Article snippet: Former President Barack Obama made his much-anticipated first post-presidential appearance on the campaign trail Thursday, speaking at events for Democratic gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia before elections there next month. Appearing at a rally in Richmond, Virginia with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ralph Northam, Obama commented on the political climate in the country. “Folks don't feel good right now about what they see, they don't feel as if our public life reflects our best,” Obama said. “Instead of our politics reflecting our values, we've got politics infecting our communities.” Obama did not mention President Donald Trump by name, but did offer some pointed criticism that appeared to be directed at him. "You'll notice I haven't been commenting on politics a lot lately, but here's one thing I know: If you have to win a campaign by dividing people you're not going to be able to govern them. You won't be able to unite them later if that's how you start,” Obama told the crowd of thousands at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Obama also got animated when offering some deeply personal thoughts on the events over the summer in Charlottesville. “We saw what happened in Charlottesville, but we also saw what happened after Charlottesville, when the biggest gatherings of all rejected fear and rejected hate and the decency and goodwill of the American people came out,” Obama said. “That's how we rise. We don't rise up by rep... Link to the full article to read more