His dazzling smile, his rolled up sleeves, his rhythmic diction over fat-free sentences. His witticisms that elicit laughter from the audience, his sophisticated phrases that demand attention. Friday, October 28 in Atlanta (Georgia), in an enthusiastic convention center, Barack Obama entered the campaign for the midterm elections, eleven days before the ballot. The former Democratic president, who will continue on Saturday with meetings in Michigan and Wisconsin, had come to support the outgoing senator, the Reverend Raphael Warnock, and Stacey Abrams, local left-wing celebrity and contender for the post of governor.
But Barack Obama’s essential objective was to call on voters to general mobilization, in the name of the democratic emergency and dark Republican designs. ” We love you ! », launched a fan in the gallery, shortly before entering the scene. “I love you too, but I still want your vote!” », he replied tac-au-tac. Same reaction, when his references to the Republicans were greeted with boos. “Don’t boo, vote!” (…) I want you to get off your couch and vote. Put down your phone, leave TikTok alone, and vote! »
The former Democratic president with bleached temples knows how decisive Georgia could be for control of the Senate. Reverend Raphael Warnock is confronted there with a former American football star, Herschel Walker, supported by Donald Trump. In 2020, Joe Biden won the state by only 12,000 votes.
For Barack Obama, it is a question of getting out of their torpor and their fatalism the undecided, the voters tired by a political contest which now looks like a fight without rules, in the cage of the continuous opinion channels. The ex-president knows that the black community in Georgia has been disappointed by the Biden administration’s inability to seize on issues close to his heart, such as the defense of electoral rights. Obama’s mere presence on stage sends an image of vitality out of reach for Joe Biden, soon to be 80 years old. It also activates an important spring: nostalgia. A president is often more attractive in the rear view mirror.
“Despair is not an option”
“In 2008, the word hope had a positive connotation, recalls Anthony Waller, 38, an employee at a medical technology company, met in the queue. Now all we have left is to hope that the democratic system will work, despite everything. Obama represents for me a time when reality was more based on facts. Now we got Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene [élue de Géorgie à la Chambre des représentants] who live in a parallel universe and want to claim the right to decide if an election is right for them. »
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