WASHINGTON ― Former President Barack Obama has jumped into the highly anticipated Alabama Senate race, recording a robocall to rally support and voter turnout for Democratic candidate Doug Jones, on the eve of Tuesday’s special election.
“This one’s serious,” Obama says in the call, telling Alabama Democrats to “get out and vote” and that “you can’t sit it out.”
According to CNN, which first reported the call, Obama also praises Jones, a longtime prosecutor who helped convict members of the KKK who bombed a black church in 1963, calling him “a fighter for equality, for progress” and a “champion for justice.”
A source familiar with the Jones campaign confirmed to HuffPost that Obama recorded the robocall. There are currently no plans for former first lady Michelle Obama to get involved, the source said.
Democrats have seized on the race, hoping to drive more voters to the polls against Jones’ GOP opponent, Roy Moore, who has been accused of serial sexual predation, including inappropriate behavior with multiple teenage girls when he was in his 30s.
Former Vice President Joe Biden also recorded a robocall for Jones, Politico reported Monday. Biden previously campaigned for Jones in October.
Neither call mentions Moore by name. National officials want to avoid the perception that they are getting too involved in the race, which has drawn outsized national attention because of the accusations against Moore.
While many national Republicans have sought to distance themselves from Moore, President Donald Trump has endorsed him, defended him against the allegations and recorded his own robocall to GOP voters late last week.
“I’m going to make America safer and stronger and better than ever before. We need that seat. We need Roy voting for us,” Trump says in the call.
An Obama robocall may be just what Jones needs to gin up excitement for his campaign on the eve of the election.
Joseph De Sciose, a 64-year-old photographer in Birmingham, told HuffPost last week that he still has Obama’s robocall on his voicemail at home from last year, when he urged Alabamans to vote for Hillary Clinton for president.
“My wife still listens to it,” said Sciose. “We’re never getting rid of that one. Because it’s so cool to hear his voice.”
Amanda Terkel and Jen Bendery contributed reporting.
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