Obama makes return to campaign trail

President Obama returned to the campaign trail late Sunday, telling the crowd at a rally in Maryland that next month’s elections will give voters a “choice about two very different visions for America.”

According to a reporter traveling with the president, however, some attendees started leaving the gym as soon as the president began speaking.

{mosads}“Who’s going to fight for you — that’s what it boils down to. Who’s going to fight for your future?” he asked at a rally for Maryland gubernatorial candidate Anthony Brown at a high school in suburban Washington.

Obama said he believes that Republicans are patriots who love the U.S. and their families.

“But they are a broken record — they keep on offering the same, tired, worn-out theories,” he said, adding that the GOP rejected efforts to help the middle class.

“The only thing they said ‘yes’ to was another massive tax cut for millionaires,” Obama said. “I know that’s surprising, but that’s what happened.” 

A protester, carrying a sign that read “#not1more,” which referred to the deportation of immigrants, was also taken out of the room. The crowd shouted “Obama! Obama!” to drown out his screams, the reporter added.

“You have an outstanding candidate for governor in Anthony Brown,” Obama told a crowd in an overflow room before the rally. Brown will “continue the legacy of Democrats here in Maryland,” he added.

“This will be a done deal if you vote,” Obama said. “But it’s not enough just for you to vote. You’ve got to get your family to vote. You’ve got to get your friends to vote. You’ve got to get your co-workers to vote. You’ve got to get that cousin Pookie sitting at home on the couch — he’s watching football right now instead of being here at the rally — you’ve got to talk to him and let him know it is not that hard to exercise the franchise that previous generations fought so hard to obtain.”

Local officials estimated the crowd in both rooms at 8,000.

The Maryland appearance and one scheduled Sunday night in Chicago for Gov. Pat Quinn (D-Ill.) mark the president’s first public campaign appearances of the 2014 cycle. They come just 16 days before voters head to the polls.

In races to decide control of the Senate, the president has been virtually absent from the campaign trail to help Democrats hold the upper chamber.