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Nov. 20, 2018 / 4:18 PM GMT

By Allan Smith

Former President Barack Obama said "racism" and "mommy issues," among other contributors, were limiting the country's ability to make progress on everything from education to climate change.

Obama, speaking at the Obama Foundation Summit on Monday night, said the answers already exist to solve many of the problems facing both the U.S. and the world, but that the nation was not making progress "because we are still confused, blind, shrouded with hate, anger, racism, mommy issues."

The crowd laughed following Obama's remark, which came as he was explaining why he thought less was being done to combat climate change.

We are fraught with stuff, and so if that is the case, then the single most important thing we have to invest in is ... people, Obama continued. We have got to get people to figure out how they work together in a cooperative, thoughtful, constructive way.

The former president said people "literally can remake the world right now," which "badly needs remaking."

Obama did not reference President Donald Trump by name in his remarks. In the lead-up to the midterm elections, Obama in a rare move from a former president campaigned forcefully against Trump and the Republican Party, though he has mostly refrained from mentioning Trump's name.

Trump, who led the birther conspiracy crusade against Obama when he was in office, has continued to use Obama as a foil while occupying the Oval Office.

Allan Smith is a political reporter for NBC News.

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Obama says 'racism,' 'mommy issues' are contributing to ...

Barack Obama, in full Barack Hussein Obama II, (born August 4, 1961, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.), 44th president of the United States (200917) and the first African American to hold the office. Before winning the presidency, Obama represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate (200508). He was the third African American to be elected to that body since the end of Reconstruction (1877). In 2009 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.

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United States: The Barack Obama administration

The crisis worked against McCain, whom many voters associated with the unpopular policies of the administration, and worked for the highly charismatic Obama, whose campaign from its outset had been based on the theme of sweeping political change. Obama defeated McCain, becoming

Obamas father, Barack Obama, Sr., was a teenage goatherd in rural Kenya, won a scholarship to study in the United States, and eventually became a senior economist in the Kenyan government. Obamas mother, S. Ann Dunham, grew up in Kansas, Texas, and Washington state before her family settled in Honolulu. In 1960 she and Barack Sr. met in a Russian language class at the University of Hawaii and married less than a year later.

When Obama was age two, Barack Sr. left to study at Harvard University; shortly thereafter, in 1964, Ann and Barack Sr. divorced. (Obama saw his father only one more time, during a brief visit when Obama was 10.) Later Ann remarried, this time to another foreign student, Lolo Soetoro from Indonesia, with whom she had a second child, Maya. Obama lived for several years in Jakarta with his half sister, mother, and stepfather. While there, Obama attended both a government-run school where he received some instruction in Islam and a Catholic private school where he took part in Christian schooling.

He returned to Hawaii in 1971 and lived in a modest apartment, sometimes with his grandparents and sometimes with his mother (she remained for a time in Indonesia, returned to Hawaii, and then went abroad againpartly to pursue work on a Ph.D.before divorcing Soetoro in 1980). For a brief period his mother was aided by government food stamps, but the family mostly lived a middle-class existence. In 1979 Obama graduated from Punahou School, an elite college preparatory academy in Honolulu.

Obama attended Occidental College in suburban Los Angeles for two years and then transferred to Columbia University in New York City, where in 1983 he received a bachelors degree in political science. Influenced by professors who pushed him to take his studies more seriously, Obama experienced great intellectual growth during college and for a couple of years thereafter. He led a rather ascetic life and read works of literature and philosophy by William Shakespeare, Friedrich Nietzsche, Toni Morrison, and others. After serving for a couple of years as a writer and editor for Business International Corp., a research, publishing, and consulting firm in Manhattan, he took a position in 1985 as a community organizer on Chicagos largely impoverished Far South Side. He returned to school three years later and graduated magna cum laude in 1991 from Harvard Universitys law school, where he was the first African American to serve as president of the Harvard Law Review. While a summer associate in 1989 at the Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin, Obama had met Chicago native Michelle Robinson, a young lawyer at the firm. The two married in 1992.

After receiving his law degree, Obama moved to Chicago and became active in the Democratic Party. He organized Project Vote, a drive that registered tens of thousands of African Americans on voting rolls and that is credited with helping Democrat Bill Clinton win Illinois and capture the presidency in 1992. The effort also helped make Carol Moseley Braun, an Illinois state legislator, the first African American woman elected to the U.S. Senate. During this period, Obama wrote his first book and saw it published. The memoir, Dreams from My Father (1995), is the story of Obamas search for his biracial identity by tracing the lives of his now-deceased father and his extended family in Kenya. Obama lectured on constitutional law at the University of Chicago and worked as an attorney on civil rights issues.

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Barack Obama | Biography, Presidency, & Facts | Britannica.com

MILWAUKEE Former President Barack Obama criticized what he called Republican hypocrisy on Friday during a rally with Democrats in Wisconsin, claiming that conservatives have shown themselves not to be trusted on issues ranging from health care to national security and the deficit.

Mr. Obamas impassioned plea came just 11 days before Novembers midterm elections, in a state where Democrats are hoping to hold a Senate seat, make gains in Republican-held House districts and defeat the Republican governor, Scott Walker.

He also defended Hillary Clinton, the failed 2016 Democratic nominee for president who was dogged by allegations that she had mishandled classified information on a personal email server.

If Republicans cared about Mrs. Clintons emails, Mr. Obama said, theyd be up in arms right now as the Chinese are listening to the presidents iPhone that he leaves in his golf cart.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that President Trump has continued to use his cellphone despite warnings from aides that his calls are not secure from foreign spies. (Mr. Trump dismissed the report on Thursday.)

Throughout human history, certainly throughout American history, politicians have exaggerated, Mr. Obama said. But what we have not seen before in our recent public life is politicians just blatantly, repeatedly, baldly, shamelessly lying. Making stuff up.

In Washington they have racked up enough indictments to field a football team, he said. Nobody in my administration got indicted. So, how is it that they cleaned things up?

Mr. Obama also took specific issue with recent Republican advertisements about health care which claim the party will protect those with pre-existing conditions. The former president reminded the audience of thousands that Republicans have tried several times to repeal his signature health care law which codified those protections.

Dont be hoodwinked, Mr. Obama said. Dont be bamboozled. Wisconsin, dont fall for that.

[Read more about the political crossroads Wisconsin is facing this election.]

The rally was held at a north-side high school in Milwaukee, and lines stretched for blocks to enter the gym on the balmy Wisconsin day.

Democrats in the state, which voted for Mr. Obama twice but flipped to Mr. Trump in the 2016 election, have said this election is a chance to wrest local leadership roles from Republican control.

Mr. Obama also had a rally with Michigan Democrats scheduled for later Friday afternoon.

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Obama, Rallying in Wisconsin, Warns Democrats: Dont Be ...

Former President Barack Obama says Governor Scott Walker and other Republicans are lying when the say they support people with pre-existing medical conditions. Bill Schulz, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Former President Barack Obama speaks at a rally for Democratic candidates up and down the ticket with Sen. Tammy Baldwin (center) and gubernatorial candidate Tony Evers on Friday, Oct. 26, 2018, at North Division High School in Milwaukee.(Photo: Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Former President Barack Obama, a campaign closer for Democrats, brought the political heat to Milwaukees North Division High School Friday.

Imploring Democrats to vote in the Nov. 6 election and excoriating Republicans for policies that he said favor the rich, Obama gave a stout defense of his eight years in office and took plenty of shots at Republicans who have controlled all levers of power in Washington over the last two years.

In his most animated speech on the campaign trail this year, heaccused Gov. Scott Walker and other Republicans oflying about their health care record and their claims that they'll support protections for those who have pre-existing medical conditions.

Obama said there has always been spin in politics, but"what we have not seen before in our recent public life is politicians just blatantly, repeatedly, baldly, shamelessly lying, making stuff up. Calling up down, calling black white."

Obama said of Walker's recent ad defending his record on pre-existing conditions:Your governor has been running an ad during election time saying he is going to protect pre-existing conditions when he is literally doing the opposite. That is some kind of gall. That is some kind of chutzpah. But lets also call it what it is. It is a lie.

Walker responded in a tweet that PolitiFact gave Obama a national lie of the year for saying,If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.

"It takes some kind of gall for him to come into Wisconsin and lie again about health care and about pre-existing conditions," said Walker, who promised to call a special session of the Legislature to deal with pre-existing conditions should Obamacarebe killed by the courts.

Obama said Republicans have cut taxes for the rich and corporations, stripped environmental rules and ran up the deficit just like they did last time.

He chargedRepublicans withpurging voter rolls to keep people from voting and trying to scare everyone else with whatever divisive social issues they can come up with, just like the last time.

They promised to take on corruption they have gone to Washington and just plundered away, he said. In Washington they have racked up enough indictments to field a football team. Nobody in my administration got indicted.

Spectators listen to former President Barack Obama speak at a rally for Democratic candidates.(Photo: Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Obamaheadlined a rally for the entire state Democratic ticket, including state schools SuperintendentTony Evers, who is running for governor against Walker, and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who faces Republican Leah Vukmir. At several points, Obama mispronounced Evers' name, whichrhymes with weavers, not endeavors.

It was nearly four years to the day of Obama's last rally at North Division when he came to Milwaukee to rev up support for a candidate for governor.

Obama couldn't get Mary Burke across the finish line first in 2014, as she lost to Walker.

On Friday, there were 3,500 people in the gymnasium and another 600 in an overflow room, according to a Milwaukee Fire Department official.

Former President Barack Obama talks about the good things going on in Wisconsin including "Giannis ballin'" Bill Schulz, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Obama was alsojoined by U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, who attended North Division,congressional candidates Randy Bryce and Dan Kohl, and other officials and candidates.

The visit came in the wake of the discovery of more than a dozen suspicious packages sent to Obama and others through the mail. The packages contained pipe bombs.

A bombing suspect was arrested and identified as Cesar SayocJr.

Obama made no mention of the incident.

Obama arrivedtwo days after President Donald Trump rallied thousands of Republicans at an airport in Mosinee, south of Wausau. Former Vice President Joe Biden will attend Democratic events Tuesday in Madison and Milwaukee.

Obama did not mention Trump's name, but said: "I'm hoping you think it's wrong to hear people spend years, months, vilifying people, questioning their patriotism, calling them enemies of the people, and then suddenly you're concerned about civility. Please."

First District congressional candidate Randy Bryce (right) shares a smile with lieutenant governor candidate Mandela Barnes.(Photo: Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Democrats are hoping that Obama's visit will boost turnout in Milwaukee during the midterm elections.

Turnout in Milwaukee dropped sharply from 2012, when Obama was on the ballot, to 2016, when Hillary Clinton lost to Trump.

Evers told the crowd:Were going to win this thing. Were fired up and were going to take back Wisconsin because it is time for a change."

Evers said Walker has waged war on working people and put special interests and his donors ahead of the people of Wisconsin. He addedWalker has been against women, and has done everything he could to gut the Affordable Care Act and the pre-existing conditions that exist for 2.4 million people in Wisconsin.

Baldwin said she recalled that as a member of the House she had an opportunity to be at the White House when Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law.

I felt that a lot of work that I had engaged in for many, many years was being seen through, Baldwin said, detailing her story of being a child with a pre-existing health condition.

In that grand room in the White House as the president signed that law, I realized we had crossed an incredibly important milestone. That protection (on pre-existing conditions) was now in that law, she said.

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Baldwin criticized "special interest" funded adsthat began running against her last year, and said she was "going to wear this like a badge of courage."

"I don't work for them," she said. "I work for you."

Without mentioning Vukmir by name, Obama said that if she were elected, she would be a deciding vote on gutting protections on pre-existing conditions. Vukmir has said she supports such protections.

Vukmir tweeted that Obama "lied to you when he said 'if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.'He's lying again now ... and he won't even acknowledge that (Baldwin, who supports Medicare-for-all), wants to boot 3.4 MILLION Wisconsinites off employer insurance and destroy Medicare."

Baldwin has denied Vukmir's accusations.

The latest Marquette University Law School Poll showed Walker and Evers in a virtual tie while Baldwin held a 10-point lead over Vukmir.

"I find it very interesting that Tammy Baldwin feels the need to bring Barack Obama if she is so confident about her lead," Vukmir told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Meanwhile, we had President Trump here in the central part of the state, Mosinee. He flew Air Force Two right in the middle of our state, didn't go to one of the big cities. Wants to meet with the people, middle class, hard-working folks of our state."

"That's what the message of my campaign is all about. Tammy Baldwin has really lost touch with that," Vukmir added.

A Milwaukee voter, Jerry Harris, said: "I feel a sense of urgency" about the election.

"We got kind of kicked in the head" during the last two years, he said, adding that race relations and gender issues had taken a step backward with Trump in the White House.

He made me want to vote but Im too young, said 15-year-old A.J. Petty, a student at Milwaukee Collegiate Academy.

Caitlyn McGeary, a 19-year-old Cudahy resident, said it was "really amazing" to be at the school for Obama's speech.

McGeary said she was excited to vote for the first time, and plans to vote for everyone who joined Obama onstage.

"Vote," she said after his speech. "Everybody vote."

The rally began with speeches from a slew of Democratic candidates.

Josh Kaul,running for attorney general against Republican incumbent Brad Schimel, said new leadership is needed to fighting crime and getting justice for Wisconsinites.

Mandela Barnes, running for lieutenant governor, told the crowd, We have 11 days to go before we send Scott Walker packing.

Barnes said an Evers-Barnes administration will "prioritize education over incarceration."

He urged the crowd to "vote like you want Barack Obama to be president again."

Moore saidWisconsin is going to "repeal and replace" Walker. She led a rendition of a song she called "The Scott Kevin Walker Blues."

RELATED: GOP's fate in Wisconsin this fall is tied to the widening gender gap over Trump

RELATED: Wisconsin U.S. Senate race: Leah Vukmir, Tammy Baldwin open final stretch of campaignin

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Barack Obama goes after Donald Trump in Milwaukee speech

ANAHEIM, Calif. Former President Barack Obama said Saturday that November midterm elections would give Americans "a chance to restore some sanity in our politics," taking another swipe at his successor as he raises his profile campaigning for fellow Democrats to regain control of the House.

Obama didn't mention President Donald Trump by name during a 20-minute speech in the key Southern California battleground of Orange County but the allusions were clear.

"We're in a challenging moment because, when you look at the arc of American history, there's always been a push and pull between those who want to go forward and those who want to look back, between those who want to divide and those are seeking to bring people together, between those who promote the politics of hope and those who exploit the politics of fear," he said.

His appearance one day after a strongly worded critique of Trump at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign touched on themes of retirement security, climate change and education.

"If we don't step up, things can get worse," the former president told the audience at the Anaheim Convention Center. "In two months, we have the chance to restore some sanity to our politics. We have the chance to flip the House of Representatives and make sure there are real checks and balances in Washington."

Former President Barack Obama speaks as he campaigns in support of California congressional candidates, Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

Obama gave shout-outs to seven Democratic candidates in competitive House districts across California that are considered crucial to the party's efforts to oust Republicans from control. Four of those districts are at least partly in Orange County, a formerly reliable GOP bastion that went for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

"We're going to put on our marching shoes, we're going to start knocking on some doors, we're going to start making some calls," he said to cheers.

Clinton trounced Trump by more than 4 million votes in California in 2016 and carried Orange County by 9 percentage points. A surge in immigrants has transformed California and its voting patterns. The number of Hispanics, blacks and Asians combined has outnumbered whites in the state since 1998. Meanwhile, new voters, largely Latinos and Asians, lean Democratic.

In Orange County, Republicans held a 13-point edge in voter registration 10 years ago but that has shrunk to 3 points while independents, who tend to vote like Democrats in California, have climbed to 25 percent.

Democrats, hoping to build on their 39-14 advantage in the state's congressional delegation, are eyeing Republican seats in districts that Clinton won in 2016. Each of the seven candidates that Obama campaigned for on Saturday fit that description.

In Orange County, GOP Rep. Mimi Walters faces a challenge from Katie Porter, a law professor at University of California at Irvine. Environmental lawyer Mike Levin is seeking an open seat to replace retiring GOP Rep. Darrell Issa in a district that includes part of Orange County.

Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, whose district encompasses part of Orange County, is fending off a challenge from Democratic real estate investor Harley Rouda to secure a 16th term in Congress despite barely winning 30 percent of the primary vote. In the other Orange County race, Gil Cisneros, a Democratic philanthropist and Navy veteran, is vying for an open seat created by retiring Republican Ed Royce.

Obama also highlighted two races in the state's Central Valley, praising venture capitalist Josh Harder in his bid to unseat four-term Republican Jeff Denham, and T.J. Cox, who is challenging David Valadao in a district where Democrats hold a 17-point advantage in voter registration.

He also made a plug for nonprofit executive Katie Hill in her Los Angeles-area race to unseat sophomore Republican Steve Knight, who won an underwhelming 53 percent of the vote in 2016.

California Republicans said Obama's appearance would have little impact and may even help their party.

"I wish he would come more often because he reminds Republicans of eight years of misery," said Republican National Committeeman Shawn Steel, who lives in Orange County. "It reminds the Republicans why these midterms are important."

Obama is expected to deliver a similar message in Cleveland on Thursday, when he campaigns on behalf of Richard Cordray, the Democratic nominee for Ohio governor, and other Democrats.

___

Associated Press writers Tom Strong and Jeff Horwitz in Washington contributed to this report.

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Obama, on campaign swing, urges 'sanity in our politics'