ANN ARBOR, MI – Barack Obama was greeted with enthusiastic cheers and applause on a sunny fall afternoon Monday, Nov. 7, as he made his fourth visit to the University of Michigan as president.
This time, the day before the 2016 presidential election, he campaigned for fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Addressing a crowd of more than 9,000 people at Ray Fisher Stadium, Obama let out a "Go blue!" to start off his speech, while commenting on the nice weather.
"It is good to be back in Ann Arbor, and I know you guys are feeling pretty good right now," he said, making remarks about the success of U-M's football team this year under Coach Jim Harbaugh, who was in the crowd.
"Tomorrow you will choose whether we continue this journey of progress or whether it all goes out the window," Obama told the crowd, shifting focus to the election between Clinton and Donald Trump. "Tomorrow you get to choose between the politics of blame and divisiveness and resentment, or you can choose the politics that says we're all stronger together."
In chronological order, here are 10 highlights from the speech:
1. 'I'm feeling a little sentimental.'
"I'm feeling a little sentimental," Obama acknowledged. "This is going to be my last — probably my last — day of campaigning for a while.
"But not just here in Michigan, all across America, I want to say thanks to the organizers of so many grassroots efforts," he continued. "There are some organizers here who got their start on my first campaign, and they have never stopped working, picking up phones, hitting the streets, living and breathing the hard work of change every single day.
"You are the best organizers on the planet. I am so proud of you. It is because of you that I'm here today, and it's because of you and the work you do that we've got a chance to continue to make history tomorrow."
2. 'I had a soft spot for SpongeBob'
Obama started to recall his first run for president in 2008 before acknowledging some of the 18-year-olds in the crowd were just young kids back then. That led to a discussion of his favorite children's shows.
"Now think about where we were eight years ago," Obama said. "The thing is, I just realized some of you were like 10. Some of you were — let's admit it — while I was out campaigning, you were watching the Disney Channel."
Pointing to a young woman in the crowd, he said, "She's nodding. It's true. I loved iCarly. I got you. Josh and Drake.
"See, I know because I was sitting there, although I had a soft spot for SpongeBob. SpongeBob was probably my favorite," Obama said, then adding, "Malia and Sasha, they wouldn't let me watch what I wanted to watch."
3. 'Choose hope over fear'
"For those of you who don't quite remember eight years ago, we were living through two long wars, going through the worst economic crisis in 80 years," Obama said. "And because of the resilience and strength of the American people, but also because you gave me a chance to put in place policies on behalf of working families, we were able to turn the page.
"We took what could have been a Great Depression and turned it into recovery. Our businesses turned job losses into 15.5 million new jobs. We saw an auto industry that was flat on its back roar its way back to break new records."
He said those efforts brought the unemployment rate in Michigan below the national average, and across the nation it was cut in half.
"Last year, incomes went up faster than any time in 30 years," he said. "Poverty went down faster than any time in 30 years. Twenty million Americans have health insurance that didn't have it before. We doubled our production of clean energy, became the world leader in fighting climate change, brought home so many of our men and women in uniform, took out Osama bin Laden."
He also noted high school graduation rates and college graduation are at an all-time high, and marriage equality equality is now a reality across the nation.
"That happened because people in '08 decided to choose hope over fear," he said. "And over the course of these eight years, all across 50 states, I've always seen what made America great. I have seen you.
"Americans of every faith, every background, Republicans and Democrats, who understand that we're stronger together. Young, old, men, women, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, people with disabilities, gay, straight, all of those pledging allegiance to the red, white and blue. That's the America I know and there's only one candidate in this race who has devoted her life to that better America, and that is the next president of the United States, Hillary Clinton."
4. 'He's not contributing'
"This is the first candidate in decades to hide his tax returns," Obama said of Trump. "He hasn't paid his federal income taxes in years, which means that he's not contributing to our veterans, he's not contributing to our troops, he's not contributing to our outstanding public universities.
"And by the way, since we're in Michigan, take a look at what he's said about the auto industry," he said. "Now remember, when I came into office, the industry was flat on its back. And we made some tough decisions to bring workers, management, everybody together in order to revitalize the industry. Just last summer, Donald Trump said you could have let it go bankrupt, frankly. Now I want you to understand, had the Big Three gone bankrupt, or two of the three gone bankrupt, that could have cost 1 million jobs across this country.
"That could have killed Michigan's economy," he continued. "But Donald Trump didn't stop there. He actually suggested shipping Michigan's auto jobs to states that don't have unions so they can pay their workers less."
That prompted boos from the crowd, to which Obama responded with a line he used recently. "Don't boo," he said, while the crowd yelled back, "Vote!"
Obama added, "He said, 'Squeeze Michigan, make Michigan hurt, then your auto workers would have no choice but to accept less pay.' That is not somebody who is a champion for working people."
And for all of Trump's tough talk about China, Obama said, Trump actually uses Chinese steel in his hotels.
"He's giving jobs to Chinese steel workers, not American steel workers," he said. "For all his tough talk on trade, the trade war he threatens to trigger might well damage the auto industry all over again."
5. 'Do not be bamboozled'
"Every time my administration has brought a trade enforcement case against China that has been decided, the United States of America has won. That's how you stand up for American workers," Obama said.
"So to every auto worker on the assembly line right here in Michigan, to every small business owner, every barkeep, every teacher in communities that depend on the auto industry, I think I've earned some credibility here. Plants that were closing when I took office are working double shifts now. The auto industry has record sales. I think I've earned some credibility here.
"Manufacturing jobs have grown at the fastest rate since the '90s when another Clinton was president. I think we've earned some credibility here. So when I tell you that Donald Trump is not the guy who's going to look out for you, you need to listen. Do not be bamboozled. Don't fall for the okey-doke."
Obama said Trump has never shown any regard for working people in his 70 years.
"I don't think he knows working people except for the folks who clean up in his hotels and the folks who mow the fairway on his golf course," he said. "He didn't care about working people then. He won't now. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is going to put forward the biggest investment in new jobs since World War II. She's got plans to grow manufacturing, plans to boost people's wages, plans to help students with their college debt — specific plans, not vague plans, not imaginary plans."
6. 'Uniquely unqualified to hold this job'
Obama said one thing he has learned being president is that who you are doesn't change once you're in office. He said it only gets magnified.
He then rattled off a long list of things Trump has said or done that Obama argues make Trump "uniquely unqualified to hold this job."
"If you denigrate minorities before you take office, then you'll denigrate minorities after you take office," Obama said.
"If you think of immigrants as criminals and rapists when you're running for office, then that's how you're going to think once you're in office," he continued. "If you mock people with disabilities or treat women as objects — calling them pigs and dogs, and rating them on a 1-to-10 scale instead of based on their character and intelligence — then that's how you're going to think when you're in office."
He continued, "If you insult POWs and talk down our troops and say you know more than our generals do about fighting terrorism, even though you don't know the difference between Shia and Sunni, then that's how you're going to conduct yourself as a commander in chief."
Obama said it's bad being arrogant when you know what you're talking about, but it's even worse when you don't know what you're talking about.
"If you accept the support of Klan sympathizers — if they say they really like what you're doing and you're kind of slow to denounce or separate yourself from them — that's what you're going to do when you're in office," he continued.
"If you disrespect the constitution by threatening to shut down the free press when they write things you don't like, or threaten to throw your opponent in jail while you're in the middle of a presidential debate, or discriminate against people of different faiths, that's what you will do when you're in office."
7. 'This dust cloud of nonsense'
"And the good news is you don't just have to vote against something. You actually have a candidate who is worthy of your vote," Obama said of Clinton, a former U.S. senator, secretary of state and first lady.
"A candidate who is smart, a candidate who is steady, a candidate who is tested — probably the most qualified person ever to run for this office."
Obama said sometimes he gets frustrated watching the media coverage of the 2016 election.
"There's a bunch of it that has not been on the level," he said. "But I want to tell you something right now — the way campaigns have unfolded, we just start accepting crazy stuff as normal. And people, if they just repeat attacks enough, and outright lies over and over again, as long as it's on Facebook and people can see it, as long as it's on social media, people start believing it.
"And it creates this dust cloud of nonsense," he said. "So I've had to bite my tongue after a lot of the nonsense I've heard about Hillary."
Obama went on to describe some of it as "just crazy conspiracy theorizing," but he said he knows Clinton.
"I know Hillary. She's somebody who has dedicated her life to making this country better," he said.
"Think about she got her start as a young woman," he said. "While Donald Trump and his dad were being sued by the Justice Department for denying housing to African American families, Hillary ... was going undercover from school to school to make sure minority kids were getting an equal education. She has not stopped fighting for justice and equality ever since."
8. 'A leader for all of us'
Obama said Clinton will make sure the economy works for everybody who's still struggling, people who feel like they're not getting a fair shake.
"She will work her heart out to create jobs that families can live on, child care that you can afford," he said. "She'll fight for students who are struggling with college debt. She'll fight to make sure that women get paid for doing the same work.
"She knows workers deserve a higher minimum wage. She knows how the world works. She will make sure to keep American strong and respected. She won't turn people against each other just to win an election. She will be a leader for all of us, because she knows we're stronger together."
9. 'All of us having a voice'
Obama said the most important office in a democracy is not president or senator, congressman or mayor — it's the office of citizen.
"The most powerful word in our democracy is the word 'we' — we the people," Obama said. "We shall overcome. Yes, we can."
The crowded then spontaneously chanted, "Yes, we can! Yes, we can!" Obama said America is not about what one person can do for you.
"This is what this country runs on is you deciding that you care enough about it to get involved — even when the odds are steep, even when the road is long," he said. "That's our history. That's why patriots chose revolution over tyranny. That's how GIs your age defeated fascism. That's how women found the courage to reach for the ballot. That's how marchers crossed a bridge in Selma. That's how workers organized for collective bargaining and better wages. They did it together.
"In this country, you don't have to be born to wealth or privilege to make a difference," he said. "You don't have to practice a certain faith or look a certain way to bend the arc of history in a better direction. 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights.' That's what makes America exceptional — all of us equal. All of us having a voice. All of us making a claim on the American dream. All of us fulfilling our responsibilities, and not just enjoying the rights of this incredible nation, this amazing experiment in self government. That's what it's about."
Obama then made an appeal to the people of Michigan, saying after eight years as president, he's asking them to trust him and vote for Clinton.
"I already voted," he said. "I voted for Hillary Clinton, because I am absolutely confident that when she is president, this country will be in good hands. And I'm asking you to do the same, especially the young people here."
10. 'Do for Hillary what you did for me'
Obama told those in the crowd it's not that often you get a chance to move history in a better direction.
"This is one of those moments," he said. "Don't let it slip away. You have the chance to reject a coarse, divisive, mean-spirited politics that would take us backwards. You can elect a leader who's spent her entire life trying to appeal to the better natures — angels of our nature. You have a chance to elect our first female president — a president who will be an example for our daughters and our sons.
"And so, after all the noise, after the negative ads, after all the campaigning, all the rallies, it now just comes down to you. It's out of Hillary's hands now. It's out of Michelle's hands. It's out of my hands. It's in your hands. The fate of our democracy depends on what you do when you step into that voting booth tomorrow, how many people you bring to make sure they vote."
He urged the crowd not to fall into the easy cynicism that says, "Your vote doesn't matter, all politicians are the same."
"That's what special interests and lobbyists, my opponents, Hillary's opponents —that's what they want you to think so you don't go vote," he said. "Your vote matters. There are states where I won two votes a precinct. That's how I won that state. Your voice matters. Your voice makes a difference."
Obama said he has been inspired to keep going by everyday American people, including an autoworker in Detroit who won the lottery but kept working because he loved his job, and a young woman in Sterling Heights who wrote him seven years ago to say she was worried about her family's future in Michigan, then checked in again to say this year that her dad's supply company was hiring and she was working her way through Macomb Community College.
"So, Michigan, I ask you to do for Hillary what you did for me. I ask you to carry her the same way you carried me. I ask you to make her better the same way you made me better," Obama said. "And tomorrow, if you're willing to stand with me again, if you're willing to get your friends and neighbors and coworkers to the polls again, if you're willing to reject fear again, if you're willing to embrace hope again, then we will finish what we started. We will elect Hillary as president. We will remind the world why the United States of America is the greatest nation on Earth."
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