For the most part, former President Barack Obama has refused to voice his opinions on the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, stating that he won’t endorse a Democrat candidate until one is nominated. However, people who are close to the former president have told news media outlets that the former president is exasperated over the fact that the party has moved so far to the left — and are campaigning against his legacy.
It’s not hard to see why Obama would be upset. The recent debates showcased just how radical the party has become in the mere four years since he left office. Generally speaking, a party upholds the legacy of its last president, pointing out the accomplishments made while the former standard-bearer was in office. This time, however, Democratic candidates were so eager to pummel Obama’s legacy, that one could almost be forgiven for thinking that Obama was a Republican.
During the second round of debates, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Sen. Cory Booker went after former Vice President Joe Biden, asking him about the former president’s record on deporting illegal immigrants. At the same time, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren attacked the Affordable Care Act. Mayor de Blasio joined them, going so far as to state that there is no “working healthcare system in America.”
While the former president has refused to vent his frustrations to the mainstream media, many of his allies are refusing to stay silent. Rahm Emmanuel, who served as Obama’s chief of staff, warned Democrats that it would be better to build on the former president’s policies instead of tearing them down. Former Attorney General Eric Holder warned the Democratic presidential hopefuls that the party had nothing to gain by attacking the legacy of a popular former president. He may actually have a point, given the fact that a recent poll by College Pulse has found that college students consider Barack Obama to be the greatest president in U.S. history.
Complaints aren’t only coming from the Obama camp, either. Rev. Al Sharpton has bluntly stated that going after the former president was a “suicide mission,” and that those who were doing so are proving that they aren’t ready to be president. However, it’s doubtful that any of the Democrats currently running will pay any attention to what senior members of their own party have to say. It’s even less likely that they will listen to GOP strategist Rick Wilson’s accurate assessment that they are almost literally trying to re-elect current President Donald Trump by going after a popular president from their own party.
The fact that leading Democrat presidential candidates are willing to completely eschew Obama’s legacy proves that the party is rushing to bury its past. It also clearly shows that there is a massive rift in the party that will never be mended no matter who happens. Progressives and far-left activists will be furious ifJoe Biden wins the nomination, while independents and moderate Democrats will likely refuse to support a far-left candidate such as Sen. Sanders or Sen. Warren.
President Donald Trump will certainly face a multitude of challenges in his quest for a second term, but Democrat presidential candidates are doing half of the work for him.
