Former President Barack Obama will return to Atlanta today, this time hoping to drum up support for gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and Democrats up and down the ballot.
Obama’s visit comes as polls show a tight race between Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker. And Democrats hope he’ll give a boost to Abrams, who trails Gov. Brian Kemp in their rematch.
In a video shared on Abrams’ Twitter account earlier this week, Obama told Georgians that they are being tested by “extreme gun laws, restrictive abortion bans and attacks on our right to vote.”
“But Georgia, you have the opportunity to elect a new type of leader who will face these challenges head on,” Obama said in the video. “You are made for this moment and you must seize it by electing my friend Stacey Abrams as governor.”
Obama continues to be popular with Democrats and is the rare national figure that both Abrams and Warnock can easily cozy up to. State party leaders hope Obama’s trip could drive up Black voter turnout and inject more energy into Georgia campaigns in the final stretch of the race.
Obama also offers Warnock an important ally as he continues to steer clear of President Joe Biden, whose approval ratings hover at 38% in Georgia. While Abrams has embraced the president — and campaigned earlier this month in Atlanta with the first lady — Warnock has declined to say whether he wanted Biden to run for a second term.
The late-in-the-campaign appearance from Obama is not the first time the former president has offered his popularity to boost Democratic enthusiasm in Georgia. In 2018, he drew thousands of supporters to Morehouse College’s campus to boost Abrams and other statewide Democratic candidates days before the election.
And Obama campaigned for Warnock and Jon Ossoff on the eve of the 2020 election, pleading with disillusioned left-leaning voters who have “lost faith in government” to cast their ballots that year. Their victories in the 2021 runoff gave Democrats control of the Senate.
The “Georgia Grassroots Event” is scheduled from 4:45 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Gateway Center Arena in College Park, with the program scheduled to start at 5:30. The rally will be livestreamed on Abrams’ website.
About the Author
