President Obama made a strong sell for a candidate to succeed his legacy at the Congressional Black Caucus dinner Saturday night. The president invoked slavery and the Jim Crow era and preached that if they wanted to give him a good send off then register people to vote because his legacy is at stake.



Although he did not name Hillary Clinton, the president said he would consider it a personal insult from the African-American community if they did not for her.



"My name may not be on the ballot, but our progress is on the ballot," President Obama said Saturday night. "And there is one candidate who will advance those things. And there is another candidate who's defining principal, the central theme of his candidacy is opposition to all that we have done."



"There's no such thing as a vote that doesn't matter," Obama said. "It all matters. And after we have achieved historic turnout in 2008 and 2012, especially in the African-American community, I will consider it a personal insult, an insult to my legacy, if this community lets down it's guard and fails to activate itself in this election. You want to give me a good send off? Go vote!"



Remarks:





PRESIDENT OBAMA: Our work's not done. But if we are going to advance the cause of justice, and equality, and prosperity, and freedom, then we also have to acknowledge that even if we eliminated every restriction on voters, we would still have one of the lowest voting rates among free peoples. That's not good, that is on us.



And I am reminded of all those folks who had to count bubbles in a bar of soap, beaten trying to register voters in Mississippi. Risked everything so that they could pull that lever. So, if I hear anybody saying their vote does not matter, that it doesn't matter who we elect, read up on your history. It matters. We've got to get people to vote.



In fact, if you want to give Michelle and me a good sendoff, and that was a beautiful video, but don't just watch us walk off into the sunset now, get people registered to vote. If you care about our legacy, realize everything we stand for is at stake, on the progress we have made is at stake in this election.



My name may not be on the ballot, but our progress is on the ballot. Tolerance is on the ballot. Democracy is on the ballot. Justice is on the ballot. Good schools are on the ballot. Ending mass incarceration, that's on the ballot right now.



And there is one candidate who will advance those things. And there is another candidate who's defining principal, the central theme of his candidacy is opposition to all that we have done.



There's no such thing as a vote that doesn't matter. It all matters. And after we have achieved historic turnout in 2008 and 2012, especially in the African-American community, I will consider it a personal insult, an insult to my legacy, if this community lets down it's guard and fails to activate itself in this election. You want to give me a good send off? Go vote! And iI'm going to be working as hard as I can these next seven weeks to make sure folks do.



Hope is on the ballot. And fear is on the ballot too. Hope is on the ballot and fear is on the ballot too.