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Obama: 'Hope Is On The Ballot and Fear Is On the Ballot, Too'

by Fern Robinson

   WASHINGTON --

   "You want to give me a good send off?," outgoing U.S. President Barack
   Obama said Saturday night. "Go vote."

   Speaking at the annual dinner of the Congressional Black Caucus
   Foundation in Washington, Obama stressed the importance of going to the
   polls to vote for a new president in November.

   "Hope is on the ballot and fear is on the ballot, too," the president
   said about voters' choices in the upcoming election between Democrat
   Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.

   Obama said there are some people "who are still trying to deny people
   the right to vote . . . Right now, in multiple states, Republicans are
   actively and openly trying to prevent people from voting . . ." He said
   "This should be a national scandal . . . We're the only advanced
   democracy in the world that is actively discouraging people from
   voting. It's a shame."

   The president noted that between 2000 and 2012, there were only 10
   cases of voter impersonation nationwide.

   Obama said he would be personally insulted if the African American
   community did not turn out to vote in the November poll. He said he
   thinks about the people who were involved in the Civil Rights Movement
   and all that they went through so "they could pull the lever" of a
   voting machine.

   "Read up on your history," he implored. "Get people registered to
   vote."

   In a more lighthearted mood, Obama said there is more pep in his step
   now that the validity of his birth certificate is a non-issue,
   following Trump's admission Friday that Obama was born in the U.S.
   after years of says the president, who was born in Hawaii, was likely
   not born in the U.S.

   Obama sarcastically said of Trump's turnaround: "In other breaking
   news, the world is round, not flat."

   Clinton spoke before Obama at the dinner. She said of Obama, "Mr.
   President, not only do we know you are an American, you are a great
   American."

   Without mentioning her rival's name, Clinton told the crowd "We need
   ideas not insults. Real plans to help struggling Americans in
   communities that have been left behind, not prejudice and paranoia. We
   can't let Barack Obama's legacy fall into the hands of someone who
   doesn't understand that. Whose dangerous and divisive vision for our
   country will drag us backwards."

   Clinton was honored at the dinner for becoming the first woman to
   receive the presidential nomination of a major party.

   Her last admonition to the audience was "And no matter what, remember
   this, love trumps hate."