Barack Obama tells Detroit: Inflation hurts, but only one party will fix it

Former President Barack Obama acknowledged the pain of inflation in a Saturday speech in Detroit aimed at energizing Democrats ahead of the Nov. 8 general election, but said Republicans have no solutions that will improve the lives of working people.

"Who will fight for you? Who is on your side?" Obama asked an estimated 3,000 supporters in a gymnasium at Renaissance High School in northwest Detroit. "Democrats have actual plans."

Obama said inflation is a global problem and "a legacy of the pandemic that wreaked havoc on supply chains," while the war in Ukraine has helped drive up gas prices.

"Who's going to do something about it?" he asked.

Republican politicians, he said, are obsessed with "owning the libs" and "getting Donald Trump's approval," while Democrats have pushed through a major infrastructure bill, reduced the cost of prescription drugs and protected health care.

Republicans say some of those same spending measures have fueled inflation.

Obama hit on the abortion issue, which is a major area of disagreement between Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who favors abortion rights, and Republican challenger Tudor Dixon, who favors an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the pregnant person. Dixon says the only abortion exception she condones is one to save the life of the pregnant person.

"We should all agree women everywhere should be able to control what happens with their own bodies," Obama said.

And he said democracy is on the ballot, because of the large number of candidates who don't accept the outcome of the 2020 presidential election who are running for key offices in Michigan and elsewhere.

"We've all seen what happens when you give up on democracy," Obama said. "You can see it in other countries."

Obama's 50-minute Detroit speech, twice interrupted by hecklers who were escorted from the gym, was part of a late campaign swing by Obama that included a Friday night rally in Atlanta and a Saturday event in Milwaukee, following the Detroit event.

Elected the first Black president of the United States in 2008, Obama has been out of office since 2017 but remains hugely popular among Democrats in Detroit and across the country.

Detroit Fire Marshal Donald Thomas, who was at the event, told the Free Press he limited capacity to about 3,000 people in the high school gym.

Turnout among Black voters is a concern in the midterm elections among Democrats, who can usually count on strong support from Black residents in large cities such as Detroit to significantly improve their statewide vote totals.

Polls have shown a tightening race between Whitmer and Dixon, a businesswoman from Norton Shores. Dixon was making campaign stops Saturday in Detroit, Southfield and Harrison Township, and on Sunday in Rochester Hills, Troy, Livonia and Dearborn. Dixon was to be joined both days by Tulsi Gabbard, a former congresswoman from Hawaii who was a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020 but now describes herself as an Independent.

"We have always known this would be a close election and there is too much at stake to take anything for granted," said Whitmer, who joined Obama at Saturday's Detroit event. She told the crowd her administration has made huge strides by increasing education funding to record levels and securing the future of the auto industry by attracting new manufacturing plants related to electric vehicles.

"All that hard-fought progress is at stake," said Whitmer, who was joined at the rally by Attorney General Dana Nessel, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and other Democratic officials and candidates.

As of Thursday, about 15% of Detroit's registered voters had received absentee ballots and about 8% had returned one, based on data from the clerk's office. By comparison, about 22% of voters statewide had received absentee ballots and about 9% had returned them, based on the most recent available state data, from Wednesday. That means absentee ballot energy in Detroit is on the low side, relative to the rest of Michigan.

More:Tudor Dixon improves fundraising but remains vastly outspent by Gov. Whitmer

More:Tudor Dixon featured at fundraiser hosted by Trump official who made racist comments

Though former President Donald Trump and many Republican activists have made Detroit a focal point of their unsupported claims of widespread voter fraud, turnout in Detroit generally lags statewide turnout. In 2020, about 51% of the city's registered voters cast ballots, compared with nearly 70% statewide. In 2018, the last election for governor, turnout was 41% in Detroit and 58% statewide.

In addition to concerns about turnout, there are signs that the level of Democratic support among Black voters may be slipping.

A poll published Thursday by USA Today found that across the U.S., 21% of Black voters said they would back the Republican on a generic ballot that identifies political parties but not specific candidates. By comparison, Trump received about 12% of the Black vote nationally in the 2020 presidential election, according to network exit polls.

But Esther Bargaineer, a Detroit resident who was among those waiting in line Saturday morning to see Obama, said she has already voted absentee and feels good about voter energy and the election.

"The biggest issue is Proposal 3," which would enshrine abortion rights in the Michigan Constitution, said Bargaineer, who owns a Detroit clothing boutique and said she last saw Obama in person the first time he ran for president, in 2008.

"I feel great," she said. "I've already signed up so I can be working the polls."

Greg Bowens, a political and communications consultant who was press secretary to former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, said he senses relatively low voter energy in Detroit. Obama's visit could have a significant effect, particularly if he can make some impromptu appearances around the city, beyond a speech at a tightly controlled venue where most of the tickets will be issued to Democrats who are already active party stalwarts.

"The presidency is over but the man remains," Bowens said. If Obama is able "to touch the people, it will have an amazing impact." If he is "ensconced in a bubble, well, it might as well just be another YouTube video people will scroll by on their phones."

But officials with the Whitmer campaign said they were not aware of any planned Obama appearances outside of the high school, citing the former president's tight travel schedule.

Gustavo Portela, a spokesman for the Michigan Republican Party, described Saturday's rally as "elitist" in a news release. "Whitmer's sinking ship is on its way down due to her own failures and not even a last-ditch effort by Barack Obama can save her," he said.

Bowens said Black voters are often taken for granted by Democrats and also unfairly scapegoated when the party does not do well in an election.

"You've got to engage people where they are," he said. The Obama visit is good, as was Whitmer kicking off her recent campaign bus tour in Detroit, but "there has to be more."

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Obama to Detroit: Inflation hurts, but only one party will fix it