Obama charms roaring Tucson crowd of 7,000 for Harris

Cesar Escobedo knows prices are rising — the 61-year-old works in a Safeway in Bisbee. He’s seen the cost of a flank steak go from $2.99 to $5.99.

As a union member now, with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, and as a labor organizer when he worked at a factory in Agua Prieta, Sonora, he plans to vote Democratic because he wants a pro-labor candidate in the White House.

“Kamala is the best decision for the United States, for all the workers,” said Escobedo. He worries about his job, but also about the cost of rent and the future for his special needs son. “I like union work.”

Escobedo was one of 7,000 people who came to see former President Barack Obama speak at a rally at the University of Arizona Cole and Jeannie Davis Sports Center on Friday afternoon, one part of a blitz of national Democratic figures visiting swing states with less than three weeks until Election Day.

Obama, speaking to a pumped-up crowd that roared when he walked on the stage, was relaxed as he looked around the stadium, starting his speech off with a nod to the University of Arizona’s football team on the day before homecoming. “Don’t bet against the Wildcats tomorrow,” he warned.

The former president mentioned economics early in his speech, noting that the disruptions of the pandemic were hurting working people. “We know this election is going to be tight, and it’s going to be tight because a lot of Americans are struggling right now,” he said.

Obama also said he wanted to make sure to take credit where it was due: the positive economic experience people may have had under former President Donald Trump was Obama’s leftover strong economy. “I had spent the previous eight years cleaning up the mess that Republicans had left me,” he said.

He spent a significant portion of his speech on Trump, by turns joking and warning of the risks of returning the former president to the White House, even as he showed a nod of sympathy for what might push people to vote for him.

“He called himself the father of IVF. I do not know what that means, and you do not either,” he said. “You’d be worried if your grandfather was talking like this.”

Still, Obama said he understood people’s need for change.

“I understand why people are looking to shake things up. I understand why folks are sometimes frustrated with politics. I’m frustrated with politics!” he said, laughing wryly. “What I cannot understand is why anyone would think Donald Trump would shake things up in a way that is good for you.”

Perched on a white chair on-stage throughout Obama’s speech was Ruben Gallego, a Democratic House member running for Kyrsten Sinema’s U.S. Senate seat against Kari Lake. For Harris to see her agenda through, she needs Democratic members of Congress, said Obama. “She needs a Senate full of public servants like Ruben Gallego,” he said.

Along with Gallego, the speakers list at Friday’s event was a who’s who of Tucson and Arizona Democrats: Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, Gov. Katie Hobbs, Sen. Mark Kelly and former Rep. Gabby Giffords. Verlon Jose, chairman of the Tohono O’odham Nation, was the opening speaker of the rally.

Together, their primary message was the importance of Arizona in the presidential race, and that with early voting ballots out, the election is already underway.

Hobbs noted that she won the election against Lake in 2022 by just 17,000 votes.

“When you think you can’t knock another door or make another phone call, I want you to remember 17,000 votes,” said Hobbs. “Grab another walk packet, sign up for another shift, and bring this race home.”

An appreciated president

Obama spoke about his legacy, and that was the reason some supporters had come out to the rally.

Parco Richardson, 36, and his fiance had driven from Phoenix to see Obama. Last time they tried to see him outside a school in Phoenix in 2020, they were two people before the building was at maximum capacity.

As a former Marine who served for eight years under both George W. Bush and Obama, Richardson wants to vote for a president who would have a measured foreign policy.

“I really do think we need a person who has their head on strong and not, you know, ready to start international incidents,” said Richardson, who now works as a film producer.

Tim Burgess, 62, had come from Green Valley. He considers Obama one of the top two orators he had ever heard, the other being Ronald Reagan. “Much different,” he said, “but I like his casual way of delivering his thoughts and sharing his message. I think he did a really wonderful job because it can’t be easy.”

Burgess had been a long-time Republican voter, back to his college days, but voted for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson in 2016. When Trump was elected and gave a tax break skewed to the rich in 2017, Burgess saw his taxes go up.

“The party has grown away from its core principles and now it’s a personality cult, to me,” said Burgess, who already voted this year, and voted Democrat down the ballot. “When Ms. Harris announced, I decided to get involved, so I’ve been knocking on doors and talking to my neighbors.”

For Ben Dupont, 20, going to the Obama rally was the start of some of his political activism, but it was also a place of some hope. Dupont wanted to make sure the world ahead would give people he loved freedom to make their own choices, in their gender identity or in their healthcare choices. Under a Trump presidency, he didn’t feel that would be assured, he said.

“This has always been my home,” said Dupoint. “I want the people that I’ve learned to love and that I’ve grown to know to stay here too, and I’ve got a lot of people that, maybe I wouldn’t specifically be targeted, but people I love would be targeted.”
Election Day is Nov. 5. Find voting resources and guides here .

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