US Midterms: Obama Campaigns for Georgia Democrats
With the midterms just 11 days away, former Pres. Obama is heading to Atlanta, Ga. to campaign for Democrats — including rallies for US Senate candidate Raphael Warnock and gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
Facts
- With the midterms just 11 days away, former Pres. Obama is heading to Atlanta, Ga. to campaign for Democrats — including rallies for US Senate candidate Raphael Warnock and gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
- After Georgia voters elected Democratic Senators Warnock and Jon Ossoff two years ago, Republicans are looking to use the state to take back the Senate majority. Polls show Warnock and GOP challenger Herschel Walker's race to be close.
- Obama is kicking off a five-state campaign tour that will also take him to Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, with his last appearance scheduled for the Saturday before the Nov. 8 election where he will join Pres. Biden.
- Obama left office in January 2017 with a 59% approval rating which increased to 63% a year later in a post-presidential poll. He holds sway with both Democratic and independent voters.
- Georgia has already seen a record-breaking more than 1.1M early voters as of Thursday, compared to around 730K at this point in the 2018 midterms. Obama's presence also focuses on encouraging voter turnout in Black communities — a voting bloc that helped Warnock claim victory two years ago.
- 18% of the state's electorate have already cast their ballots. While most of these votes have been in-person, approximately 118K Georgians have voted through absentee ballots.
Sources: Fox 5 Atlanta, Reuters, and Syracuse News.
Narratives
- Democratic narrative, as provided by ABC. Obama has been a powerful campaign force for Democrats for decades. With his approval rate having risen since leaving office and his rare appeal to independent voters, his presence on the campaign trail is a boon to the Democrats. No former president, including Trump, can boost a party's enthusiasm like Obama can — including in a key battleground like Georgia.
- Republican narrative, as provided by The Washington Examiner. Biden has ruined the Democrats' image so terribly that his party has replaced him with Obama on the campaign trail. While they may portray confidence in Obama's ability to campaign, what this proves is the Democrats are grasping at straws as they await a massive defeat in November.
