There is a moment during Barack Obama’s campaign rally on what feels like the first true day of October in Wisconsin – rain spitting, geese in the sky – when his expression turns contemplative and he reveals himself as just another American, among the millions, bewildered at the turn the national political discourse has taken.
“I do not watch cable news,” he tells them.
“I really don’t. But there are times ... when I don’t understand how it got so ... toxic.”
In the big soulless arena – a concrete bowl of a place on the edge of Madison – you can hear nothing now except the sound of a crowd in perfect silence. Whether the Democratic Party wins or loses this election, this autumn collection of speeches from Obama will be studied by future generations of historians because it feels as though the former president is engaging in two parallel debates. The first involves the most obvious and pressing task of helping Kamala Harris win the presidential election. But running alongside that is a theme that hints at Obama’s deep frustration at what he sees as the hijacking by Donald Trump of the accomplishments he left behind after two terms in office.
“I talk to some folks and they’ll say: I do remember when the economy was pretty good when Trump first came into office,” he says at one point.
“And I say, yeah, because it was my economy! I spent eight years cleaning up the mess the Republicans left. I spent eight years getting the auto industry back on track. So, when I handed back 75 months of straight job growth to Donald Trump all he did was give a tax cut to people who didn’t need it. Don’t have nostalgia for what his economy was. Cos that was mine! And now he wants to do it again.”
It’s a revealing sentiment because it captures the sense of the white knuckle ride on which America has embarked over the past eight years. Obama has been a passenger, same as everyone else. For most of the past year, he has been an oblique force in American political life, spoken of rather than seen. But now, in the closing phase, it is as though he never left. If there is nostalgia in the arena here, it is for the speaker before them. This week finds Obama touring the crucial heartland states with vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz.
“Love that man. Love that dude,” Obama tells the Madison crowd. And you can tell that he means it. They are both Midwestern-influenced after all, even if Obama is a unique example of the type: a young community organiser in Chicago trying to figure out his place in the complex scheme of the American story, only to suddenly understand that it was this – to become the 44th president at a shockingly young age, the best orator in living memory – and now a former world leader who can influence but prevent nothing. Walz, meantime, is as pure and identifiably Midwest as a character from Sherwood Anderson: Nebraska old stock and handy with a spanner, a gun, a beer. What he shares with Obama besides a passion for sport and politics is a faith in common decency – it was the one quality that shone through in his debate with JD Vance.
“The kind of person who should be in politics,” Obama says.
“He’s a veteran, he’s a teacher, he’s a coach. A hunter. Been a great governor. You can tell those flannel shirts he’s got have got some wear.”
Walz wore no flannels but spoke well here too, making a passionate warning against the idea of Trump assuming a second term in office.
“This Donald Trump is far more dangerous. He is not the 2016 Donald Trump. As Kamala says he is a very unserious person but the consequences of sending him back to office are very serious. He is talking about sending in the military against people who don’t support him. I recognise I am at the top of the list. You think he is stopping with me? He is talking about you!”
The elevation of Walz to vice-presidential pick makes complete sense when he is placed in this environment: the vast fields and skies and unshowy friendliness of the Midwest. But he is smart enough to know that the car park was filling from 11am because the crowd wanted to see Obama with their own eyes, whether as an electrifying connection to the unique optimism of his 2008 campaign or to see for the first time the current persona: a middle-aged statesman trying to use his extraordinary appeal to divert the balance of power towards his party. This is a perilously close election race for the Democrats, so for everyone who has turned up, there is a bittersweet edge to seeing Obama unleash all the familiar charisma and spellbinding stage presence.
“He was our first president growing up,” explains Eliza Bankier from Chicago, who has attended the rally with three friends, all in their senior years at the University of Wisconsin. They were each five years old when Obama was elected and they recall, in chorus, what that was like.
“I remember exactly where I was.”
“I was watching on TV with my mom.”
Although they have voted in the gubernatorial and Wisconsin supreme court elections, this will be the first presidential election in which the four friends can vote. During the rally, they were engaged by each of the speakers, from congressman Mark Pocan to senator Tammy Baldwin to Walz. But when Obama was introduced, they embraced and raised their hands. And so did thousands of others. For many – no, all – Democrats in the arena, seeing Obama with their own eyes seemed like something close to a spiritual experience.
“I think the way he speaks just kinda gets people going and I love that about him,” says Lia Kerrigan, from Baltimore.
“We can surround ourselves with people who say, I don’t care about politics or they have a different opinion or are gonna vote Trump and people don’t stand back and don’t say anything. But – we were talking about this a second ago – we need to tell our friends: go vote. We need to stand up for our thoughts and our rights, even. People voting for Trump ... it is not really Democrat versus Republican any more. It is about morals. It is about our safety. It’s about our parents’ and friends’ safety. And this speech really got me going,” she laughs.
“I have a mission now.”
Democrats are sweating but nothing is certain in the race for the White House
We talk for a few minutes on the concourse as the crowd makes a beeline for the car park – the exit out of town will be tortuously slow.
“Yeah, I would echo that and particularly being young women right now, at a time when our reproductive rights are being challenged all over the country,” says Zola Osman.
“And being in a state like Wisconsin: we are from different states but we are voting here and want more of a voice and it feels more important than ever for us to vote now.”
The past 24 hours have been nerve-racking for the Democrats, with new reports claiming that insiders fear that the entirety of the Blue Wall of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania may not hold in November, leaving Harris’s path to the White House sketchy. Obama balanced a speech that moved from scathing criticism of Trump to an affirmation of the collective power of American decency. It was that message that resonated with Bankier.
“I think something that was really wonderful about Obama and his administration and the energy from that time was that there was just much more respect. And much more seriousness in the political game between Democrats and Republicans. Obviously, I stand for my Democratic values. And I also think it is just so important as a baseline that Donald Trump – he wouldn’t be deemed a good person on a regular day let alone have the capabilities to run the United States. And it is important – which Obama echoes so well – to make sure we have someone in charge that is a capable and thoughtful leader. I think he reminds citizens of political and general respect.”
He is certainly a throwback. Obama and Walz were due to move on to Detroit on Tuesday night for what would be a prime time rally. But there was something poignant about seeing this low-key return to Madison, on a humdrum lunchtime Tuesday, as he made an argument that he hopes will reach the next generation.
“I think that his being in Wisconsin is a huge thing. Because it is such an important swing state,” says New Yorker Grace Gilman.
“And specifically what Obama does is he speaks for so many people, not just left Democrats – he speaks for independents, for Republicans who don’t stand with Trump’s values. Which I think is especially important for here. And he really hit that on the nail, being here. Because he speaks for so many people.”
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