Obama at a rally for Senator Jon Ossoff and Governor Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia this week. Photograph: Robin Rayne/Zuma/Shutterstock

It could have been an uncomfortable moment. While campaigning in Michigan for Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, Barack Obama openly acknowledged that his fellow Democrat had disagreed with decisions made during his presidency.

Rather than avoid the subject, Obama turned to humor.

He joked that El-Sayed was hardly the only person who questioned his decisions. His wife, Michelle Obama, did so regularly, he told supporters at a Detroit rally, drawing laughter from the audience.

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The exchange illustrated Obama’s effort to connect two generations of Democrats at a time when frustration with political establishments has become a defining feature of the midterm elections. Some candidates have deliberately distanced themselves from party leadership, presenting themselves as alternatives to Washington’s traditional political class.

That raises an obvious question: why would Democrats turn to a 65-year-old former president who left office nearly a decade ago, with many of his promises of hope and change still unfulfilled?

The answer appears to be that Obama remains one of the party’s most effective political figures.

Barack Obama with Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit last Saturday. Photograph: Dominick Sokotoff/Shutterstock

At a rally in suburban Atlanta, Georgia, supporters revived the familiar “Yes, we can!” chant that helped propel his historic 2008 presidential campaign.

With the midterm elections approaching and control of Congress at stake for the remainder of Donald Trump’s second term, Democrats have enlisted Obama to energize voters through a series of forceful closing campaign appearances.

The country’s first Black president has used those appearances to ridicule Trump’s authoritarian tendencies and criticize his administration’s foreign policy decisions, particularly in the Middle East.

In Georgia, Obama described the election as a critical opportunity to place limits on the Trump administration and restore a measure of accountability in Washington.

For Democratic strategists, Obama’s late arrival on the campaign trail reflects a deliberate calculation.

While Trump has spent weeks addressing Republican audiences at rallies dominated by grievances, Obama largely remained outside the spotlight until the final stages of the campaign. That approach allowed emerging Democratic candidates to establish their own political identities before benefiting from his popularity.

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David Litt, a former speechwriter in Obama’s White House, believes the strategy gives younger Democratic leaders room to develop while drawing on the former president’s credibility and ability to mobilize voters.

Litt argues that Obama’s influence is particularly valuable in competitive races where turnout among younger Americans and Black voters could determine the outcome.

His political strength also lies in something increasingly difficult to secure: public attention.

According to Litt, Obama remains remarkably effective at capturing headlines and provoking reactions from Trump.

Obama campaigns with Ohio Democrats in Cleveland last week. Photograph: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

One example came during a rally in Cleveland, Ohio, when Obama mocked the president’s lavish White House renovations, comparing their gold-heavy appearance to the kind of establishment Saddam Hussein might have created if he had opened a Cheesecake Factory.

The joke quickly became a controversy across conservative media.

Rather than focusing on Obama’s reference to the former Iraqi dictator, critics concentrated on what they interpreted as an insult toward the popular restaurant chain and its customers.

Trump responded by accusing Obama of elitism, defending his White House decorations and claiming that the executive mansion had been left in poor condition by his predecessor.

He even mocked Obama’s supposed preferences for carefully selected food, using lettuce as an example.

Treasury secretary Scott Bessent joined the dispute, appearing outside a Cheesecake Factory in Washington and ordering a french-dip cheeseburger. The wealthy former hedge fund manager encouraged wealthy liberal circles associated with Martha’s Vineyard to visit the restaurant and explore its extensive menu.

Obama seized on the reaction during his Atlanta appearance, arguing that the administration had devoted extraordinary attention to a joke while failing to address serious economic concerns such as inflation.

Litt viewed the Republican response as evidence of a contradiction within a political movement that has long defended the right to use provocative or offensive language.

He noted the irony of conservatives who once criticized restrictions on speech suddenly treating a joke about a restaurant chain as unacceptable.

Corbin Trent, a political media strategist who previously served as communications director for Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, similarly rejected Republican attempts to characterize Obama’s comments as an attack on ordinary Americans.

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Speaking from rural East Tennessee, Trent argued that voters were more concerned about the cost of groceries, gasoline, government accountability and military operations abroad than about perceived insults to a restaurant.

For Trent, Trump’s presentation of himself as an outsider clashes with what he sees as an administration increasingly focused on personal enrichment and lacking meaningful accountability.

Obama is not the only prominent Democrat campaigning ahead of the elections.

Former vice president Kamala Harris has also participated in the party’s midterm efforts, while former president Bill Clinton appeared alongside David Jolly, the Democratic candidate for governor of Florida.

Nevertheless, Obama has maintained an unusually active role in presidential, congressional and gubernatorial campaigns since leaving office.

During the 2024 presidential election, he campaigned for Harris in the closing stages of a race that Trump ultimately won.

Obama with Jon Ossoff. Photograph: Edgar Su/Reuters

When Obama inaugurated his presidential center in Chicago in June, every living former president attended except Trump.

Despite his enduring popularity, Obama’s relationship with the Democratic Party’s progressive wing remains complicated.

Younger activists shaped by Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaigns and the growth of the Democratic Socialists of America remember his presidency not only for its inspirational messaging but also for its compromises and limitations.

Norman Solomon, a co-founder of the progressive organization RootsAction, compared Obama’s political legacy to a painting that becomes less impressive when examined closely.

Solomon pointed to Obama’s record on Palestine, the expansion of American troop deployments in Afghanistan, and economic policies he believes contributed to a substantial transfer of wealth toward the richest Americans.

He also criticized Obama’s post-presidential vacation on private islands owned by billionaire Richard Branson in 2017, arguing that such experiences reflected a distance from the principles of economic solidarity.

Even so, Solomon acknowledged that Obama’s presence could be politically valuable in the circumstances facing Democrats in 2026.

He particularly highlighted Michigan, where tensions between African American and Arab American communities have created political challenges. Obama’s involvement, he suggested, could help communicate the broader stakes of the election.

Other progressive leaders see the former president’s return as a sign of their movement’s growing influence rather than a retreat toward establishment politics.

Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, the organization that emerged from Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, described Obama’s participation as strategically beneficial.

He believes Obama can mobilize important voting groups, particularly African American communities, while demonstrating how progressive ideas have gained acceptance within the Democratic mainstream.

For Geevarghese, the symbolism is significant: a former president closely associated with the party establishment is now campaigning enthusiastically for candidates whose politics challenge some of its traditional positions.

He also emphasized Obama’s ability to defend candidates facing attacks rooted in prejudice.

During his own political rise, Obama encountered attempts to portray him as foreign or insufficiently American, including attacks that emphasized his middle name, Hussein.

Geevarghese argued that Obama’s support for El-Sayed, who has faced similar rhetoric in Michigan, could strengthen the candidate’s standing and help counter efforts to marginalize him.

Obama meets Democratic supporters in Georgia. Photograph: Erik S Lesser/AFP/Getty Images

The progressive movement’s expansion provides another important backdrop.

Since 2016, the Democratic Socialists of America has grown from approximately 6,000 members to more than 130,000 nationwide. Its political successes include Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory in New York, alongside efforts to increase its representation in Congress.

Ashik Siddique, the organization’s co-chair, interpreted Obama’s appearances alongside progressive candidates as recognition of a changing political environment.

He argued that voters increasingly want practical alternatives to the political and economic conditions that contributed to Trump’s rise.

In Siddique’s view, Obama’s decision to campaign for figures such as El-Sayed demonstrates an awareness of where Democratic voters are moving.

Still, Obama’s position within American politics remains difficult to define.

Like Trump, he possesses an unusual political identity that does not fit neatly into conventional categories. That distinctiveness continues to work in his favor.

Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator and prominent progressive activist, believes Obama’s appeal extends beyond the current backlash against political establishments.

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Although she remains critical of his presidency, including its use of drone warfare and the gap between his promises and achievements, Turner recognizes his continuing influence among Democratic voters.

She argues that Obama’s greatest political asset may be the sense of possibility he inspired during his presidential campaigns.

For many progressives, disappointment with his record has not erased the emotional connection created by his message of hope and change.

That connection, Turner believes, remains powerful across generations of Democratic voters.

And as Democrats attempt to regain control of Congress, the former president’s ability to inspire supporters, attract attention and unsettle Trump may prove more important than the unresolved arguments surrounding his legacy.

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