'Atlanta, better is worth fighting for' President Barack Obama rallies in Georgia

Record ID: 1695247

  • Title: 'Atlanta, better is worth fighting for' President Barack Obama rallies in Georgia
  • Date: 29th October 2022
  • Summary: ATLANTA, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES (REUTERS) STACEY ABRAMS SAYING THANK YOU AS PEOPLE CHANT STACY PEOPLE DANCING ALONG TO THE DJ'S MUSIC (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR, STACEY ABRAMS SAYING: "Starting tomorrow, we've got ten days to victory. Ten days to destiny. Ten days to history. And I think you already know this, but, politics 101 says you got to introduce yourself. My name is Stacey Abrams and I intend to be the next governor of the great state of Georgia." (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR U.S SENATE, RAPHAEL WARNOCK SAYING: "Got to stand up for the future. Are you ready? Let me tell you, I'm ready. I'm running for reelection, not because I'm in love with politics, I put up with politics. I'm in and I'm running because I'm in love with change. That's what I'm in love with, change. I'm running because every now and then in this office, I get to do something amazing, like cast my vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to The United States Supreme Court." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR U.S SENATE, RAPHAEL WARNOCK SAYING: "That's what a vote is, it's a letter to our children. We ought to ask ourselves what we want that letter to say. I want my letter to say that I stood up in this defining moment in America for the best in the American spirit. I want my letter to say that I stood up for workers. That they might have a livable wage. I stood up for women, that they might get equal pay for equal work. That I stood up for our children so that their outcome was not based on their parents income. I want my letter to say that I didn't sleep through this election. I gave it my all. I left it all on the field because I believe in Georgia. And you ready to win this election? Let's get this thing done one more time." WARNOCK INTRODUCING FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA WAVING AND GREETING CROWD AS HE WALKS UP TO PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA SAYING: "Hello Atlanta, it's good to be back in Georgia" (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA SAYING: "Who will fight for your freedoms? Is it some of these folks in the GOP, politicians, judges who think they should get to decide when you start a family, how many children you have? Who you marry. Who you love. Do not boo, vote. Or is it the democratic leaders who believe that the freedom to make these personal, intimate decisions belong to every American, not politicians in Washington? That's the choice in this election. That's what you have to decide." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA SAYING: "You deserve better. Georgia deserves better. You deserve somebody who's independent and who's going to go work every day and fight for you. Somebody like Reverend Raphael Warnock. Who's been doing it all his life responsibly, conscientiously, effectively. Not just in the Senate, but throughout his entire career. You deserve somebody who's also going to stand up for a woman's right to make her own health care decisions." (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR, STACEY ABRAMS SAYING: "We can turn Georgia around. Look, look, Georgia, in 2018, I stood for this job, and while my application was not fully accepted, I spent the past four years believing in the possibility of Georgia. And because you believed with me, because you worked with me, we sent Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden to the White House. And because we're southern, we sent not one but two U.S. senators to the White House. We defied history again and again, and we will do it on November 8th because that is who we are. We are one Georgia, and we believe in ourselves and we believe in tomorrow." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR, STACEY ABRAMS SAYING: "As your governor, I will expand Medicaid as my first act in office. I will prove that in the South, we can protect the Second Amendment and protect second graders. I will raise teacher salaries, I will support our workers, I will make sure our college students can go to technical college for free and that you can have a C average and still see your way to college in the state of Georgia. And I'm gonna tell you all the secret: we can do all of this, and we don't have to raise the dime in taxes. All we have to do is raise our expectations and change our leadership. And to put it more plainly, it's time to fire the governor and hire someone new." (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA SAYING: "And there have been darker moments in this country before. We have always had more in common than our politics suggest. Even when times are tough, what unites us has always been stronger than what divides us. There have always been certain values that bind us together as citizens, no matter who we are, where we come from, what we look like, or who we love. That's the promise of America. That's who we are. And in this election, you have a chance to vote for leaders like me win and Stacey Abrams and Sanford Bishop and Raphael Warnock, who will fight for that big, inclusive, hopeful, forward looking America that we believe in, an America that doesn't fear the future. That meets its challenges honestly and boldly. An America where we may not fix all our problems overnight, but where we can make things better. And Atlanta better is worth fighting for." OBAMA HOLDING ABRAM'S AND WARNOCK'S HANDS
  • Embargoed: 12th November 2022 04:03
  • Keywords: ELECTIONS GEORGIA MIDTERMS OBAMA PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
  • Location: ATLANTA, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES
  • City: ATLANTA, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Government/Politics,United States,Elections/Voting
  • Reuters ID: LVA001552529102022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Democrats turned to former President Barack Obama on Friday (October 28) to rally Georgia voters in a tight U.S. Senate race that could determine whether the party keeps control of the chamber after the upcoming midterm elections.
    Obama, a two-term Democrat who left office in 2017, stumped in Atlanta for Senator Raphael Warnock, who faces Donald Trump-backed Republican challenger Herschel Walker. Polls show the race between Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker to be deadlocked.
    Speaking before an adoring crowd of more than 5,000, Obama urged them to vote in the Nov. 8 election.
    "I am here to tell you tuning out is not an option. Despair is not an option," he said.
    "The fundamental question you should be asking yourself right now is: 'Who will fight for you?'"
    Georgia has seen a record-breaking number of early voters, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. More than 1.25 million residents have already voted as of Friday, far ahead of the total (730,706) at this point in 2018, the year of the last midterm election.
    Obama's appearance is the start of a five-state tour that will take him to the battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania. That last appearance, on the Saturday before the Nov. 8 midterm elections, will be alongside Biden, who has held back from campaigning in some key battlegrounds as he struggles with low public approval ratings.
    Beyond Georgia, Republicans have focused their efforts on flipping a Democratic Senate seat in Arizona or Nevada.
    Republicans are also expected to win enough seats to take over the U.S. House of Representatives. Controlling both chambers will enable them to stonewall Biden’s agenda, block his executive branch nominees and launch investigations of his administration.
    (Production by: Maria Alejandra Cardona)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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