Former President Barack Obama was in Nevada stumping for Rep. Jacky Rosen, who is running to unseat GOP Sen. Dean Heller. | John Locher/AP Photo Elections Obama in Nevada: ‘Profoundly dangerous’ not to vote in midterms

LAS VEGAS — Former President Barack Obama urged Nevada voters on Monday to be sure to cast their midterm ballots, saying that not voting would be “profoundly dangerous” to the United States.

Telling Democrats that it would be a "bad bet" to vote Republicans back into office, Obama rallied in front of an energetic crowd of about 2,000 supporters on the campus of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, warning of dangerous consequences if they failed to turn out the vote. His afternoon rally came on the third day of early voting in this critical swing state, which has competitive races for Senate, governor and multiple House seats this year.


“Look, this November’s elections are more important than any I can remember in my lifetime, and that includes when I was on the ballot,” Obama said. “That’s saying something. Politicians say every time, ‘This is the most important election.’ This one is really that important.”

Obama continued: “The consequences of anybody here, not turning out and doing everything you can to get your friends, neighbors, family to turn out, the consequences of you staying home would be profoundly dangerous to this country, to our democracy,” he said.

The former president is the latest in a string of high-profile surrogates to stump for Nevada Democrats, especially Rep. Jacky Rosen, who is running to unseat Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.). Former Vice President Joe Biden campaigned for Rosen and other Democrats on Saturday during a rally with union members in Las Vegas.

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President Donald Trump also campaigned in Nevada this past weekend and has endorsed Heller, who is narrowly leading Rosen in a state that Hillary Clinton won in 2016.

Unlike Biden, who directly criticized Trump by name at his Nevada rally, Obama didn’t name his successor once, even while attacking the current administration over taxes and health care and making a veiled criticism of Trump for interfering with the Department of Justice and the FBI. Obama also attacked Heller multiple times without naming him, only referring to him as Rosen’s “Republican opponent.”

Rosen’s campaign has focused on health care and women’s rights. Obama said Nevadans could count on the first-term congresswoman to protect their health care if she was elected to the Senate.

“I know you can bet on anything here in Vegas, but you don’t want to bet that the Republicans are actually going to protect your health care,” Obama said. “There’s a better bet, though, Nevada. Jacky Rosen’s a good bet.”

Obama has now held rallies in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois and California as well as Nevada. Obama won Nevada by double digits in 2008 and won it again by a nearly 7-point margin when he was reelected in 2012.

He spent a significant chunk of the rally attacking Republicans over health care, echoing the campaign message of nearly every Democrat on the ballot this year and building off the remarks of the candidates who opened for him. Rosen accused Heller of breaking promises to protect pre-existing conditions by voting to repeal Obamacare, while Steve Sisolak, the Democratic nominee for governor, vowed to defend the state’s Medicaid expansion.

Though he didn’t name Trump, Obama took several thinly veiled shots at the current president: “Unlike some, I actually try to state facts. I believe in facts,” Obama said at one point to loud cheers.

Obama touted his own administration's economic record of job growth and lowering unemployment, and criticized Trump and Republicans for taking credit for economic successes that he said started years ago.

"When you hear all this talk about economic miracles right now, remember who started it,” Obama said.

In addition, Obama said, now is the chance for voters to “restore some sanity to our politics.”

“Right now, we can tip the balance of power back to you, the American people,” he said, “because ultimately there’s only one real check on abuses of power, there’s only one real check on bad policy, and that is you and your vote.”