Obama campaigns for Democrats in Georgia and Michigan six days before US midterms

Closing swing through the South and Midwest

Former president Barack Obama is back on the campaign trail six days before the midterm elections on Tuesday, 3 November. As in 2022 and 2024, he is crossing the country to rally crowds for Democratic candidates. Earlier in the campaign he spoke in Cleveland and Detroit, then made a stop in Michigan to support Abdul El-Sayed, a candidate for a Senate seat. On Wednesday evening, 28 October, he addressed a rally in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. That visit was meant to back the incumbent senator Jon Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is running for governor of Georgia.

Obama's case against the administration

In Georgia, Obama criticized the competence of the current administration, the war it is waging in the Middle East, and rising prices for food and fuel. He also took aim at the renovations to the White House, saying the president spends more of his time on construction work than on the population. The remarks amount to a frontal attack on the incumbent, aimed at the record of Trump's term rather than a single policy. Obama had voiced similar criticism at Democratic events earlier in the campaign, and the Georgia speech repeats those themes in the final stretch.

Trump's counter-message and the stakes

Trump is answering with a counter-message that points to an announced multibillion-dollar investment by Audi in Georgia. He also cites tariff relief for the state of Maine. The midterms will elect the House of Representatives and part of the Senate, and a Handelsblatt podcast episode focuses on whether Republicans could lose their majority. The same discussion weighs what election night would show, whether a limited defeat or a clear loss of power for Trump. Economic worries ahead of the vote form part of that analysis as well.

Democrats' hopes in the final days

Obama's appearances are intended to energize Democratic voters at a point when mobilization is seen as decisive. Ossoff is cast as a rising star of his party, and the Atlanta rally was built around him and Bottoms. Obama remains a figure many liberals long for, which gives his presence weight with a party looking for turnout. The results on 3 November will show whether that pull translates into votes in Georgia, Michigan and the other contested races.