If you know anything about President Obama, you know that he loves to campaign and he’s quite good at it. He loves speaking to adoring crowds of fans, and answering softball questions from his disciples in the press.
Obama signaled his eminent return to politics by weighing in on the special election in Georgia.
Politics USA reported:
Obama Jumps Into GA Special Election Race To Slam ‘Shameful’ GOP Voter Suppression TacticsJust a day before voters in Georgia’s sixth congressional district will choose between underdog Democrat Jon Ossoff and Trump-supported Republican Karen Handel, former President Barack Obama jumped into the race to slam GOP efforts to suppress the vote.Responding to an ad being run in Georgia by pro-Trump group Great America Alliance, which “fraudulently” uses Obama’s voice from the audio version of his book “Dreams From My Father,” a spokesman for the 44th president said the radio spot “is a shameful, indefensible tactic that should never be heard on the public airwaves.”
That was just a test run. The race where Obama is expected to really get involved is the next race for governor in Virginia. The Huffington Post reports:
All That Stands Between Democrats And A Massive Freakout Is This ManHaving lost a series of tantalizingly close congressional elections, the Democratic Party has now placed the fate of its collective psyche in the hands of an unassuming, soft-spoken pediatric neurologist.Virginia Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam says he feels no enhanced pressure to win his gubernatorial race this fall, even though his will be most high-profile contest since Democrats lost the much-watched special election in Georgia’s 6th District.“You always feel pressure,” he told HuffPost in an interview. “If you’re not feeling pressure then you’re not out there to win. And we plan to win in November.”But while Northam may be playing it cool, he’s not being complacent. His campaign has plans to canvass the state, from the wealthy northern suburbs to coal country in the southwest. And they’re bringing along the big guns, too. Former President Barack Obama is expected to make his return to electoral politics this fall to join him on the trail, both Northam and Obama’s office confirmed.
Obama has also been unable to remain silent on the efforts to repeal Obamacare, his signature legislative achievement as president. He recently wrote on Facebook:
Our politics are divided. They have been for a long time. And while I know that division makes it difficult to listen to Americans with whom we disagree, that’s what we need to do today.I recognize that repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act has become a core tenet of the Republican Party. Still, I hope that our Senators, many of whom I know well, step back and measure what’s really at stake, and consider that the rationale for action, on health care or any other issue, must be something more than simply undoing something that Democrats did.We didn’t fight for the Affordable Care Act for more than a year in the public square for any personal or political gain – we fought for it because we knew it would save lives, prevent financial misery, and ultimately set this country we love on a better, healthier course.Nor did we fight for it alone. Thousands upon thousands of Americans, including Republicans, threw themselves into that collective effort, not for political reasons, but for intensely personal ones – a sick child, a parent lost to cancer, the memory of medical bills that threatened to derail their dreams.
There are two issues connected to Obama’s return to politics which should concern Democrats. First, if he doesn’t help their efforts and they keep losing, how are they going to ask him to go away?
Second, and more importantly, the longer Obama remains in the political spotlight, the more difficult it’s going to be for new stars to rise in the Democratic Party. They need new blood desperately, the current heavy hitters in the party are senior citizens.
As long as Obama is in the room, he’ll take up all the oxygen and deprive up-and-comers from the attention they’ll need to advance.
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