Former US President Barack Obama attends a town hall meeting at the ‘European School For Management And Technology’ (ESMT) in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
Earlier today I wrote about an unintentionally hilarious piece from the Washington Post that described former President Barack Obama as a “conservative”, and one who wasn’t understood by either Republicans or Democrats.
As I noted in my piece, it’s an erroneous characterization and one that has been soundly refuted numerous times. A more apt description of him is that he’s an incremental liberal – one who was willing to play the long game and accept partial “victories” throughout his presidency in order to make the path easier for the next liberal president to come along who would push even bigger policies that were even more far left than his were.
But the Democratic party that once thought Obama was The Chosen One who could do no wrong is changing. Incremental victories are no longer enough, say presidential candidates like Sens. Elizabeth Warren (MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT). And recent comments made by the 44th POTUS have sparked murmurings that he’s just not woke enough anymore to help carry the party in the far leftward direction they feel it needs to go.
As further evidence, Democrats like Squad Member Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) erupted earlier this month after Obama warned candidates for president against “tearing down the system”:
Former President Barack Obama is facing a new wave of criticism from the Democratic Party’s left flank after cautioning Democrats about going too radical with their policy proposals — in the latest sign of a growing rift between the popular 44th president and the party’s activist base.
Obama on Friday warned 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls to pay attention to what voters actually think, claiming at a gathering of Democratic donors that most of them don’t want to “tear down the system” and that many Democrats “just don’t want to see crazy stuff.” Members of his party soon turned on him, using the hashtag #TooFarLeft.
Democratic candidates for president were muted in their responses, but Omar was one notable Democrat who took part in the hashtag activism against what Obama had to say:
If being #TooFarLeft means believing:
✅ Healthcare is a human right
✅ Future generations should live on a healthy planet
✅ All student debt should be cancelled
✅ The minimum wage should be $15
✅ Lives depend on gun reform
✅ Families don’t belong in cagesCount me in! 💪🏽
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 16, 2019
Peter Daou, a former adviser to both John Kerry and Hillary Clinton, bragged about starting the viral hashtag:
CONFESSION: I'm Too Far Left™
I'm #TooFarLeft because I want kids to be safe in school.
I'm #TooFarLeft because I want people to live in dignity.
I'm #TooFarLeft because I seek justice and equality.
I'm #TooFarLeft because I think healthcare and housing are human rights.
— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) November 16, 2019
Here's the @nytimes on my #TooFarLeft hashtag.
And to be clear, this isn't primarily about Obama for me, though he was the catalyst for the tag.
I've argued for a long time that the political-media establishment NEVER asks if the GOP is too far right.https://t.co/Zce6a7aVWY
— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) November 18, 2019
Related comment from AOC’s Justice Dems buddy Waleed Shahid:
It's weird that Bernie and Warren get described as "far-left" by lots of cable TV pundits while Lindsey Graham continues to be described as a "moderate Republican" despite, you know, everything.
— “Ideas That Are Lying Around” (@_waleedshahid) November 22, 2019
The tag was an example of virtue signaling on steroids, something that Obama himself used to engage in as president when it suited his political purposes.
But now that he’s out of office, his legacy is on the line and he knows it. So he is responding accordingly without outright endorsing or rejecting any of the candidates currently running.
More recently, Obama tempered his remarks, while still cautioning Democrats against “purity tests.” He also urged them to “chill out” with their worries over what he calls “relatively minor” differences between the candidates – because the ultimate goal is to defeat Trump because Orange Man Bad and stuff:
Former President Obama bluntly urged Democrats nervous about the state of the party's primary field to "chill out," stressing that differences between the numerous candidates are "relatively minor" compared to what the Trump administration is doing https://t.co/qxmLFUG9GC pic.twitter.com/6QAWdCm3oC
— CNN (@CNN) November 22, 2019
That should be enough to get him back in the good graces of the Woke Mafia. For now, anyway.
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— Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 16+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter. –
