The Savior Returns. Barack Obama may be returning to the trenches to aid his party, something that was widely expected, especially with the midterm election season approaching. The former president reportedly meets regularly with Democratic Party leaders, speculating that he intends to rebuild the party he helped destroy during his presidency. The era of lasting Democratic majorities that was widely rumored after 2008 crashed and burned after the 2010 midterm elections. Democrats passed a $1 trillion stimulus package that did little to change things, and Obamacare burdened the middle class with skyrocketing premiums, less competition, and fewer choices. Most importantly, it was sold to American voters as a lie. Remember, if you liked your plan/doctor, you could keep it under Obamacare? Well, you couldn’t keep your plan or your doctor.
Since Obama’s presidency, the Democratic Party has been decimated nationwide. The GOP now controls two-thirds of the governorships, the White House, Congress and 69 out of 99 state legislatures. They are the dominant political force in the country. Democrats bet everything on Obama, building a party around him. In a way, it paid off—they won two presidential elections in a row, but he’s gone. There’s no idea who leads the Democratic Party yet. It should be Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez, but He seems to be indecisive to take on that role. So the left is going to utilize the man who set the house on fire to try to fix it. Obama will be reborn into a political fight on the fundraising circuit, starting with this year’s Virginia gubernatorial election (via Hill):
Since leaving office, he has met — at his request — with a group of members of the House and Senate in his office in Washington’s West End and by telephone.
In recent months, for example, he met one-on-one with recent Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), according to a Democrat familiar with the meeting.
He also met and spoke by phone with Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez in the spring, according to two sources.
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A DNC source described Obama’s calls with Perez as regular “briefings.”
Since leaving the White House, Obama has not appeared publicly on the political stage.
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According to a source close to the former president, Obama wants to provide space for recent party leaders but also wants to be an “accessible resource” for those crafting the Democratic message.
Obama’s conversations with legislators and party leaders are said to be of a mixed nature.
With Perez, the men discussed the outlines of the party’s future. With others, he discussed policy.
Obama, known for his ability to reach diverse groups across the Democratic Party, has spoken of his intention to heal the current divisions in the party by explaining policy nuances through storytelling.
Obama’s post-presidency office declined to comment on the story.
The former president is expected to stay out of politics for now, but he will begin appearing on social media in the fall, fundraising and representing candidates including Ralph Northam, a Democrat running for governor of Virginia, according to sources familiar with his plans.
Northam turned to the former president, who won elections in 2008 and 2012 with the support of millennials and African Americans, and asked him to get involved.
Obama is a major player for the party. The problem is that only Democrats like him. Obama did well enough with the white working class in defeating Mitt Romney to secure a second term, in part because he moved into deep red districts, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough explained, to prevent a rural surge that could have made things complex for 44t president. I’m sure he didn’t expect to win rural America, but when you lose 25 red districts instead of 50, and you still have solid gains in heavily Democratic urban areas, that’s how you win. It worked well for Obama. Now, after two terms and a failure to deliver on his 2012 election promises, especially on jobs, I doubt those people will vote Democratic in 2018. Chris Arnade of Guardianas “Washington Examiner” Salena Zito has traveled hundreds of thousands of miles speaking and reporting from rural America. It’s tough. Even Hillary voters like Anthony Rice of Youngstown, Ohio, have said: was not surprised by Trump’s victory.
“Obama promised a lot, and very little came of it. Maybe New York delivered on its promises. This street here is still full of houses falling to pieces,” he said.
In the Democratic stronghold of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, many voters simply stayed out of the election, unenthusiastic about Hillary and disappointed that their lives had not improved under Obama, even though his presidency promised to do so. New York Times was informed about it lack of enthusiasm from Democratic strongholds. But these are the people who don’t need convincing. Obama needs to try to win over white working-class voters who decisively rejected the Democratic Party in 2016. Democrats in much of Appalachia are an endangered species. This area used to be the party’s backbone. On top of that, these voters see a media environment hostile to Trump, who has only solid support in some corners. Even with Trump’s approval ratings being feeble, because Democrats are struggling with recruitment (i.e., not recruits per se, but finding people who can actually win) and because GOP voters are more dispersed than the Democratic super-densities in cities, it’s entirely possible that the GOP is holding on to its majority. “New York Times” Nate Cohn also warned that even with an boost in Democratic turnout, it may not be enough, as we saw in GA-06, leaving Democrats with an electorate in 2018 similar to that of 2016, which benefited Trump and Republicans.
Jon Ossoff’s loss in the Georgia special election, the most costly House election in history, to Republican Karen Handel shows that Democrats still haven’t figured out how to win over suburban voters who lean Republican. To further dampen Democrats’ hopes, left-wing think tank Third Way has observed, “Democrats still wouldn’t win the House even if they could get every 2016 Clinton voter who supported a Republican House candidate to show up again in 2018 and switch sides.” They also said that there aren’t enough suburban House districts for Democrats to win back to retake the House.
Democrats have 1,000 fewer members in office since 2008-09. That’s the words of Obama’s former chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. The Democratic butcher bill under Obama is huge. It destroyed the party, and now the left, who have no one else, is forced to bring it back to rebuild. This situation, which is really about asking an arsonist to rebuild a house, could be a brilliant idea that will further excite the Democratic base and could bring huge dollars to the Democratic war chest for 2018. It could also be a sign of desperation. In addition, Obama and Hillary Clinton, who has launched her own super PAC that will soon be focused on the 2018 election, are also energizing the GOP base. Add to that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who helped to defeat Jon Ossoff in Georgia, and it could be another melancholy year for the left. Obama, Clinton, and Pelosi want to overturn the 2016 election. That would be the sentiment among GOP voters, and it could be sturdy enough to make even the most reluctant Republican voter in the Trump era vote against the Democrats. So Democrats, by all means — work with the man who sowed the seeds of your ruin.
