Obama tells Democrats to reject politics of division, fear

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Former President Barack Obama today rallied at the side of his former ambassador to Germany, who is running for governor in New Jersey, and called on the crowd of Democrats to reject politics of division and fear.

Obama did not mention Republican President Donald Trump in his speech while standing next to Democratic nominee Phil Murphy, but he told the crowd at a Newark hotel that "you can send a message to the country and you will send a message to the world that we are rejecting a politics of division. We are rejecting a politics of fear."

"Some of the politics we see now we thought we put that to bed," Obama said. "That's folks looking 50 years back. It's the 21st century, not the 19th century."

The event for Murphy marked the first time the former president stepped back into the political spotlight since leaving the White House in January. He was scheduled to appear in Virginia later today to rally support for Democrat Ralph Northam in his gubernatorial campaign against Republican Ed Gillespie.

Both Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, are term-limited. Those Nov. 7 races will be considered a bellwether of Democrats' strength in the face of Trump's victory last year.

Murphy is running against Christie's lieutenant governor, Republican Kim Guadagno.