The 2018 midterm elections offer "a chance to restore some sanity in our politics," former President Barack Obama said in California Saturday, but if "we don't step up, things can get worse. Where there's a vacuum in our democracy, when we are not participating, we're not paying attention, when we're not stepping up — other voices fill the void."
Obama spoke at the Anaheim Convention Center to encourage voters to return control of the House of Representatives to Democrats to "make sure that there are real checks and balances in Washington." Though he decried "those who exploit the politics of fear," he did not call out President Trump by name, as he did in a speech the day before in Illinois.
Watch an excerpt of Obama's comments below. Bonnie Kristian
The Week
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