‘Values Matter, Character Matters,’ Says Obama in Last-Minute Push For Harris

Barack Obama speaks in MIlwaukee on Nov. 3. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

With less than 41 hours until polls open on election day, former president Barack Obama rallied more than 5,000 Wisconsin Democrats Sunday afternoon with a simple message: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are like them and Donald Trump is clearly unfit to be president.

“I am here for a very important reason and that is to ask you to vote,” said Obama during an event held in the exhibition hall at the newly-expanded Baird Center in Downtown.

“I understand why people are looking to shake things up, but I cannot understand why people would think Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that is good for you because there is absolutely no evidence that the man thinks about anybody but himself,” said the former president.

He contrasted Trump’s inherited wealth, frequent legal entanglements and reality television career with that of Harris’ career as a prosecutor and senator.

“In college, she worked at McDonald’s to put her self through college, she didn’t pretend to work at McDonald’s when it was closed,” said Obama of Trump’s October campaign appearance. He noted that Walz rebuilt his own car and said Trump’s ability to change a tire consisted of asking a butler to do it. “I love that dude,” said the former president of Walz.

“The point is if you elect them Kamala and Tim,” said Obama. “They’ll be focused not on their brands, but yours.”

He credited Harris, then a U.S. senator, with pushing his administration to ensure homeowners got a fair settlement in the wake of the Great Recession.

“Again and again Kamala has fought for people that needed a voice, that needed a champion. That’s who Kamala is. You may not agree with every decision she makes, but I can promise if that if you elect her, she will see you and hear you and she will have your back every single day and she will work hard on behalf of all Americans,” said the former president. “And she’ll have an excellent partner in Tim Walz.”

While keeping his focus on Trump during the approximately 50-minute speech, Obama frequently used Trump’s time in office as a comparison to his own.

“Some people might say ‘I remember the economy being good when he came into office.’ It was because it was my economy,” said Obama to thunderous applause. “The only thing his tax cuts did back then was to help those that were already doing well and drive up the deficit.”

He assailed Trump’s attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the signature policy achievement of Obama’s time in office and JD Vance‘s claim Trump salvaged the policy. “What? Donald Trump spent his entire presidency trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, trying to tear it down, and he couldn’t even do that.”

At several points, he emphasized that the election would be close, but that voters have a clear choice.

“If somebody tells you this election does not matter, tell them respectfully that having a president that understands policy and is willing to put in the work does matter… Let me tell you what else matters, values matters, character matters,” said Obama. “A president makes a million decisions and most of the time they are judgment calls… and it is really important that that person has a moral compass, some integrity, that they are focused on doing what is right by the American people. Values matter.”

He criticized Trump’s lies about recent hurricane responses, contracting that with Joe Biden and Harris visiting the communities. “And at the same time, Donald Trump and JD Vance were making up stories about the Biden administration witholding aid, not giving to Republican areas, giving it to undocumented immigrants, just making stuff up,” said the former president. “Even Republicans on the ground said that’s not true. That it’s a bald-face lie.”

He also defended the Biden administration’s attempt to address immigration issues and assailed Trump for killing a bipartisan deal to fix it. “Wasn’t Donald Trump president for four years? Why didn’t he fix it?” asked Obama. “Donald Trump doesn’t have any plan to solve immigration. He has a’concept of a plan’ and it is a mean and ugly plan.”

While she looked on from a seat on the stage, Obama also gave a full-throated endorsement of Tammy Baldwin‘s senate reelection bid.

Obama was speaking on the last day of early voting in Wisconsin, with less than two hours remaining before polls closed in Milwaukee.

“I won’t be offended if you leave right now,” said Obama.

Obama finished at 2:48 p.m., well before the Green Bay Packers 3:25 p.m. kickoff. “Cheeseheads, don’t worry. I am not trying to compete against that,” he said early in his speech. When he mentioned his beloved Chicago Bears were also playing Sunday, the audienced booed. “Right now, we are on the same team people.”

“Let’s vote for Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States. Let’s vote for Tim Walz as the next vice president. Let’s vote for Tammy Baldwin and this whole incredible Wisconsin Democratic ticket,” said Obama. “We will leave no doubt about the outcome of the election, we will leave no doubt about who we are and what America stands for. And together we will keep building a country that is more fair, more just, more equal and more free. Let’s get to work.”

Wisconsin Politicians Fire Up Crowd

A pre-show program included brief speeches by Governor Tony Evers, Congresswoman Gwen Moore, County Executive David Crowley, Mayor Cavalier Johnson and former lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes.

“Here’s the deal, it’s real simple: We have to reelect Tammy Baldwin. Period,” said Evers after criticizing Eric Hovde being a California banker.

“Now Wisconsin, we have a Green County, we have a Brown County, we don’t have an Orange County,” said Baldwin. “Don’t boo, vote.”

“Eric celebrated when Roe was overturned, I am leading the charge to restore Roe v. Wade and restore reproductive freedom,” said Baldwin. “I want women, not politicans, to decide our own health care.”

She also touted her work on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including a provision to allow children to stay on their parent’s health insurance until they turn 26, and that Hovde wants to repeal the ACA.

“Wisconsin, the stakes could not be higher for our reproductive freedoms, for our health care, for our economy,” said Baldwin.

Evers called on attendees to call or text 10 people to vote for Democrats up and down the ballot. “We have just two days folks,” said the governor. “Let’s go win this damn thing.”

Marquette University student Darian Stephan, a first-time presidential voter from Menomonee Falls, introduced Baldwin and discussed how his fraternity has been active in knocking doors for the Harris-Walz campaign.

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