CHICAGO — He once built his political career here, but on Tuesday President Barack Obama returned to his birthplace to take on the role of veteran statesman.
“It’s good to be home!” Obama opened with a near-deafening reception at the United Center. “I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling pumped!”
The nostalgic reference to Obama’s famous slogan “Fired up! Ready to go!” drew another roar.
Closing the evening, right after his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, he wove practical Democratic principles into what he saw as a road map for the party. He paid tribute to Joe Biden, his former vice president — one of the few speakers to do so Tuesday night — and said that making that choice was one of the best decisions he had ever made.
He called on Americans to reject divisions that grow into blind hatred for one another. Obama championed Kamala Harris, listing her accomplishments as California’s attorney general and then as vice president. He said she helped take on pharmaceutical companies and the high price of insulin and lower health care costs.
At the same time, Obama took a swipe at former President Donald Trump, including chiding him for his “weird obsession with crowd size” and gesturing with his hands to indicate something small. It was one of his biggest laugh lines of the night.
“We don’t need four more years of bluster, bungling and chaos,” Obama said to cheers. “We’ve seen that movie before, and we all know the sequel is usually worse.”
Obama also had kind words for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate.
“I love this guy. Tim is the kind of person who should be in politics,” Obama said. “You can see that those flannel shirts he wears, they don’t come from a political consultant. They come from his closet, and they’ve been through some things.”
Gwen Walz, the governor’s wife, then appeared on the big video screen in the arena and gestured in full agreement.
Obama made more statements that drew much laughter.
“I heard someone compare Trump the other day to the neighbor who runs a leaf blower outside your window every minute of the day,” Obama said, laughing. “Now, coming from a neighbor, that’s exhausting. The truth is that Donald Trump sees power as nothing more than a means to an end.”
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Obama also urged the US to be a “force for good” in the world.
“We shouldn’t be the world’s policeman,” Obama said. “We can’t eradicate all cruelty and injustice in the world, but America can and must be a force for good: discouraging conflict, fighting disease, promoting human rights, protecting the planet from climate change.”
Jim Messina, who oversaw Obama’s second race for the White House, said Tuesday that Obama’s role was to put this political time in perspective.
“Tonight is really about him being the interpreter who interprets this moment,” he told NBC News. “People forget that he was the first one who realized that Kamala was going to be a star. When she was attorney general, he said to all of us, ‘Watch the attorney general of California; she’s really good.'”
Harris has turned Biden’s old campaign on its head. Since the president left office on July 21, Harris’ campaign has raised a staggering amount of money: nearly $500 million.
“I mean, that’s insane and it shows the grassroots enthusiasm,” Messina said, also referring to the huge crowd for Harris in Milwaukee on Tuesday.
Asked if this moment reminded Harris of the magic Obama worked on voters in 2008, Messina said there was room to grow. He said Harris’ campaign had not yet gone to the next level and truly become “a movement.”
“We’re not there yet,” he said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
