Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Obama on stump urges ‘sanity in our politics’
Former president touts candidates in California
Former President Barack Obama hit the campaign trail for the first time since leaving office, urging Democrats to get out the vote in their bid to win the net 23 seats they need to regain control of the House of Representatives.
A day after delivering criticism about Donald Trump in Illinois, Obama didn’t mention the president by name. Still, Trump was the undercurrent of several of Obama’s remarks to a crowd of about 750 in Anaheim, Calif.
“The stakes are high in this election. This is a consequential moment in our history,” Obama said. “The fact is, if we don’t step up, things can get worse.”
The invitation-only Take it Back California rally in a ballroom at the city’s convention center was held on behalf of seven candidates from Central and Southern California attempting to flip House seats held by Republicans in congressional districts that Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election.
Obama urged voters who’ve remained on the sidelines, or in their“house slippers” to knock on doors to get out the vote.
“In two months we have a chance to restore some sanity in our politics,” Obama said. “If these candidates win I’m absolutely confident Washington will start working better.”
On Friday, Obama used an acceptance speech for an “ethics in government” award at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to lay into Trump and congressional Republicans, saying the nation is living through “dangerous times,” and warning of dire consequences if U.S. voters stay on the sidelines in November.
While Obama returns to the public eye, Trump is undertaking a heavy schedule of appearances on behalf of Republican candidates as his party confronts the possibility of losing its House majority. It’s creating
a rare display for voters of a past president working directly against a successor.
Other former presidents have shied away from criticizing their successors. For that matter, previous incumbents typically haven’t criticized their predecessors in direct terms.
Obama hopes to help Democrats flip Republican House seats up and down California, from San Diego in the south to Modesto in the Central Valley, more than 400 miles to the north. That includes traditionally conservative-leaning Orange County, where Saturday’s rally was held.
Those districts are central to Democratic prospects of securing the House. Obama is likely to be less helpful in Senate races playing out in states Trump won handily, including Indiana, West Virginia and North Dakota.
In the coming week, the Obama is scheduled to campaign in Cleveland on behalf of Richard Cordray’s campaign for Ohio governor. Cordray is the former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, appointed by Obama.