chapel hill, n.c. <u+2014> with democrats concerned about lagging early turnout among blacks and younger voters, president obama on wednesday began a three-day swing aimed at galvanizing a couple of the pillars of his political coalition in two states that could deny donald j. trump any route to the presidency. mr. obama is scheduled to appear in chapel hill, on the campus of the university of north carolina, for an afternoon rally aimed at nudging college students and black voters in this heavily populated region to cast their ballot for hillary clinton . then, on thursday, he will head to florida, where he will also press democrats to vote early in two of that state<u+2019>s most heavily african-american cities: miami and jacksonville. if mrs. clinton captures both states, where polls show the race tightening, mr. trump would almost certainly be unable to amass the necessary 270 electoral college votes to win the white house. together, florida and north carolina have 44 electoral votes. but mrs. clinton has struggled so far to motivate black voters and millennials, two constituencies that played an important role in propelling mr. obama<u+2019>s victories in 2008 and 2012. in north carolina, which mr. obama narrowly lost in 2012, black turnout is down 16 percent from where it was in the early vote four years ago. and aides to mrs. clinton estimate that the millennial vote in the state is also modestly off from where it was in 2012. democrats have seen improvements in these numbers in recent days as more early voting locations have opened and they were able to drive african-american <u+201c>souls to the polls<u+201d> last weekend. but given mr. trump<u+2019>s appeal among working-class whites and a drift of some republicans back to him in the race<u+2019>s final days, mr. obama could play a crucial role. after his visit in the research triangle area on wednesday, he will appear in two cities with sizable black populations, charlotte and fayetteville, on friday. mr. obama is also expected to spend much of the weekend stumping for mrs. clinton in what josh earnest, the white house press secretary, on tuesday called <u+201c>the last big campaign swing of his political career.<u+201d> democrats are particularly focused in north carolina on pushing blacks and millennials, who tend to be more transient, to vote early because of this state<u+2019>s election rules. voters in the state can register and cast a ballot at any early voting location in their county. and if necessary, they can update their registration address. but if they have moved since the last election and show up to vote at the wrong precinct on tuesday, they will not be allowed to re-register. find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via facebook , twitter and the morning briefing newsletter .
obama<u+2019>s 3-day swing will try to push blacks and millennials hillary clinton<u+2019>s way
jonathan martin