Harbaugh Beams Behind Barack Obama During Ann Arbor Campaign Stop
ANN ARBOR (CBS Detroit) With the University of Michigan's Jim Harbaugh beaming behind the podium in full Nike Michigan gear, President Barack Obama stumped for Hillary Clinton in Ann Arbor on the final day of a long, brutal election season.
Obama congratulated Harbaugh on his season so far, saying the coach is always focused on the future -- and so is Clinton, Obama said.
"I'm asking you to pull off another victory this week, we've got one more day, Michigan, one more day," Obama said, adding cheekily "I love you back," to a woman who shouted her love from the audience.
Obama added: "Tomorrow you will choose whether we continue this journey of progress or whether it all goes out the window."
Striding confidently across the stage, making jokes and reminding voters of the stakes, Obama said the Ann Arbor stop had him feeling nostalgic as it was "probably my last day of campaigning ... for awhile."
He advised voters to tune out all the noise of negative campaigning and called Clinton "the next president of the United States."
Obama sounded positive, energetic and upbeat, but he did take some shots at Donald Trump. He pointed out that over the weekend, Trump's campaign took away his access to Twitter.
"If your trusted advisers don't trust you to tweet, how can we trust him with the nuclear codes?" Obama said.
He added that Trump supported letting Michigan's auto industry go bankrupt and then shipping Michigan's auto industry jobs to non-union plants, which, he said, could have cost a million jobs and killed Michigan's economy.
"That is not somebody who is a champion for the working people," Obama said.
He added Trump doesn't even know working people, except for the people who mow his golf courses and work in his hotels.
Obama went on to call Clinton the most qualified person to run for the White House. "She's someone who has dedicated her life to making this country better," Obama said, adding she is "smart and steady."
Her daughter agreed. Chelsea Clinton spoke before Obama to rousing rounds of applause and shouted support.
"This is the most consequential election of our lifetime," Chelsea Clinton told the crowd, warming them up for Obama to loud rounds of cheers. Clinton was wearing a T-shirt that said "Make Herstory."
Talking about her 2-year-old daughter Charlotte and Aidan, 4 months, old, she said the election is "a chance to prove 'stronger together' is not just a slogan ... It is what my mother has always believed."
"Our values are on the ballot this year as are so much else," Clinton said.
Obama advised the young people in the audience to "move history in a better direction" by voting for Clinton and electing our first female president.
"After all the campaigning, all the rallies, it all just now comes down to you," he said. "The fate of our democracy depends on what you do when you step into the voting booth tomorrow."
