Obama Tells Ohio Voters 'Enough Is Enough' at Democrats' Rally

Former President Barack Obama told Ohio voters on Saturday they can end what he called a period of misrule by voting against Republican candidates in next month's midterm elections. Addressing a rally in Ohio, he said two years of governing had produced 'chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence, the likes of which we have not seen in the modern era,' and urged the crowd to say 'Enough is enough.'

Obama tied his criticism to the Trump administration's foreign policy, saying the president 'decided to start an unnecessary war that nobody asked for,' a reference to the US-Israel war on Iran. Polls in Ohio give Democratic candidates a slight lead in both the gubernatorial and Senate contests, with results expected to be close.

The former president also weighed in on Ohio's gubernatorial race, criticizing a Republican advertisement. 'There is no line he will not cross, no low he will not sink to,' Obama said of Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, adding that he did not understand how standards of behavior had fallen so far that such an ad could run. The advertisement features Donna Arthur, mother of Democratic candidate Amy Acton, disputing her daughter's account of a childhood marked by homelessness and sexual abuse by her stepfather, and asking Ohioans not to vote for her. Acton has not seen her mother since 1978. Her brother has supported her account, and the stepfather, who died in 2004, was charged with rape.

Obama appeared on stage with Acton and former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, who is running against incumbent Republican Senator Jon Husted. Obama said Acton had 'spoken movingly about her painful childhood and all she's experienced: abuse, neglect and homelessness.'

Polls give Democrats a slight lead in both Ohio races.