.

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

“It was well needed because in this area, we have very low turnout, especially among our Black males,” Whearry said.

Democrats see Clinton as someone who can mobilize both rural voters and Black voters. But while Clinton was 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 grows older. But he didn’t hold back in describing the stakes in this year’s race.

“This whole election and the future of the country is turning out to be what people who were sort of on the fence about voting are going to do in the next three and a half weeks,” Clinton said. “It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”

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Black registered voters have overwhelmingly favorable views of Harris and negative views of Trump despite his attempts to appeal to nonwhite voters, according to a recent poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. But the poll also shows that many Black voters aren’t sure whether Harris would improve the country overall or better their own lives.

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

Clinton, who was governor of Arkansas before he became president, also spoke at the campaign’s Albany office, where he told attendees he asked the campaign to send him to 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