Obama urges voters to ‘make history’ for Gillum, Nelson

Nov. 03--MIAMI -- Former President Barack Obama promoted Andrew Gillum's nationally watched bid for governor and Sen. Bill Nelson's re-election campaign on Friday and urged voters to defend his legacy by repudiating President Donald Trump in Tuesday's elections.

Speaking for about 45 minutes to a crowd of thousands who packed the warehouse-like Ice Palace Film Studios, Obama praised Nelson as a supporter of his agenda in the U.S. Senate. America's first black president heralded Gillum, who is trying to become Florida's first African-American governor, as a figure who "knows the promise of this country" and would fight to extend it to others.

"Let's make history happen," Obama urged the crowd at the end of the afternoon rally.

Obama also offered a lengthy defense of his signature health care law and took credit for the current strong economy. He blasted Trump and Republicans for trying to dismantle Obamacare and accused them of resorting to lies and division to further their goals.

"America's at a crossroads. The healthcare of millions is on the ballot. Making sure working families get a fair shake is on the ballot. But maybe most of all, the character of our country is on the ballot," Obama said. "In the closing weeks of this election we have seen repeated attempts to divide us, with rhetoric designed to make us angry and make us fearful."

Obama, elected during the recession and financial crisis of 2008, said he and Democrats had to repair an economy broken by Republicans. When he left office, Obama said, "The economy was growing. And, by the way, that growth just kept on growing."

To those who cite the current strong economy to defend Trump, Obama asked, "Where do you think that started?"

Hecklers interrupted Obama three times during his remarks, with the crowd chanting Gillum's signature "Bring it home" to drown them out.

As the third heckler was led away, Obama said: "Why is it that the folks that won the last election are so mad all the time? ... It tells you something interesting, that even the folks who are in charge are still mad because they're getting ginned up to be mad. That's the mindset."

Obama also blasted Trump's decision to send troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in response to a caravan of Central American migrants making their way toward the U.S.

"Now they're telling you in 2018 that the existential threat to America is a bunch of poor refugees 1,000 miles away. They're even taking our great troops away from their families for a political stunt," Obama said.

The former president also ripped Trump's recent call for an end to birthright citizenship in defiance of the widely held consensus that the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the U.S.

"A president doesn't get to decide on his own who's an American citizen and who's not," Obama said.

Although Friday's event was billed as a rally to promote Gillum and Nelson, and the entire Democratic ticket, Gillum was clearly the star of the occasion.

Much of the crowd wore blue Gillum campaign T-shirts, with only a few sporting Nelson gear. Even the representatives of Judaism, Christianity and Islam selected to deliver the invocation for the event incorporated Gillum's "bring it home" slogan into their prayers.

Obama took a few shots at Nelson's challenger, Republican Gov. Rick Scott, accusing him of trying to disenfranchise voters and noting Scott was a longtime opponent of Obamacare. Obama derided the Republican tax cut as benefiting wealthy "folks like Rick Scott."

Obama recounted Gillum's history as the child of a bus driver and construction worker.

"He knows the promise of this country, so he's not going to work for the people that have had it handed to them, he's going to work for the people that had to work their way up," Obama said. "Andrew has lived the American dream. And if you give him your vote he will fight to make sure every child in Florida has the same chance."

Gillum faces Republican Ron DeSantis, who won the GOP nomination after Trump threw his support behind him in the primary against Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.

"We have the opportunity to send Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Trump both a message on Nov. 6," Gillum said. "We have a chance to send them an unapologetic message, one that will not confuse them, that their brand of politics is no longer acceptable in the state of Florida."

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