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Former President Barack Obama nominates Stacey Abrams, Democratic candidate for the governorship of Georgia, while he is speaking at a campaign rally at Morehouse College on November 2 in Atlanta. (John Bazemore / AP)
ATLANTA – A crowd of several thousand people gathered in a rally here expressed affection for two political personalities who have marked history. Former President Barack Obama implored the Georgians to come on Tuesday to help Stacey Abrams become Georgia's next governor.
Abrams, 44, who, if elected, would be the first black governor of the country, is tied with Republican Brian Kemp in the polls, in one of the most watched contests of the mid-term elections.
"She is the most experienced and most qualified candidate in this race," said Obama, who served two terms as the country's first African-American president, a day after President Trump declared that he was "the only one in the world." Abrams was "not qualified" to be governor.
Trump has to go to Georgia on Sunday to defend Kemp.
Obama, in a speech that lasted nearly 45 minutes, criticized Trump and Kemp, the Georgian state secretary, and accused of acting under fire from critics because of policies and practices that blocked or expelled Hundreds of thousands of people, including many minorities, from the electoral lists in recent years.
"If you aspire to a higher position in which you pledge to protect the citizens of your state, how can you actively try to prevent the citizens of your state from exercising their most basic right?", Obama said.
Abrams and other activists have also accused Kemp of continuing to hold his position as senior election official in the state when he ran for governorship. Kemp said that he was trying to protect the electoral system against fraud.
Obama also accused Kemp of withdrawing from a debate because it would have been against Trump's visit. Kemp and Abrams had to play a second time Sunday at 17h. Earlier this week, Trump announced that he would hold a rally in Macon, about 90 minutes southeast of Atlanta, Sunday at 4 pm. The debate sponsor, Channel 2 of Atlanta, proposed several options for reprogramming the debate, but the campaigns could not agree on a new date and time.
"I saw his opponent stepped back from this debate. He will instead attend a rally, "Obama said. "He can not do both? What is he afraid of? He's afraid of Stacey, I guess.
Obama also continued his criticism of Republican congressional leaders and Donald Trump for using scare tactics and "lies" to ransack their base.
"The leaders at the highest levels of the public service … lie repeatedly, calmly, shamelessly – invent things, just say that things they know are not true."
"Lies!" Chanted the crowd every time Obama stopped between adverbs.
He also said that voters should be wary of Republicans' new support for the protection of pre-existing conditions, a key element of the Affordable Care Act, which they have sworn repeatedly and attempted to repeal. .
"I mean, they voted dozens of times to try to get rid of the protections for pre-existing conditions. Last year, they missed a vote, Obama said. "If they win on Tuesday, they will come back after health care. … But a Democratic Congress will not let that happen. He also noted that Abrams was committed to working for the expansion of Medicaid in Georgia to be one thing, which Kemp said would be too costly. He too said that he would protect pre-existing conditions but did not specify how.
Obama also hit Trump for a project sending troops to the border in response to the caravan of migrants from Central America. "They send them there for a political blow. … Our military deserve better than that. This is not patriotism.
The former president has formulated similar criticisms of his successor at a rally for Florida's Democratic governor candidate, Andrew Gillum. He would become the first black governor of the Sunshine State if he beat Republican Ron DeSantis on Tuesday. Trump campaigned earlier this week in Florida for DeSantis, a former congressman, who dropped Gillum, the mayor of Tallahbadee, in polls.
Abrams, after presenting Obama on Friday, sat behind him on a stage filled with supporters standing in front of a giant billboard projecting "Our Luck, Our Choice." It was the second time in as many days as shared the spotlight with a national celebrity On Thursday, media mogul Oprah Winfrey was in the suburbs of Atlanta to host two town halls with Abrams.She then went in search of Abrams, shocking and ravishing the people without mistrust that answered their door to find the queen of the long-standing talk show that stood on their steps.
Obama and Abrams pose for a photo with two unidentified family members after the rally. (John Bazemore / AP)
The gathering took place at Morehouse College, one of the most prestigious institutions in the country, historically black. Martin Luther King Jr. was a former student, as were filmmakers Spike Lee and Maynard Jackson, the first black mayor of Atlanta.
The school's Forbes School, which has 6,000, was packed and people stood side by side in the floor space in front of the stage. The event sometimes resembled a pep rally, with people in the stands chanting spontaneously "A-brams! A-brams! Or crowd and dance to R & B and hip-hop music. Speakers included former Attorney General Eric Holder, as well as Lucy McBath and Carolyn Bordeaux, who compete competitively against Republican elected officials in adjacent congressional districts, in the suburbs of Atlanta. The crowd alternately hailed candidates for Congress and the state legislative badembly and called on several celebrities present, including actor Chris Tucker, rapper Two Chainz and Kandi Burruss of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta".
Christine Boyd, wearing a knit cap wearing the name of Obama in glittering letters, came to the rally with her son, Keith Russell. Boyd said that she had already voted early for Abrams; Russell said that he was always eager to go and vote on polling day.
Both said that they had been stimulated by the rally and that they would work more to encourage others to vote.
"I like the energy, I like the enthusiasm and I like the fact that we will be part of the story," Boyd said. As for the people who did not attend the rally and did not get that boost, she said, "I think it's word of mouth. I think if we all go home, talk to our neighbors, talk to our friends, talk to our family – it will take that kind of local effort to push it to the top. But we can do it. "
Representative John Lewis, the civil rights icon who represents Atlanta in Congress, brought a sense of history to the occasion, reminding the crowd that before African Americans got the right to vote Southern lawyers, doctors and black teachers had read or written well enough to register to vote. "We will not come back. We have come too far! We are going from the front!
"Vote! Vote! Vote!" Chanted the crowd.
"It's in our hands! It's in our hands to make Stacey Abrams the next governor of the state of Georgia, "thundered Lewis. "You can do it! You can do it! We must do it!"
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