The most unusual thing about Barack Obama’s presidency is not that he was the first black president, but the unprecedented way in which he’s clinging to power after having left the White House.
Whereas most former presidents do a bit of speaking, write a book and then fade off into retirement, Obama is swapping out that last bit for continued political machinations.
Over the past couple weeks, a clearer picture has emerged regarding how exactly Obama intends to return to the political arena, and what role exactly he will play in the future of the Democratic Party.
There’s concern that having Obama take center stage would only prevent any other Democrat from gaining enough popularity and momentum to actually challenge Trump in 2020, which would suit Trump just fine.
Similarly, while Trump’s approval ratings may be faltering, he was elected largely because the American public was fed-up with Obama’s policies, and felt Hillary would just be more of the same. As such, Obama would make too easy a punching bag for Trump.
So, according to party insiders, Obama will go back to his community organizing roots and engage primarily in fundraising for the party.
“He’ll tread lightly because he is not going to be the face of the Party when it actually counts in 2020 and 2024,” Cal Jillson, a professor of political science at Southern Methodist University, told Dennis Michale Lynch.
Interestingly, the person currently throwing a wrench in Obama’s efforts to quietly rehabilitate the party is none other than Hillary Clinton.
DML explained:
Obama is doing much better at following the “hang back” advice from Democratic strategists than former candidate Hillary Clinton. Rather than help to move forward behind the scenes, Clinton is moving the Party backward publicly. As primary elections begin to ramp up for the 2018 midterms, Clinton plans to release a collection of essays, “What Happened,” that explains why she thinks she lost the 2016 election.
“It’s wise for both Clinton and Obama to hang back at this point,” one Democratic strategist said. “Otherwise, our Party will have an even harder time rebounding.”
“We already lack a party leader, we lack a vision, we lack an identity,” the strategist said bluntly. “We can’t remain stuck in the past.”
(via: Conservative Post)
