Obama counters Trump ‘pessimism’

by Jordan Fabian - 07/28/16 12:05 AM ET

PHILADELPHIA — President Obama delivered a blistering rebuke of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Wednesday, making a forceful case that Hillary Clinton is the only candidate suited to serve as commander in chief.

Obama’s stirring final address to the Democratic National Convention as president reached an emotional apex at its conclusion, when Clinton joined him on stage.

{mosads}The two embraced and waved to a roaring crowd inside Wells Fargo Center, a figurative passing of the baton between the two former rivals.

In his 44-minute speech, Obama sought to deliver a body blow to Trump, who has overtaken Clinton in several polls following the Republican National Convention last week in Cleveland.

He looked to undercut Trump’s message of “make America great again” by declaring that “America is already great” and touting the country’s accomplishments under his watch.

“I promise you, our strength, our greatness, does not depend on Donald Trump,” he said. “Our power doesn’t come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order. We don’t look to be ruled.”

The president laid out an optimistic vision for a country that welcomes immigrants, comes to the aid of allies and engages the world.

He contrasted that with the Republicans’ “deeply pessimistic vision” of the country, saying “that’s not the America that I know.”

And he likened Trump, who has accused both Obama and Clinton of being weak on terrorism, to some of the greatest threats the nation has faced in its history.

“That’s why anyone who threatens our values, whether fascists or communists or jihadists or homegrown demagogues, will always fail in the end,” he said.

The president set up the election as a choice between a proven leader in Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee who has looked out for the middle-class, and an out-of-touch billionaire businessman.

“If you’re someone who’s truly concerned about paying your bills, and seeing the economy grow, and creating more opportunity for everybody, then the choice isn’t even close,” he said.

“If you’re concerned about who’s going to keep you and your family safe in a dangerous world — well, the choice is even clearer.”

Straying from his prepared remarks, the president said world leaders are puzzled about that an election between Clinton and Trump could be so close.

“People outside the United States do not understand what’s going on in this election, they really don’t,” he said.

Obama urgently set the stakes for an election that could decide the fate of his legacy.

The president desperately wants Clinton to succeed him in the White House to protect his accomplishments, including job growth, healthcare reform, the Paris climate change agreement and his nuclear deal with Iran.

If Trump wins in November, he could reverse many of Obama’s policies.

Obama lavished Clinton with praise, noting her “unbelievable work ethic” and judgement, and positioned her as a rightful heir to his legacy.

“There has never been a man or a woman — not me, not Bill [Clinton], nobody — more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as president of the United States of America,” he said.

He also pledged that Clinton would “finish the job” against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, addressing one of her biggest weaknesses against Trump.

A CNN poll showed the Democratic nominee trailing Trump by double digits among registered voters asked which is better prepared to fight terrorism.

The deep divisions that once existed between Obama and Clinton after their bruising 2008 primary race seemed like a distant memory this week in Philadelphia.

Vice President Biden — who weighed his own run against Clinton last year — and first lady Michelle Obama both gave the Democratic nominee impassioned endorsements.

The president was determined to measure up to his wife. He stayed up until 3:30 a.m. early Wednesday working on his remarks, according to an aide.

The speech was well-received inside the convention hall. Cheers of “yes we can” and “four more years” rang out from the crowd.

But Obama did not dwell on his record as president and offered only a hint of nostalgia with references to how much his hair has greyed.

Instead, he sought to look to the future.

He appealed to disaffected Republicans to get behind Clinton by saying that Trump has abandoned the optimism of the party’s icon, Ronald Reagan.

“Ronald Reagan called America ‘a shining city on a hill,’ ” Obama said. “Donald Trump calls it ‘a divided crime scene’ that only he can fix.”

He said the doom-and-gloom tone of the GOP convention in Cleveland “wasn’t particularly Republican – and it sure wasn’t conservative.”

But he also urged supporters of Clinton’s primary opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders, to get behind the nominee and put the lingering divisions between the two camps behind them.

Signs of those tensions were on display during the speech. Dozens of people held up signs protesting Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Another demonstrator held up a sign saying, “Stop Drone Attacks.”

Obama told Sanders backers that that democracy can be “frustrating” and that “supporters can grow impatient, and worry that you’re not trying hard enough; that you’ve maybe sold out.”

But he said that if they come out to vote and stay engaged, “then progress does happen.”

“We all need to be as vocal and as organized and as persistent as Bernie Sanders’ supporters have been,” he said. “We all need to get out and vote for Democrats up and down the ticket, and then hold them accountable until they get the job done.

“That’s right, feel the Bern.”