Former President Barack Obama is headed to Atlanta on Friday to campaign with Georgia's Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Stacey Abrams, in a move that came a day after President Donald Trump rolled out plans to stump for the state's Republican candidate, Brian Kemp.
Obama has been on a campaign blitz this month to boost Democratic candidates in competitive areas, and state Democrats announced Monday he would appear at 5 p.m. at Forbes Arena at Morehouse College on Friday.
Trump is set to visit Macon on Sunday with Kemp as part of a nationwide string of campaign rallies before the Nov. 6 election. And Vice President Pence will rally with Kemp at a trio of campaign stops on Thursday.
Trump endorsed Kemp days before the July GOP runoff, helping to turbocharge his victory over Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. After she locked up her party’s nomination, Obama backed Abrams.
While both candidates were resistant to making the race for governor about national politicians loathed by their opponent's base, that's all over now.
Both are crisscrossing the state with one goal in mind: Motivating their core supporters rather than persuading the few remaining undecided voters.
"This is a base turnout election," Kemp said of Trump's pending visit. "And he's definitely someone the base is excited about, including me."
State Democrats hope to sign up droves of new supporters at the Obama event. The party said tickets will be available on Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at kiosks where staffers will also court new volunteers. The details are here.
Kemp used the opportunity to rib Abrams over a gaffe she made on national TV two weeks ago in which she mentioned the name of a county that doesn’t exist.
"I just heard they changed the location of Obama's visit to Georgia," he said. "He'll be visiting Glasgow County.
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