When twice-failed Democrat presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton failed to defeat President Trump in 2016, Obama’s legacy was in jeopardy. She was his chosen heir apparent, the one who would cement his legacy, yet his support didn’t help her in her presidential aspirations.
And now Obama’s legacy is in tatters. Trump has significantly undermined ObamaCare, ended the bad Iran deal and the ridiculous Paris climate agreement, and rolled back many Obama-era regulations. But the most significant attacks on the Obama legacy come not from Trump but from Democrats.
Former VP and former Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) is campaigning, in large part, on keeping and expanding ObamaCare, that “big f*ing deal” that turned out to be a major flop. It’s so bad, in fact, that even Biden thinks it has to be “fixed.” Democrat primary voters apparently disagree and favor “Medicare for all” (at least until they find out what’s in it).
The latest repudiation of Obama and his legacy also comes from Democrats. The DNC is rightfully still reeling from the massive Democrat losses that occurred nationwide under Obama. Under Obama, Democrats lost a jaw-dropping number of seats across the board. In local, state, and federal elections, Democrats lost 1,030 seats as of 2016.
Obama’s fixation on Obama is becoming a more public bone of contention among Democrats as the Party now requires Democrat presidential candidates to disavow the building of parallel political groups like Obama’s Organizing for Action (previously Organizing for America).
To this day, many Democratic Party officials still fume about Barack Obama’s decision to create his own political group outside of the Democratic National Committee, Organizing for Action.Now they’ve ensured it won’t happen again if a Democrat wins the White House in 2020.The Association of State Democratic Committees announced Tuesday that every leading presidential contender has vowed not to create “any organizing or messaging infrastructure that is parallel or duplicative” to the DNC or state parties. The signed pledge also binds candidates to publicly call on their supporters not to launch outside groups on their behalf.. . . . “It’s a huge shift,” said Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party. The move sends two messages, she added: “You cannot create another OFA,” and “the DNC is an important national infrastructure, but it’s not in the states — we are.”Organizing for Action, the political group that grew out of Obama’s first presidential run, decentralized power from the DNC by building a parallel infrastructure that competed for donors. It was a move that many state party chairs loathed, and in the years since have faulted for Democrats’ losses at the gubernatorial and statehouse level.“It wasn’t helpful to the political work that needs to get done in building a bench,” said Stephen Handwerk, executive director of the Louisiana Democratic Party. “We have a political tool in the state parties and the president should use them.”
Hardest hit? Bernie and his cranky, shouty commie “revolution” thing.
Politico continues:
But Our Revolution was a point of contention during discussions with the Sanders campaign, according to people familiar with the negotiations. Sanders has long identified as an independent in the Senate, though he caucuses with Democrats. He is a self-described democratic socialist.It’s uncertain what the agreement will mean for organizations like Our Revolution and Next Gen, an outside political group formed by billionaire Tom Steyer, who’s now running for president.“We can’t have competing centers of gravity as we move forward,” said Ken Martin, chair of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and president of the state Democratic committees. “We’ve learned the lessons of the past.”“If Sen. Sanders is the president, he would put his energy and political capital into the Democratic Party,” Martin added.Sanders’ campaign argued that Our Revolution could remain in operation because the group already acts and operates “independently” from the Vermont senator. Jeff Weaver, a senior adviser to Sanders, said outside groups such as Move On, Progressive Change Campaign Committee or Third Way would likewise not be affected by the pledge.
No one expects Bernie to get the nomination, so this is aimed at self-styled “bigger than the party types” who share Obama’s self-assessment of himself as super special and stuff.
With Obama’s legacy in tatters and his administration under investigation, the Democratic Party may be attempting to save its own from future humiliation. Or it could be making the move to rebuild its own power and reverse Democrat losses endured under Obama. Or maybe we should embrace the power of “and” in this case.
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