这是一个经典的政治时刻——这位仍然广受欢迎的前总统正在寻找他忠诚的前副手，帮助他希望看到的人继续他的遗产。
但是即使前总统巴拉克·奥巴马周三，一个体育场挤满了人，而不是停车场，这不是民主党人怀念的时刻。
周三，奥巴马代表前副总统乔·拜登在费城进行了他的第一次面对面的竞选访问，值得记住的是，这位前总统对拜登和拜登的政治身份至关重要唐纳德·特朗普总统。
新华社/盖蒂图像，文件
2020年8月19日，弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿，前总统巴拉克·奥巴马在2020年民主党全国代表大会视频直播中的讲话图像显示在屏幕上。
在这场竞选中，奥巴马一直是一股无所不在的力量，尽管经常有点跑题。拜登对“巴拉克和我”的提及帮助他度过了奥巴马保持中立的初选，特朗普对“奥巴马政府”和其他夸大的所谓违法行为的咆哮是他最受欢迎的集会轮换的一部分。
周三，奥巴马预计将强调无记名投票选举，并直接与黑人男性交谈，有迹象表明拜登在这一人群中表现不佳。较年轻的黑人选民特别令人担忧拜登竞选团队认为费城、底特律和密尔沃基的投票率有可能获胜，更不用说夏洛特、北卡罗来纳和亚特兰大了。
带有喇叭声和远光灯的“免下车汽车拉力赛”不会产生任何人可以预测的奥巴马重返赛道的视觉效果。
但这位前总统是一股强大的政治力量——拜登和特朗普都同意这一点。
参议院共和党人有望迅速推进确认艾米·科尼·巴雷特法官这一周，尽管同时对于在短期内将一项潜在的经济协议提交议会表决犹豫不决。
共和党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔星期二说，如果事实上民主党众议院议长南希·佩洛西和白宫达成协议额外的救济和刺激对于美国家庭和企业来说，他会将该法案提交参议院审议。但他之前并没有承诺这样做选举日。
参议院电视台通过美联社，文件
2020年3月18日，参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔在美国国会大厦参议院发言。
当直接被问及如果总统签字同意，他是否会支持两党协议时，麦康奈尔也进行了回避。阿拉巴马州参议院拨款委员会主席理查·谢尔比。称参议院是否会投票批准一个可能很大的援助计划“令人怀疑”。
佩洛西和财政部长史蒂文·姆努钦尚未达成妥协，但双方周二表示，他们的谈判正在取得进展。
人们在黎明前带着折叠椅、小吃和药物出现，在第一天排队提前亲自投票周二早上在威斯康辛州。密尔沃基选举委员会主席斯蒂芬妮·芬德利告诉美国广播公司新闻，“队伍很长，但人们并不介意，因为他们是来投票的。”
提前投票预计将使该州的缺席选票激增，该州的缺席选票已经占到2016年威斯康星州总票数的近三分之一。
卡米尔·克尔扎辛斯基/法新社通过盖蒂图像
在密尔沃基，人们在华盛顿公园图书馆外排队投票，这是第一天亲自提前投票。
尽管官方数字将于今天上午晚些时候公布，届时威斯康星州选举委员会将更新全州的投票总数，但这张照片周二在威斯康星州最大的城市引起了关注。
在密尔沃基，当投票工作人员早上6点左右到达投票站时，已经排起了长队，芬德利估计有3500到4000人投票。据市长办公室称，早在凌晨4点30分，人们就发现选民在市政厅前排队，市政厅是该市唯一的提前投票场所，到当天结束时，共有432人投票。根据城市办事员办公室的数据，麦迪逊有1920人投票。
美国广播公司新闻“从这里开始”播客。周三早上的这一集由路易斯维尔《信使日报》的泰莎·杜瓦尔(Tessa Duvall)主演——她告诉我们路易斯维尔警官乔纳森·马蒂利(Jonathan Mattingly)与美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)和《信使日报》(The Courier Journal)的独家坐下来，因为法官规定布莱诺纳·泰勒(Breonna Taylor)案的大陪审团可以畅所欲言。美国广播公司首席商业和经济记者丽贝卡·贾维斯解释了周二对谷歌提起的反垄断诉讼。美国广播公司新闻首席国家记者马特·古特曼从德克萨斯州埃尔帕索加入我们，那里的冠状病毒住院人数急剧上升。
美国广播公司新闻“发电站政治”播客。前国家安全顾问麦克马斯特与美国广播公司首席新闻记者乔纳森·卡尔和政治总监里克·克莱因一起参加了“发电站政治”播客。https://bit.ly/3jXffaT
五点三十八分政治播客。在过去的几个月里，特朗普总统将2020年的选举框定为对郊区的防御。在《华尔街日报》8月份的一篇专栏文章中，他和住房和城市发展部长本·卡森承诺保护郊区不被改造成“功能失调的城市”几天后，特朗普在推特上警告说，郊区妇女应该警惕民主党人，因为他们会允许犯罪流入郊区社区。https://apple.co/23r5y7w
The Note: Why Obama still matters to both Biden and Trump
The TAKE withRick Klein
It's a classic political moment -- the still-popular former president hitting the trail for his loyal former deputy, helping to close strong for the man he wants to see continue his legacy.
But even ifformer President Barack Obamawas filling a stadium as opposed to its parking lot on Wednesday, this would not be a moment for nostalgia among Democrats.
As Obama makes his first in-person campaign visit on behalf of former Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday in Philadelphia, it's worth remembering how vital the former president is to the political identity of both Biden andPresident Donald Trump.
Images of former President Barack Obama speaking in a video feed of the 2020 Democratic National Convention are displayed on screens in Arlington, Va., Aug. 19, 2020.
Obama has been an omnipresent force this campaign, if often slightly off-stage. Biden's references to "Barack and I" helped carry him through primaries where Obama stayed neutral, and Trump's rants about "Obamagate" and other exaggerated alleged transgressions are part of his greatest-hits rally rotation.
Obama on Wednesday is expected to emphasize down-ballot races and speak directly to Black men, amid signs that Biden is underperforming in that demographic. YoungerBlack votersin particularare a concern forthe Biden campaign, which sees potential victory in turnout in Philadelphia, Detroit and Milwaukee -- to say nothing of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Atlanta.
A "drive-in car rally" with honks and high beams do not make the visuals anyone could have predicted for Obama's return to the trail.
But the former president is a potent political force -- something both Biden and Trump can agree on.
The RUNDOWN withMaryAlice Parks
Senate Republicans are on track to quickly advance theconfirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrettthis week, though at the same time very hesitant to bring a potential economic deal to the floor for a vote any time soon.
Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that if in fact Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House were to reach a deal foradditional relief and stimulusfor American families and businesses, he would bring the bill to the Senate floor for consideration. But he stopped short of promising to do so beforeElection Day.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks on the Senate floor at the U.S. Capitol in this image from video, March 18, 2020.
When asked directly if he would back a bipartisan deal if the president signs off, McConnell hedged too. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala. said it was "doubtful" the Senate would vote to approve a possibly-large aid package.
Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have not yet reached a compromise, but Tuesday both sides said they were making progress in their negotiations.
The TIP withSoorin Kim&Cheyenne Haslett
People showed up before dawn with folding chairs, snacks, and medication to stand in line on the first day ofearly in-person votingin Wisconsin on Tuesday morning. Milwaukee Election Commission Chairwoman Stephanie Findley told ABC News, "The lines are long but people do not mind because they came to vote."
The early voting period is expected to bring a surge of absentee ballots in a state that has already cast nearly a third of the total votes counted in Wisconsin in 2016.
People wait in line outside the Washington Park Library to cast their ballots on the first day of in-person early voting in Milwaukee.
And though an official number will be announced later this morning when the statewide vote totals are updated by the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the picture was coming into focus Tuesday in Wisconsin's biggest cities.
In Milwaukee, lines had already formed by the time poll workers arrived at sites around 6 a.m., and Findley estimated 3,500 to 4,000 people voted. In Green Bay, voters were spotted lined up in front of City Hall, the city's only early voting site, as early as 4:30 a.m., and 432 people voted by the end of the day, according to the mayor's office. In Madison, 1,920 people voted, according to the city clerk's office.
THE PLAYLIST
ABC News' "Start Here" podcast.Wednesday morning's episode features Tessa Duvall from Louisville's Courier Journal -- she tells us about Louisville police officer Jonathan Mattingly's exclusive sit-down with ABC News and The Courier Journal as a judge rules that grand jurors in the Breonna Taylor case can speak out. ABC News Chief Business and Economics correspondent Rebecca Jarvis explains the antitrust lawsuit filed against Google Tuesday. And ABC News Chief National Correspondent Matt Gutman joins us from El Paso, Texas, where coronavirus hospitalizations are rising sharply.http://apple.co/2HPocUL
ABC News' "Powerhouse Politics" podcast.Former national security adviser H.R. McMaster joins ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl and Political Director Rick Klein on the "Powerhouse Politics" podcast.https://bit.ly/3jXffaT
FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast.Over the past few months, President Trump has framed the 2020 election as a defense of suburbia. In a Wall Street Journal column in August, he and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson promised to protect the suburbs from being transformed into "dysfunctional cities." And in a tweet several days later, Trump warned that suburban women should be wary of Democrats, as they would allow crime to drift into suburban communities.https://apple.co/23r5y7w
