Senatorial candidate Ruben Gallego and former President Barack Obama visit The University of Arizona on October 18 in Tucson, Arizona.
By Emmanuel Rodriguez
Former President Obama rallied Arizona voters on Friday, Oct. 18 at The University of Arizona. Crowds gathered to listen to the 44th president and hear his support for the Harris-Walz ticket and his heavy criticism of former President Donald Trump. The event featured speeches and remarks from notable Arizona leaders like Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Verlon Jose, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, Ariz. Democratic Party Chairwoman Yolanda Bejarano, Congressional candidate Kirsten Engel, Senator Mark Kelly, Former U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords, Governor Katie Hobbs and Senatorial candidate Ruben Gallego.
Voters at the rally expressed what they had to say about Trump, issues important to them, and what they felt Arizona needs most. When asked about Trump leading in Arizona, according to a recent New York Times poll, Susan Calderon, a lifelong Democrat and military veteran, eagerly expressed her dissatisfaction with the 45th president as well as criticized JD Vance. “I don’t understand, I cannot tell you why any intelligent person would vote for Trump. Especially his vice president, to say something like ‘Oh yeah, [Hatian Immigrants] are eating the dogs’. I feel bad for those poor people, they are being attacked because this man thinks it is okay for him to spread lies,” Calderon said. She was referring to Trump making allegations that Haitian immigrants were eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio.
Hobbs rallied for voters to vote blue up and down the ballot, citing Proposition 139, which would restore reproductive rights in Arizona. She also spoke on the rhetoric spread by Trump and her former opponent, Kari Lake, claiming that the election was stolen. Hobbs reflected on her time as Secretary of State during the 2020 election while these claims were being made. “In 2020, as your Secretary of State in the face of threats to myself and my family, I stood up to his big lie to defend the will of Arizona’s voters,” Hobbs said. Also mentioning how important it is to vote, she referenced winning the gubernatorial election in 2022 by 17,000 votes.
Obama held a 50-minute speech criticizing Trump’s competence to lead the nation, quoting the Republican candidate’s “concept of a plan”. The former president criticized Trump’s plan for a tax cut saying, “He wants the middle class to pay the price for a tax cut that benefits [Trump].” Obama rallied voters by saying, “Together we have a chance to choose a new generation of leadership for this country, to start building a better, stronger, fairer, and more hopeful America.” He reminded Arizonans in attendance to vote by mail or to vote on Election Day. Obama also praised Harris and Walz’s political record, citing Harris’ time as attorney general and district attorney in California.
Tim Burgess, a software administrator and registered Republican who plans on voting for Harris this November, expressed what made him shift his vote from red to blue. He said, “I have just watched the party kind of go off on a tangent if not go off the rails, and the party I have supported for a long time is not the party that it is now.” Burgess, who mentioned he campaigned against Trump in 2020 said, “You don’t elect a president based on what is happening now or problems we have had in the past. It is what comes next, what is going to happen next. We need a president that can react well and make decisions, so that’s where early on I decided to support Vice President Harris when she became the nominee and I am very comfortable with that.”
Obama’s rally in support of the Harris-Walz ticket served as a reminder to vote early if possible or to vote in person, and most importantly served as a wake-up call as to what Arizonans have to lose if they don’t vote. On the ballot this November lies the future of American democracy, the future of reproductive rights, and the future of the 48th state in the Union.