Obama on first stop of tour: Californians rise up

Voters urged to go out Nov. 6, fight against ‘anger and division’

ANAHEIM – Former President Barack Obama urged Californians on Saturday to rise up against the “anger and division” of President Donald Trump’s Washington and replace more than half a dozen Republicans in the U.S. House.

In the first stop of a national tour to promote Democrats as they try to seize control of Congress, Obama told hundreds of campaign volunteers in Anaheim that “things can get worse” if too many of the party’s voters fail to cast ballots in the November midterm.

“When we’re not stepping up, other voices fill the void,” he said. “But the good news is in two months we have a chance to restore some sanity in our politics. We have a chance to flip the House of Representatives and make sure that we have checks and balances in Washington.”

The rally came a day after Obama’s blistering attack on Trump in an Illinois speech outlining his rationale for a Democratic takeover of the House. He cast Trump as a shameless demagogue who protects the privileged and the powerful while undercutting U.S. interests abroad and exploiting racial, ethnic and religious divides at home.

“The only way we reverse that cycle of anger and division is when each of us as citizens step up and say we’re going to take it upon ourselves to do things differently,” he said.

“Yes we can!” a man shouted from the back of the convention center ballroom, reprising an old Obama campaign line and drawing a roar of cheers.

It was one of many signs of nostalgia for Obama’s insurgent campaign for president in 2008. “Fired up, ready to go!” the volunteers chanted.

The rally underscored California’s pivotal role in determining which party will control the House for the rest of Trump’s term.

It also highlighted Orange Former President Barack Obama attends a campaign event in Anaheim for Democratic congressional candidates on Saturday.

County’s demise as one of the nation’s most reliable Republican strongholds, part of the state’s drift away from the GOP as California’s population has diversified.

Joining Obama on stage at the end of his remarks were six Democrats running to replace House Republicans from California. Voters in all of their districts

favored Hillary Clinton over Trump in 2016.

Four of them are running to represent at least part of Orange County: Gil Cisneros, who is seeking to replace retiring Rep. Ed Royce of Fullerton; Katie Porter, who is trying to unseat Rep. Mimi Walters of Laguna Beach; Harley Rouda, who’s challenging Rep. Dana Rohrabacher

of Costa Mesa; and Mike Levin, who’s running for the seat that Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista is giving up.

Obama heaped praise on each of them, as well as on T.J. Cox, an engineer hoping to oust Rep. David Valadao of Hanford, and Josh Harder, a former venture capitalist challenging Rep. Jeff Denham of Turlock.