Why Obama’s quick stop with Talarico matters beyond Austin

One 30-minute campaign stop with Barack Obama in Austin isn’t going to vault James Talarico to the U.S. Senate.

Talarico is still trying to mend fences with supporters of Jasmine Crockett after a contentious primary, and he needs big Democratic stars to help coax the party back together. If Talarico is going to pull off a massive upset in Texas, he needs a huge turnout from what we once thought of as the Obama coalition – less politically engaged voters, younger voters and voters of color.

Less-engaged voters are key for Talarico right now, says San Antonio-based Democratic strategist Laura Barberena. With his primary over, he needs to start getting into the brains of less political Texans who still vote. He needs them to swing his way big regardless of whether he’s facing U.S. Sen. John Cornyn or his Republican primary opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton, who are battling in the May 26 runoff.

“In order for Talarico to win, he needs people who pay no attention to politics to pay attention to politics,” Barberena said. “That’s where Obama makes a difference, because everyone knows Obama.”

And what Obama did on Tuesday was a rarity. He doesn’t make a lot of stops around the nation like he did for Talarico and Gina Hinojosa, the Democrat running for governor. Obama giving his stamp of approval to the two candidates, even though he said little to the media during the short visit to Austin, is a message to potential donors.

“This is a signal to the donor class to invest in this guy and that this is winnable for Gina,” Barberena said.

A predominantly white part of Austin, just near the University of Texas campus, is a long way from voters of color in Houston and Dallas, but Talarico and Hinojosa can definitely use the visit to reach those voters too, said Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis. Even though it’s been a decade since Obama was in the White House, he still fires up people in Houston like few other politicians can, the Democrat said.

“His presence will energize our base and statistics show he appeals across a broad spectrum of voters,” Ellis said.

In 2008, Obama did something no Democratic presidential candidate had done in Harris County since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. He won the county. No Republican candidate for president has won it since.