‘The best closer we have’: Obama floods the campaign trail to help Democrats as midterms loom

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “He knows how valuable his voice is.” Over the last weekend, the former president has campaigned for Democrats in Michigan, including Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Garlin Gilchrist; in Wisconsin for Senate candidate Mandela Barnes and Governor Tony Evers; and in Georgia for Senator Raphael Warnock and gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams. open image in gallery Former President Barack Obama speaks at a rally for Senate candidate Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin on 29 October 2022 In his speech, Mr Obama highlighted how Mr Barnes’s father worked as an auto worker and his mother as a public school teacher, while also highlighting the candidate’s public service. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said that Mr Obama’s campaign appearance on Saturday in Detroit was a “shot in the arm” and that he laid out the stakes in her race, as she faces Kristina Karamo, an acolyte of former president Donald Trump. “Because you saw somebody who was speaking to the America that I think we know is possible even in light of the nonsense and the noise that has been amplified by the former president.” open image in gallery Former President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign event for Georgia Democrats on October 28, 2022 in College Park, Georgia.