In a bid to secure support from Black voters in the upcoming 2024 presidential election, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are set to launch a nationwide effort during a campaign rally in Philadelphia on Wednesday. The visit to the battleground state of Pennsylvania marks the start of an extensive engagement campaign aimed at mobilizing Black student organizations, community groups, and faith centers.

The campaign will kick off at Girard College, an independent boarding school in Philadelphia known for its predominantly Black student body. Biden and Harris will also visit a small business to address members of the Black Chamber of Commerce, highlighting their commitment to economic growth and support for Black-owned enterprises.

According to Quentin Fulks, Biden's principal deputy campaign manager, this effort is a continuation of their aggressive and thorough approach to securing the support of Black voters, who played a significant role in their 2020 victory. The campaign plans to invest a substantial eight-figure sum in advertising, engagement efforts, and culturally relevant content to ensure their message resonates with Black communities.

However, recent polls have indicated a decline in Black voter approval for the Biden administration. A poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in March revealed that Biden's approval among Black adults had dropped to 55% from an initial high of 94% at the start of his term. Factors such as concerns over the economy and criticism of his handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict have contributed to this erosion of support.

Mobilizing Black voters will be crucial for Biden's prospects in the upcoming election, particularly in closely contested states such as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. While Biden emerged victorious in all these states in 2020, he faces a more challenging environment this time around, with former President Donald Trump positioning himself as a better candidate for Black voters.

The campaign aims to remind Black voters of the administration's achievements during Biden's term, including a decline in Black unemployment rates to 5.6%, which is significantly lower than the averages of previous years. Additionally, Biden's efforts to cancel student loan debt have disproportionately benefited Black borrowers, and his historic appointments of Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black female Supreme Court justice and Kamala Harris as the first Black woman vice president also serve as significant milestones.

President Biden's visit to Philadelphia follows a series of engagements with the Black community in recent weeks. These include hosting plaintiffs involved in the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision on racial segregation in public schools, delivering a commencement address at Morehouse College, and participating in the Rev. Al Sharpton's racial justice conference via virtual means.

As the Biden-Harris campaign ramps up their efforts to engage and mobilize Black voters across the nation, they face the challenge of regaining the solid support they enjoyed in the 2020 election. With the race to the White House heating up, all eyes will be on the effectiveness of their engagement strategy and its impact on the Black voting bloc.