Obama Privately Considering 'Stop-Bernie Campaign': Report
Obama Privately Considering 'Stop-Bernie Campaign': Report
Former President Barack Obama. (Matt Johnson / Flickr)
Former President Barack Obama reportedly told advisers behind closed doors
earlier this year that he would actively oppose Sen. Bernie Sanders if the
progressive senator from Vermont opened up a big lead in the 2020 Democratic
presidential primary race.
"Publicly, [Obama] has been clear that he won't intervene in the primary for
or against a candidate," Politico reported Tuesday. "There is one potential
exception: Back when Sanders seemed like more of a threat than he does now,
Obama said privately that if Bernie were running away with the nomination,
Obama would speak up to stop him."
Progressives viewed Obama's comments as further evidence that the former
president, who was elected in 2008 on the soaring promise of "hope and
change," is now using his influence on the Democratic Party to undercut the
grassroots push for transformational policies like Medicare for All and the
Green New Deal.
"Obama's post-presidency is grating and full of contradictions," tweeted
David Klion, news editor at Jewish Currents. "He considers himself the
leader of the party but refuses to lead. He considers himself a success but
the mere fact of Trump's presidency belies this. He won on hope and counsels
hopelessness."
One anonymous Obama adviser would not confirm to Politico that Obama "would
really lay himself on the line to prevent a Sanders nomination."
"He hasn't said that directly to me," the adviser said. "The only reason I'm
hesitating at all is because, yeah, if Bernie were running away with it, I
think maybe we would all have to say something. But I don't think that's
likely. It's not happening."
According to Politico, Obama plans to speak out more frequently about the
state of U.S. politics in the coming weeks. Earlier this month, Obama told a
roomful of rich donors that he is worried about "certain left-leaning
Twitter feeds" and "the activist wing of our party," sparking outrage from
progressives.
"Over the next year, Obama, according to his closest advisers, will start to
emerge with slightly bolder colors," Politico reported Tuesday. "The boldest
might be riding into a battle unfolding on his own side, if he did lead a
potential stop-Bernie campaign."
Obama advisers told Politico they don't believe Sanders has a chance to win
the Democratic presidential nomination. But recent polling suggests the
Vermont senator is experiencing what his campaign described as a "surge."
A Morning Consult tracking poll released Monday showed Sanders has gained
nine points in early primary and caucus states since October. Sanders has
also jumped back into second place behind former Vice President Joe Biden in
Real Clear Politics' national polling average.
Obama's position on Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a 2020 Democratic
presidential candidate, has also been antagonistic, according to Politico.
"Back in early 2015, when Warren was considering running for president and
started to excite progressives, Obama said privately that if Democrats
rallied around her as their nominee it would be a repudiation of him-a clear
sign that his economic decisions after the Great Recession had been seen as
inadequate," Politico reported. "There are very few former senior Obama
officials in Warren's campaign."
David Dayen, executive editor for The American Prospect, wrote last week
that Obama's attacks on the progressive wing of the Democratic Party "are
music to the ears of the wealthy and powerful."
"This defense of the reigning economic order, originating with the donor
class and media allies, with its effective abandonment of the vulnerable and
disenfranchised, with nothing for those struggling to make it in a rigged
economy, is a recipe for social and political unrest," Dayen wrote. "From
lofty heights, Obama has now become a dampener of hope, a barrier to change,
and a threat to progress."
Jake Johnson / Common Dreams