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BObama is back. After an absence of nearly two years on the national political scene, the 44th President has become a force in the election campaign – and a stark contrast to the man who now occupies the White House.
Obama is the most powerful figure in democratic politics – and Donald Trump's favorite film. His return is an opportunity for both parties to focus on his legacy and rally supporters before the November mid-term elections.
"I need you to get through," Obama told thousands at a rally in Cleveland on Thursday, in support of Democratic presidential hopeful of Ohio, Richard Cordray. . "But more importantly, the country needs you to move on."
His message was simple but urgent: vote, because the consequences of staying at home are "much more dangerous" now. Obama did not name Trump but his target was barely veiled.
Obama comes to Ohio to campaign for [Cordray] and think the best way to help him is to attack President Trump? The Republican Party of Ohio has returned to Twitter. "He must have forgotten that Trump won Ohio by a margin much bigger than him! Ohio is better now thanks to @realDonaldTrump! "
Obama and Trump have almost nothing in common, apart from their singular ability to rally party supporters and energize their opponents.
Last month, Obama released a wave of 81 recommendations. The list included governors, members of Congress, senators and 40 candidates for legislative seats.
Its full campaign calendar continues to take shape and more events are expected. Katie Hill, a spokeswoman for the former president, said he would give priority to the races that are essential to win the House and build in the Senate, as well as races relevant to the redistricting of Congress. those who will be responsible for drawing these cards will be elected before that date.
On Friday, Obama will campaign in Philadelphia, a state he has won twice but that Trump wore in 2016. It is essential to redistribute plans. Later this month, he will hold a fundraiser in New York for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, a group led by former Attorney General Eric Holder who is focusing on redefining cards.
"Name your enemy"
While Trump dismantled his legacy, Obama remained largely silent, weighing intermittently and usually in the form of a written statement. Trump has often messed up.
Then, at a first rally in Illinois this month, Obama invoked Trump twice by name. He denounced the policy of "fear and resentment" and said that Trump's disregard for democratic norms posed an unprecedented threat to civil society.
"It did not start with Donald Trump," Obama insisted. "It's a symptom, not the cause."
Trump, famous for his critics, told an audience in North Dakota that he was trying to watch Obama's speech, but was "falling asleep."
Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist who was an assistant to former Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, said that he thought Obama was effective when he went to the polls. is beaten for Trump.
"This election will be about Donald Trump," he said, adding, "If you want to get into the ring, you have to name your enemy."
Democrats say that Obama has the unique ability to unify the party after a primary season of ideological and intergenerational divisions. They enter the halves knowing that they can win the 23 seats needed to take control of the house; the Senate is a more difficult task but may also be possible.
Most of the most competitive races take place in conservative suburbs where Trump is extremely unpopular. These neighborhoods are where Obama could be the most powerful, said Jesse Ferguson, a strategist and former director of the independent spending branch of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
"Democrat candidates coming to the suburbs will probably ring the phone," he said. "If Donald Trump called a Republican candidate to run in a suburban district at the moment, they would probably go and say," New phone, who say? "
Josh Harder was one of six "Hillary Clinton candidates" at a rally in Anaheim last week.
Obama waved a clipboard on the volunteers in the room. The election of Democrats in November is imperative, he warned, because "things can get worse."
For the voters and volunteers of Central Valley District where Harder works, Obama's message, he said, was a "powerful reminder of a not-too-distant past when we had political courtesy and politicians in whom we could believe.
"Motivational effect"
Not everyone is convinced. Lanhee Chen, a fellow of Stanford's Hoover Institution and a former advisor to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, said Obama had an uneven success in helping Democrats in elections when his name does not appear on the ballot.
The next weeks of campaign appearances, Chen said, will test whether the President of "Hope and Change" can still inspire the voters who helped him to elect him twice.
"The question," said Chen, "becomes, what effect is the greatest? The motivation effect on the basis of gradual or motivational effect on the conservative basis. "
Michael Steel, a Republican strategist and former aide to John Boehner, a former spokesman for the House of Representatives, said Obama would rally right and left. His presence on the campaign trail, Steel said, "will remind Republican voters that a democratic victory means higher taxes, more regulation and fewer jobs, as well as Nancy Pelosi brandishing the President's hammer again and inevitably the removal of President Trump ".
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