Former President Barack Obama called for Democrats and others concerned about the direction of the U.S. to vote in November and fix “politics that feels broken right now,” as he campaigned in statehouse and Congressional races attacking the politics and policies of his successor, Donald Trump.
Obama headlined a rally in Cleveland Thursday night for Richard Cordray, the former head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who’s running for governor of Ohio, as well as other candidates including Senator Sherrod Brown.
A Democrat hasn’t won a statewide race in Ohio since 2012.
“What’s at stake goes beyond partisan politics,” he said. People “should be concerned with our current course, should be concerned about the basic institutions of our democracy, should want to see a restoration of honesty and decency and lawfulness to our government and should want to see some sort of checks and balances on what’s happening right now.”
Obama didn’t mention Trump by name in the 43-minute speech, before an estimated crowd of 4,250.
With the midterm elections fast approaching, Obama has returned to the campaign trail to help Democrats capture the 23 seats they need to regain control of the U.S. House, as well as backing up-and-coming candidates in races important for redistricting after the 2020 Census.
Pivotal Point Argument
The former president stumped for seven Congressional candidates in California on Sept. 8, a day after delivering a blunt rebuke to Trump in an Illinois address that was an unusual example of a former president openly criticizing a successor.
Obama has been trying to make the case that the country has reached a pivotal point, exhorting Democrats and independents to vote in the November elections to reject the policies and behavior of Trump and his Republican allies.
“Instead of being a check or balance on this kind of behavior, what you’re seeing are Republicans in Congress who are bending over backwards to try to shield and deflect oversight of this behavior from scrutiny and accountability and consequences,” Obama said at the rally in Cleveland.
Obama also praised his…
