(AFP) – Days before key US midterm elections that will decide the balance of power in Congress, Democrats are leaning on former president Barack Obama to energize voters and help propel the party to victory. “Yes we can,” the crowd chanted at a rally in Atlanta on Wednesday, reviving the slogan from Obama’s historic 2008 White House run. “These are serious times,” he said, berating political leaders who “enjoy insulting and dividing instead of bringing people together to solve problems.”
The first Black US president headlined three rallies this week for Democratic candidates in next Tuesday’s elections, with voters picking lawmakers who will serve for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term. Democratic control of Congress would place the Republican leader in a legislative straitjacket for his final two years in office. Trump has embarked on a blitz of campaign rallies across the country, including in traditionally Republican states where his party is facing competitive races.
Obama was in Atlanta to support Senator Jon Ossoff. Running for reelection in Georgia and widely considered a 2028 presidential contender, the lawmaker with rolled-up shirt sleeves and a youthful vibe has drawn comparisons to the 65-year-old former president. “He has that energy nobody else has,” Jennifer Lee, a 21-year-old student at the rally, said of Obama. “He makes you feel something, and that’s exactly what Democrats need right now. Get people fired up, get them to the polls.”
Luc Brearley, a 32-year-old teacher, was more reserved about the Obama effect. “He can probably help with turnout in some places, like Atlanta or Philly. But in swing districts, I don’t think one speech changes anybody’s mind,” he told AFP. “People are voting on prices and their own lives.”
– Blue wave – Republicans fear a Democratic “blue wave” on election day, with voters angry over inflation stoked by oil prices that have soared since Trump launched his war on Iran in February. Obama rallied voters earlier this week in Ohio, a normally Republican state which this time features heated governor and Senate races. Hours later, he took the stage in Michigan alongside Abdul El-Sayed, a candidate with a rising profile who Democrats hope can help the party retain a US Senate seat.
In Obama, “Democrats have found their true spokesperson for the midterms,” said Barbara Perry, an expert on US presidents at the University of Virginia. She described his “ability to rouse the crowd” and “sense of humor, which he’s turned on Trump.” “He’s a young, energetic former president” who is still “very loved and trusted, certainly among Democrats, but even more broadly,” Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, told AFP. “And so that becomes someone who’s very valuable.”
– Campaign culture – As Democrats search for a leader to stand in the 2028 presidential polls, Obama can easily serve as a temporary placeholder, Zelizer added. Obama’s recent advocacy is a departure from his discretion in the first year of Trump’s second term. “That is changing, and Trump, of course, has completely changed our civic culture and our campaign culture,” Perry said.
In 2024, Obama backed Kamala Harris in the final stretch of the presidential election, which Trump ultimately won. When Obama opened his presidential center in Chicago in June, all living US ex-presidents joined a star-studded lineup — with the notable absence of Trump.
– John Falchetto with Victoria Lavelle in Washington
© 2024 AFP
