Talmon Joseph Smith: The return of Barack Obama

On Tuesday, in a 12-minute video, former President Barack Obama re-emerged from his primary season dormancy to formally endorse Joe Biden, his former vice president and his party’s presumptive nominee.Millions tuned in online, nostalgic for the ballast of his familiar cadence. Many huddled at home as a global pandemic — one that in 2014 he warned could arrive — wreaks havoc, taking lives and evaporating livelihoods. The endorsement had the air of a warm-up; an act one, scene on