Democrats Wheel-Out Obama To Triage Midterm Bloodbath

With polls showing that Democrats are in deep trouble with less than two weeks to go before midterm elections, dems are wheeling out former President Barack “built the cages” Obama to dazzle crowds for Senate races in the key battleground states of Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada and Pennsylvania. He will hit Michigan as well to campaign for Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Obama, who served two terms and remains the Democrats’ most popular figure, is ‘assuming the role as the party’s closer in the final days,’ given President Biden’s dismal approval rating hovering at 39%, according to Reuters.

Obama’s #1 objective, according to Reuters, is to reach black voters, college-educated suburbanites, latinos, and young voters, in order to get them to vote in what has historically been a challenge in midterm years.

“African-American voters are going to be crucial to Democrats’ chances,” said Andra Gillespie, a political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta. “Bringing in President Obama helps to underscore the importance of African-American vote, while also exciting other voters.”

All four states are home to competitive Senate races where GOP candidates are gaining ground. Georgia and Nevada are at particular risk of granting Republicans the one additional seat they need to control the chamber.

Republicans are also expected to win enough seats to take over the U.S. House of Representatives. Holding both chambers will enable them to stonewall President Joe Biden’s agenda, block his nominees, including federal judges and launch investigations of his administration.

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Dogged by the public’s concerns over inflation and the economy, Biden has been nearly invisible on the campaign trail. His predecessors, Republican Donald Trump and Obama, both had held more than a dozen large rallies at this point in their second year in office. -Reuters

That said, as is often the case during midterms, Democrats suffered what Obama later called a “shellacking” during his first term, when Democrats lost 63 House seats in the 2010 midterms. 

Biden, meanwhile, will campaign in Florida next week for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist, who faces off against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). Biden will join Obama for events in Pennsylvania on Nov. 5.

Earlier this week Obama posted a video on social media encouraging younger Americans to vote in the midterm elections.

“He’s probably a better ambassador for swing-state Democrats than Biden is, since he’s more popular – especially in the competitive states – and less tied to the current issues on voters’ minds,” said Jacob Rubashkin, an election analyst with Inside Elections in Washington. “He’s also a more natural campaigner.”