Obama hands on the baton with call to put Clinton in White House
President berates Trump’s ‘pessimism’
US PRESIDENT Barack Obama has implored Americans to elect Hillary Clinton to the White House, casting her as a candidate who believes in the optimism that powers the nation’s democracy and warning against the “deeply pessimistic vision” of Republican Donald Trump.
“America is already great. America is already strong,” he told cheering delegates at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia. “And I promise you, our strength, our greatness, does not depend on Donald Trump.”
For Democrats, the night was steeped in symbolism, the passing of the baton from a barrierbreaking president to a candidate trying to make history herself.
It culminated with Mrs Clinton making a surprise appearance on stage to greet Mr Obama with a long embrace, an almost unimaginable image eight years ago when they battled for the Democratic nomination.
Mr Obama urged Americans to summon the hopefulness of that White House campaign, before recession deepened and new terror threats emerged.
Although he has six months left in office, his address had the feeling of a political transition. He was emotional as he thanked Americans for sustaining him through difficult stretches.
“Tonight, I ask you to do for Hillary Clinton what you did for me,” he said. “I ask you to carry her the same way you carried me.”
He vouched robustly for Mrs Clinton’s readiness to finish the job he started, saying “no matter how daunting the odds, no matter how much people try to knock her down, she never, ever quits”.
Earlier, Mrs Clinton’s running mate, Virginia senator Tim Kaine, introduced himself to the nation as a formidable foil to Mr Trump in his own right.
With folksy charm, he ridiculed the billionaire tycoon’s list of promises and imitated one of the Republican presidential candidate’s favourite phrases. “Believe me!” he said mockingly, as the audience boomed back, “No!”
Mr Obama warned repeatedly early yesterday that the former The Apprentice TV host was unprepared for the challenges of the Oval Office. And Mr Trump fuelled more controversy when he encouraged Russia to meddle in the presidential campaign. On the heels of reports that Russia may have hacked Democratic Party emails, he said, “Russia, if you’re listening”, should Moscow find and publish the thousands of emails Mrs Clinton says she deleted during her years as US secretary of state.
I ask you to carry her the same way you carried me.
Barack Obama at the Democrat convention in Philadelphia