Outgoing US President Barack Obama has told voters in the crucial swing state of Ohio that Donald Trump is “uniquely unqualified” and “temperamentally unfit” to occupy the Oval Office.
His former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is a “fundamentally good and decent person” who is the only candidate “actually worthy” of their vote, Barack Obama told several thousand supporters at Capitol University in Columbus.
“Hillary Clinton is continually treated differently than just about any other candidate I see out there.”
Barack Obama in Ohio. Source: SBS
America’s first African American President spoke directly to male voters, calling on them to “take a look” at their attitude and to help make history again in 2016, by electing the nation’s first female leader.
“When a guy’s ambitious and out in the public arena working hard, ‘well, that’s ok’, but when a woman does it, suddenly you’re all ‘why she doing that?’, the President said.
"My wife is not just my equal, but my superior.
“Because [Hillary Clinton has] been out there for so long, sometimes, in this culture, we always wanna see the new shiny object.
“But this guy? Really?
Voters listen to Barack Obam in Ohio. Source: SBS
RELATED STORY
US election race tightens in final days of campaign
“If you’re a working person, if you’re out there punching a pay check, the notion that this guy is your champion, the notion that this guy’s gonna fight for working people – the guy who wouldn’t let you into one of his hotels unless you were cleaning the room, who wouldn’t let you into one of his golf courses unless you were mowing the fairway – come on, this guy’s gonna be your champion?”
Ohio has voted for the winning Presidential candidate in every election since 1964, remarkably, within a 1.3 per cent margin of the overall election result.
Early voter turnout has been lower than in previous years, and both candidates and their high-profile surrogates continue to flood the state in the final week of this campaign.
READ THESE TOO
Ku Klux Klan gives support, not endorsement to Trump
SBS spoke with voters casting their ballots at the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus.
Most had made up their mind even before the early polling booths had opened.
One voter explained the dilemma facing voters.
“I think there’s a lot of things people are still considering, you know they’re taking those last few days, those last few minutes, to really make up their decision.”
“I think Trump’s uncertainty and stability, lack of experience, but he does have an outside perspective, which I think a lot people are looking for.
RELATED STORIES
FBI releases Bill Clinton closed case files days before vote
“It’s almost the exact opposite for Secretary Clinton – she’s got a tonne of experience, she’s well respected in the world and I think that’s got a lot to say for her, but then she’s got the weakness – the fact she’s not relatable, and I think there’s a lot of American People who don’t trust the unreliability.”
Barack Obama won Ohio four years ago with 50.7 per cent of the vote and used his campaign stop to urge Democrats “to work as hard for her as you did for me”.
“Forget ‘hope’ and ‘change’,” one African American Democrat joked to SBS.
“This year’s motto is ‘vote’ and ‘pray’.”
Voters listen on to Barack Obama in Ohio. Source: SBS
