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Obama: On a “dangerous mission” for a critical seat in Virginia

THE Barack Obama is currently campaigning in Virginia for a crucial local election, seen as a national test of Joe Biden’s popularity as he negotiates a major investment plan with Congress.

The former president, who remains the most popular Democrat in the United States five years after leaving the White House, went to support 64-year-old Democrat Terry McOliff, the candidate for the post of governor of Virginia, which he has already held since 2014 to 2018.

Former Democratic Party nominee Terry McOliff is battling pro-Trump Republican Glenn Yangin, 54, ahead of the Nov. 2 vote, and his camp fears a resentment among Democratic voters.

Before Obama, who is expected to deliver a speech this afternoon (local time) at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, in the conservative south of the state, First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and one of the rising stars of the Democratic Party, Stacey Abrams traveled to Virginia to campaign for McLaughlin. The American president himself is expected there next week.

Joe Biden defeated Virginia by a 10-point margin in 2020, and Republicans have not won an election in that state since 2009. But the Democratic nominee’s lead has declined over the weeks and is now falling to the margins of error.

A victory for McOlif would give impetus to the big investment program that the left wing of the Democratic Party is seeking to pass in Congress. A failure could prompt more attention to the moderate wing of the party, which continues to be reluctant to approve an amount of 3 trillion. dollars in expenses.

Obama hopes to mobilize African-American voters, a key constituency in this southern state, especially in the Richmond area, where one of the most important symbols of the country’s slavery, the Confederate General Robert Lee statue, has been removed. the place where he was just last month.

“I saw Terry standing up for the values ​​we all stand for: protecting the right to vote for every citizen, fighting climate change and defending the right to abortion,” Obama said in a televised spot before his arrival. of.

McOfee presented the vote as a referendum against Donald Trump.

“This vote is the most important of 2021,” he said in a campaign leaflet sent to voters on Saturday.

“If the Democrats vote as massively as they did in 2020, we will win. “Otherwise, we will lose – and here we can say goodbye to all the progress that has been made in Virginia and good morning to the resurgence of Trumpism in our country.”

Yangin has focused on schools, campaigning against the compulsory use of a mask hated by Donald Trump voters but carefully avoiding allegations by the former president that his election was stolen.

Trump did not visit Virginia, but virtually participated in a Oct. 13 rally in favor of Yangin, which was attended primarily by his former adviser, Steve Bannon.

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