Obama tells Democratic candidates to ease off talk of revolution

[comradebillyboy]

Former president Barack Obama on Friday urged Democrats running for the White House not to lurch too far left in their pursuit of the nomination, while at the same time seeking to quell concerns in the party about its 2020 hopefuls and the messy primary season to come.

The comments — made in Washington at a meeting of the Democracy Alliance, a powerful network of liberal donors — marked some of Obama’s most pointed words yet about a fluid primary in which he is not picking sides. They echoed previous comments in which he warned about the dangers of pursuing purity and rigidity in politics.

“This is still a country that is less revolutionary than it is interested in improvement,” Obama said. “They like seeing things improved. But the average American doesn’t think that we have to completely tear down the system and remake it. And I think it’s important for us not to lose sight of that.”

Obama did not name any candidates. But some Democrats associate the characteristics he described with Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), staunch liberal candidates advocating sweeping change who are running near the top of the polls.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-tells-democratic-candidates-to-ease-off-talk-of-revolution/2019/11/15/93569ddc-07fd-11ea-924a-28d87132c7ec_story.html

[msongs]

1. oh no which candidate(s) will out themselves and threaten to sue Obama lol nt

[comradebillyboy]

3. Only one I can think of...

[Scotch-Irish]

56. You must be a Gabbard fan.

Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are not the type to be that petty.

[highplainsdem]

2. Kudos to Obama. He nailed it. And he's obviously worried about how extreme

some of our candidates are.

[choie]

39. "Extreme"

you've got to be kidding..

[BlueMTexpat]

46. This. eom

[George II]

4. Looks like he's inching toward a Biden endorsement.

[Kurt V.]

6. i doubt president Obama will endorse anyone

[George II]

13. Probably not, at least not directly by name.

[KayF]

68. or Bloomberg n/t

[Kurt V.]

5. meh. a democratic socialist and lefty capitalist are among the front runners.

that just might be meaningful. ...

[msongs]

8. meaningful to tiny percent of people paying attention to primary politics presently nt

[Kurt V.]

15. i can't disagree with your point. That's why momentum is key. so when president Obama says these

things to temper that momentum im a bit put off.

[whathehell]

36. You have the stats?

[dware]

9. Yes, but what about the rest of the nation?

Does middle America want to tear down the existing system and replace it with??????

That's what Pres. Obama is warning against.
It would do well to listen to what this wise man has to say.

[Kurt V.]

12. i live in middle America. Republicans no, democrats absofuckinglutely. we see the devastation

of corporatism to our everyday lives. mom and pop gets no help here. the rich and connected get no scrutiny.

[dware]

28. Every Democrat wants to tear down the system?

I really don't think so, in fact, I'll wager that the majority of Democrats don't want to tear down the existing system, we just want to fix it.

I agree with Pres. Obama, as I suspect the majority of American Democrats do.

As I said, it would do well to listen to this wise man.

[Woodycall]

31. tear down the existing system and replace it with??????...

How about a return to The New Deal?????

[dware]

32. That might be feasible,

but it would have to be tweaked to adapt to existing times, but I do like the idea.

[in2herbs]

57. Why does change and improvement for the middle class have to defined as tearing down

the existing system?

I voted for BO but as the first black president he would never have been elected without a revolution and a tearing down the existing political system of rich old white men. He would be wise to remember that.

[Funtatlaguy]

10. Hahaha. Thank you for that.

[Cha]

7. Haha! No worries President Obama.. Fred Guttenberg on "revolution"..

"I’m saying, look, the revolution is beating Donald Trump. That’s the revolution.” This is the most important factor in this election."

Link to tweet

I stand with President Obama! Mahalo, comradebillyboy!

[Gothmog]

43. I miss having a real POTUS

Link to tweet

[Cha]

44. Of course they are.. so predictable.. I stand by

President Obama.. I miss having him as our POTUS, too, Goth!

Mahalo!

[dware]

48. I too really, really miss Pres. Obama.

Shame that he couldn't have run again against the Orange Blob, he would have wiped the floor up with him.

He is a very wise and thoughtful man and it would behoove us to seriously listen to what he has to say, I know I do.

[pbmus]

11. Spoken with malice towards none...

[Thekaspervote]

14. spoken by someone giving good advice who really cares... but taken as an insult all the same

[highplainsdem]

16. No malice in what Obama said. Just wisdom, experience, realism, and neverending concern for

our country and world.

[emmaverybo]

20. +1000

[Cha]

22. Exactly, hpd.. President Obama wants to WIN

like we all do!

Thank you!

[Rebl2]

27. Agreed!

[dware]

49. +2000.

[Tarheel_Dem]

65. Spoken with the wisdom & experience of having run & won two presidential elections.

PBO is someone who still has his finger on the pulse of the Democratic electorate; not to mention he is hugely popular within its ranks.

[myohmy2]

17. depends...

"But the average American doesn’t think that we have to completely tear down the system and remake it."

...I don't know about that...it depends on where you live, what parts of the system need tearing down and who you're talking to...one thing's for certain, we're not in 'normal times',

...number one, we know trump is president and that fact alone tells me we're not in historically 'normal times' with normal expectations...

...number two, President Obama has thus far remained out of the fray, and as far as I know, has not endorsed anyone for president...however, I think it would be fair to say, if President Obama did have a favorite in the race it wouldn't be Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren...

...President Obama governed quite moderately while Bernie and Elizabeth are calling for large system change...

...is large system change needed and necessary?...that's the question voters will decide...

...I think it is...

[ritapria]

18. What about the 60% of the nation living paycheck to paycheck ?

[BeyondGeography]

24. It's 78 percent

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2019/01/11/live-paycheck-to-paycheck-government-shutdown/amp/

[Nitram]

19. We don't need "a revolution." We need to restore the rule of law and the constitutional order.

Schiff, Pelosi, et al are guiding us towards that goal with a sure hand. Warren is not advocating resolution. She wants affordable health care, a healthy model class, and rational rules regulating the greed of corporations.

[emmaverybo]

21. Those who already have good quality and affordable healthcare want to keep it. They do not want

to deprive others of also having such access. Why can there not be choice and coverage for all, a common goal in our party?

[Nitram]

26. I agree. That's not a revolution. That's democracy.

[BeyondGeography]

23. We have serious problems

We need more than “improvements.”

[crazytown]

25. Obligatory Beatles (in HD)

[lutherj]

29. Except for climate change that would be good advice. What we need is a world-wide ground-swell

like we see in Hong Kong and Chile and Argentina and Puerto Rico and Lebanon. Like the actions of extinction rebellion and the #me too movement and black lives matter and the indigenous peoples in South America and Canada and Standing Rock. Smells like revolution to me.

[underthematrix]

30. This just tickled me. President Obama is so low key and BTW.

[bucolic_frolic]

33. Be like the conservatives

Don't announce it, just do it, and call it something else. Progress. Reform.

And btw, why could Republicans have their Reagan Revolution, but we can't have ours? I'd bet we can't even call it a Restoration without getting in a food fight.

[betsuni]

34. Because the "revolution" talk is pseudo.

[TygrBright]

35. He already demonstrated: Don't "talk" revolution. BE revolution. n/t

[YOHABLO]

37. Let's see, no ''Revolution'' just ''Change will Come to America''.

[Hekate]

38. Kudos

[aikoaiko]

40. So much for hope and change.

[redqueen]

41. Have seen a lot of people freaking out about this

but it just seems like common sense to me.

We need swing voters, and we need Obama's Trump voters back. Or Trump's Obama voters. Either way, we need them.

[Gothmog]

42. I agree with President Obama

Link to tweet

Obama’s vice president, Joe Biden, has campaigned aggressively on expanding the Affordable Care Act with an optional public insurance program, as has South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, another top candidate.

That has put them at odds with Warren and Sanders, who favor implementing a new Medicare-for-all system that would insure everyone through the government.

Obama did not indicate a preference Friday.

The former president seemed to be urging a balance between striving for bold new ideas and being in touch with voters’ concerns. While it is the role of activists to push for dramatic change, Obama said, candidates should aim to win elections.

“My point is that even as we push the envelope and we are bold in our vision, we also have to be rooted in reality and the fact that voters, including Democratic voters and certainly persuadable independents or even moderate Republicans, are not driven by the same views that are reflected on certain, you know, left-leaning Twitter feeds or the activist wing of our party,” he said.

[The Valley Below]

45. What does Obama know about winning?

[Joe941]

47. It's a speach with a goal of saving the aca I get it...

But mfa might just be a better system that wont leave so many behind.

[Doremus]

50. "Improvement" is another word for "incrementalism"

We've done incrementalism for 40 years.

It was brought to us by the following sponsors: corporations, top 1%ers, plutocrats, Wall Street, hedge fund managers, billionaires, trust fund empires and the rest of the filthy rich. All of whom are scared witless that everyday Americans are starting to wake from their coma. So they stoke up their propaganda machines to use our worst fears against us -- that unless we go along with more incrementalism we're going to re-elect the worst president in history.

Without a little courage and a willingness to trust our guts, it's a self fulfilling prophecy.

[beachbumbob]

51. Obama understands that america is a center-left and wild swing to the left will lose elections in

states that democrats MUST win. What plays in California or Massachusetts will not play in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Iowa. We even have possibilities now in Texas, but not for a left candidate.

[MontanaMama]

52. I think we should listen to PBO.

He has been in the trenches and knows what he’s talking about. We have to restore the rule of law in this country first and foremost.

[DCofVA]

53. So, Obama doesn't always get it right.

I can’t think of a more effective way of loosing an election than to ask the voters to curb their enthusiasm.

[LongtimeAZDem]

54. "Enthusiasm" is not equivalent to "revolution"

[Joe941]

55. Yup you nailed it.

[Doremus]

61. Correct. "Safe" may be comforting but it doesn't guarantee a win.

I'd rather fight for something worth achieving than to settle for an illusion of safety that in truth has an equal or greater chance of failing. But then again, I'm of the school that thinks we should negotiate from the top and work down, not vice versa.

[Sparko55]

58. We are here today with Trump and Republithugs because of half measure following the 2008 meltdown

Why is it that for Progressives all their measures are "too extreme" and the public isn't there. We are today stuck with Trump and Republithugs because what needed to be done post 2008, much like in 1933 with FDR going to the White House, Barack and the Dems at the time just couldn't bring themselves to doing to the snowflakes on Wall Street. So the public got austerity, bankruptcy, home foreclosures, and the powers that be got government bailouts, forbearance, and yes forgiveness. I've lived in middle America (Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Texas) 55 of my 64 years, and in 3 or the 4 states witnessed financial destruction of our manufacturing base, consolidation or "right sizing" of hundreds of small manufacturers and emptying out of small towns of jobs, and the only ones making out on those deals was the hot money from Wall Street and the banks. And that didn't change like Barack so well diagnosed in his taken out of context campaign analysis delivered in Pennsylvania in 2008 that has been remembered as the "guns and bible" sermon. None of that has changed much with the current administration and people are still pissed.

Do you think something has to radically change in the those parts of the country - YES INDEED. And unless the Democratic Party can clearly delineate a path forward, rather than trumpet the success of Blue States and Blue Cities in red country, then 2020 may well end up a repeat of 2016 thanks to the skewing of the electoral college. It always seems that the uber wealthy and their accomplices are at the ready to throw anchors around policies that advocate for the majority of the people, and that the majority of the people actually support. And here we are again with the Steve Ratners and others chiming in on those "radical" Democrats in the primaries. Raising the minimum wage that has been stuck for over a decade while other costs mount - is not radical. Having a national health care system as all the other OECD top 30 countries have - is not radical. Having regulations on unbridled capitalism that privatizes gains and socializes losses - is not radical. Having strong environmental laws that prevents pollution and that can begin to address climate change - is not radical.

So, unless voices in the party cannot offer the way forward apart from "don't move too far left", then enough of half measures. That approach where each time you ask for part of the pie, and are given half, and the next time ask for part of the pie, but begin with only 1/2 and receive 1/2, and then when only 1/4 remains and are told you can only have 1/2 - eventually leaves only crumbs. That's been the playbook of the right and Dems that go along with that approach. Time to take the whole damn pie and tell them what they can have and not have.

[DCofVA]

60. Right on, Sparko!

[BeyondGeography]

63. People might not know the exact numbers, but they get the picture

Same ole same ole hasn’t worked

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

62. President Carter agrees with President Obama

Link to tweet

Former President Jimmy Carter sees little hope for the U.S. to change its human rights and environmental policies as long as Donald Trump is in the White House, but he has a warning for his fellow Democrats looking to oust the current administration: Don't go too far to the left.

"Independents need to know they can invest their vote in the Democratic Party," Carter said Tuesday during his annual report at his post-presidential center and library in Atlanta, where he offered caution about the political consequences should Democrats "move to a very liberal program, like universal health care."....

Still, Carter stressed, Democrats nationally must "appeal to independents" who are souring on the current administration.

Trump's job approval rating, according to Gallup, has dipped to 40 percent, mostly because of declining support among independents.

Carter alluded to arguments from self-identified progressives that Democrats will sacrifice votes on the left if they don't embrace the liberal base: "I don't think any Democrat is going to vote against a Democratic nominee," and he insisted that he's not asking the left to sacrifice its goals, only to see that winning elections is necessary to accomplish any of them.

[Tarheel_Dem]

64. That's my POTUS.

[EmInColorado]

66. Bree Newsome....

Link to tweet

?s=20

[BlueWI]

67. OK.

How do you prevent plutocracy and a climate emergency with "improvement"? If there are ways to do that, I agree with Obama.

The scale of solutions needs to be on par with the scale of the problems. Otherwise, we fail future generations in an epic way, with wealth concentration and climate conditions escalating to the point where no viable solutions exist. That's the trajectory we are on.

Presidents past and present need to let the candidates for the nomination and the voters of the Democratic party in 2020 decide who moves us forward. Period.

[BeckyDem]

69. But we aren't "pushing the party left," we are bringing the party home.

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

70. Obama tells Democrats worried about the primary field to 'chill out'

Link to tweet

Appearing at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser attended by about 100 of Silicon Valley’s deep-pocketed donors, the former president told the crowd that it is paramount that the party stay focused on defeating President Trump next November rather than be consumed by intraparty squabbles and purity tests, CNN reported.

“Everybody needs to chill out about the candidates but gin up about the prospect of rallying behind whoever emerges from this process,” Obama said in response to a question about the primary, according to CNN....

“I’m always suspicious of purity tests during elections,” Obama said, according to the New York Times. “Because you know what? The country’s complicated.”....

“This is still a country that is less revolutionary than it is interested in improvement,” Obama said at a Nov. 15 meeting of the Democracy Alliance in Washington. “They like seeing things improved. But the average American doesn’t think that we have to completely tear down the system and remake it. And I think it’s important for us not to lose sight of that.

“My point is that even as we push the envelope and we are bold in our vision,” he said Nov. 15, “we also have to be rooted in reality and the fact that voters, including Democratic voters and certainly persuadable independents or even moderate Republicans, are not driven by the same views that are reflected on certain, you know, left-leaning Twitter feeds or the activist wing of our party.”

[BannonsLiver]

71. The most important point he made was the country is complicated

The Our Revolution people think everywhere is Vermont.