san diego <u+2014> president obama portrayed donald j. trump as a threat to the survival of the republic on monday as he beseeched democrats to repudiate the republican nominee and his message by turning out in large numbers to elect hillary clinton and sweep a tide of republicans out of office. pressing to stoke enthusiasm among democrats and transform mrs. clinton<u+2019>s lead in the polls into an overwhelming victory against republicans across the board, mr. obama said the coming election was a test of american values, with grave stakes for the country and for the next president<u+2019>s ability to govern in an age of division. <u+201c>america is great. america can survive just about anything,<u+201d> mr. obama told about 350 democratic donors at a mansion overlooking the ocean here. <u+201c>but what america cannot have for any prolonged period of time,<u+201d> he added, was <u+201c>a fundamentally unserious person<u+201d> for a leader whose <u+201c>standards of ethics and tolerance<u+201d> were <u+201c>corrosive.<u+201d> as the president begins a frenzied push of campaign travel in the final two weeks of the race, his efforts to help mrs. clinton and democrats running for congress are becoming a combative call to action. he is framing the election in the most dire of terms and imploring voters to make a broader statement with their ballots. <u+201c>we<u+2019>ve got to work as hard as we can, not just to make sure that hillary wins, but to make sure she wins big, to send a clear message about who we are as a people, to send a clear message about what america stands for,<u+201d> mr. obama said. <u+201c>we don<u+2019>t just want to eke it out <u+2014> particularly when the other guy is already starting to gripe about how the game is rigged,<u+201d> he added, comparing mr. trump to a young child at a playground who throws a tantrum when he loses a game. intensifying a critique of mr. trump that has become increasingly biting as election day nears, mr. obama said that he had stark disagreements with both of his republican rivals during his own campaigns for the white house in 2008 and 2012, but that he never regarded either one as an existential threat to the country. <u+201c>i always felt as if john mccain and mitt romney were basically honorable people,<u+201d> mr. obama said. <u+201c>i always felt as if, push comes to shove, they would do the right thing if they ended up occupying the position of president. i wasn<u+2019>t concerned about the republic if they had won.<u+201d> mr. trump was different, the president said, and his election would raise questions about the way the country treated women, immigrants and people of different faiths, and could shake the bedrock principles of the constitution. <u+201c>fundamental values are at stake in this election,<u+201d> mr. obama said. <u+201c>it has to do with our basic standards of decency.<u+201d> <u+201c>do we think that government is something serious, that we have an obligation to make sure that to the best of our abilities we leave the country a little bit better off than how we found it?<u+201d> he asked. <u+201c>or do we think that it<u+2019>s an infomercial or a reality tv show, and we can say anything or do anything without any fidelity to the truth whatsoever, just make stuff up so that at a certain point everything is contested?<u+201d> the argument pointed to a division of labor between mr. obama and mrs. clinton at a crucial moment in the race. while mrs. clinton is seeking to make a positive closing argument and appeal to voters across the ideological spectrum, pledging to reach across party lines to govern in the broader interests of the nation, mr. obama is taking a more bellicose tack, working fervently to crush whatever is left of mr. trump<u+2019>s chances and hold republicans to account for his rise. the campaign has given mr. obama an opportunity to settle some scores with mr. trump <u+2014> who first attracted attention in the political realm for suggesting that the president was born in kenya <u+2014> and with congressional republicans who went to great lengths to undermine his agenda on capitol hill. at a rally on sunday in las vegas and again at an evening fund-raiser in the affluent la jolla enclave here, mr. obama sought to bind republicans running for congress to mr. trump, arguing that their obstructionist ways had fueled the nominee<u+2019>s political ascent. mr. obama pilloried representative darrell issa of california, one of his administration<u+2019>s chief tormentors as chairman of the house oversight and government reform committee, calling him <u+201c>trump before trump.<u+201d> <u+201c>as far as i can tell,<u+201d> mr. obama told more than 60 democratic donors at the fund-raising dinner, mr. issa<u+2019>s <u+201c>primary contribution to the united states congress has been to obstruct and to waste taxpayer dollars on trumped-up investigations that have led nowhere.<u+201d> <u+201c>and this is now a guy who, because poll numbers are bad, has sent out brochures with my picture on them touting his cooperation on issues with me,<u+201d> mr. obama said, referring to a recent mailer distributed by mr. issa<u+2019>s campaign. <u+201c>now, that is the definition of chutzpah,<u+201d> he added, calling the congressman <u+201c>shameless.<u+201d> mr. obama called on democrats to <u+201c>do everything we can to maximize turnout, to maximize enthusiasm, to make sure that we not only reject the kind of politics that donald trump represents, but we reject the climate inside the republican party that resulted in donald trump getting the nomination.<u+201d> later in the day, in burbank, calif., mr. obama joked about his disdain for mr. trump during an appearance on abc<u+2019>s <u+201c>jimmy kimmel live!,<u+201d> when mr. kimmel asked whether the president had found himself laughing at the republican nominee during the debates. <u+201c>most of the time,<u+201d> mr. obama said with a nod. <u+201c>i do.<u+201d> but in his speech on monday, the president was bare-knuckled in his critique of mr. trump, and adamant about rebutting republicans<u+2019> argument that they deserved to retain their congressional majority as a <u+201c>check<u+201d> on mrs. clinton<u+2019>s power as president if she is elected. <u+201c>a check,<u+201d> mr. obama said, means opposition to raising the minimum wage, equal pay legislation and investing in early childhood education. <u+201c>a <u+2018>check<u+2019> means that we<u+2019>re not going to get serious about dealing with all the major issues that the american people desperately want to see dealt with,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>it is really important that we push back and defeat this argument that somehow the duly elected president of the united states should simply be blocked from doing anything by the opposition party,<u+201d> he added. republicans, the president argued, <u+201c>are saying, <u+2018>we are going to say no to everything.<u+2019> that<u+2019>s what they mean by a check.<u+201d> a version of this article appears in print on october 25, 2016, on page a15 of the new york edition with the headline: obama urges voters to reject trump<u+2019>s message and deliver one of their own. order reprints | today's paper | subscribe
obama urges democrats to turn out in force against donald trump and g.o.p.
julie hirschfeld davis