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It is truly bizarre to see Democratic candidates taking turns attacking Obama's legacy, since the very voters demographic that these absolute nobodies wishes to court in the Primary would much prefer an expansion of what President Obama has built, rather than their increasingly-radical leftist ideas.
He's the most popular figure in the Democratic Party by far, revered by liberals, moderates and even some Republicans.
But former President Barack Obama -- who has remained largely silent amid a rancorous Democratic primary -- came under a harsh spotlight as candidates vying for his onetime job picked apart aspects of his legacy during Wednesday night's debate.
The skeptical examination of the party's de facto leader left several veterans of the Obama administration outraged that more attacks were trained on the former President than the current one. And Obama has privately expressed some disapproval of what he views as unrealistic proposals from some Democratic candidates, according to a source familiar with those conversations.
From health care to immigration to trade, key accomplishments of the Obama administration came under fire and faced a sometimes-unflattering re-examination by candidates eager to keep their campaigns alive by trying to prove their progressive credentials.
Liberal candidates advocating for a government-run health care system have deemed Obama's signature law, the Affordable Care Act, as inadequate. Some of Biden's Democratic rivals attempted to hold him accountable or the high level of deportations during Obama's tenure. Even the massive trade pact his administration negotiated with Pacific Rim nations was criticized as lacking environmental and labor protections - by Biden himself.
Trump, who watched the debates and is following the Democratic primary closely, gleefully took note.
"The Democrats spent more time attacking Barack Obama than they did attacking me, practically," Trump told a rally crowd Thursday night in Cincinnati.
A spokesman for Obama on Thursday declined to comment on the attacks, keeping with the former President's practice of not directly weighing in on the 2020 campaign and political discussions.
But the blistering criticism underscores a dramatic shift underway inside the Democratic Party, which is no longer the party of Obama, despite him being out of office less than three years.
Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who served as the first White House chief to Obama, said Democratic presidential candidates were being extraordinarily short-sighted and wrong-headed by assailing the Obama administration's record, rather than trying to build upon it.
"We have seen this movie before. Democrats need to wake up," Emanuel told CNN. "I would not treat the Obama years as something to be airbrushed out of history. Every one of these things needs to be built upon."
In an interview on Thursday morning, less than 12 hours after the debate ended, the displeasure was clear in Emanuel's voice. Several of the party's presidential candidates were misreading the electorate, he said, and should be taking cues from last year's successful midterm elections when Democrats reminded voters that Trump and Republicans are trying to wipe out the Affordable Care Act.
"Everybody has got to be kidding me here," Emanuel said. "You have a perfect set up. President Trump is suing to undue it. We won an election on it. I don't get this."
Even as the Democratic Party has notably shifted to the left, a critical discussion of the Obama record has been largely overshadowed by the chaotic first term of the Trump administration.
Nowhere is that more evident than in the debate over immigration, an issue that's galvanized the country as Trump adopted a hardline approach, including ordering raids on undocumented immigrants and controversial policies that have led to children being separated from their parents.
The attention on the issue has led to scrutiny of Obama's own record, which earned him the nickname "deporter in chief" from some immigration activists and regularly prompted protests at his events while he was in office.
Even Trump, watching from the White House, saw an opportunity in the Democrats' rebukes of Obama's immigration record.
"The cages for kids were built by the Obama Administration in 2014," he wrote, referring to the facilities used to hold undocumented migrant children. "He had the policy of child separation. I ended it even as I realized that more families would then come to the Border!"
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/08/01/politics/obama-legacy-democratic-primary/index.html
Blistering criticism of Obama highlights dramatic shift inside Democratic Party
By Jeff Zeleny and Kevin Liptak | August 02, 2019
By Jeff Zeleny and Kevin Liptak | August 02, 2019
He's the most popular figure in the Democratic Party by far, revered by liberals, moderates and even some Republicans.
But former President Barack Obama -- who has remained largely silent amid a rancorous Democratic primary -- came under a harsh spotlight as candidates vying for his onetime job picked apart aspects of his legacy during Wednesday night's debate.
The skeptical examination of the party's de facto leader left several veterans of the Obama administration outraged that more attacks were trained on the former President than the current one. And Obama has privately expressed some disapproval of what he views as unrealistic proposals from some Democratic candidates, according to a source familiar with those conversations.
From health care to immigration to trade, key accomplishments of the Obama administration came under fire and faced a sometimes-unflattering re-examination by candidates eager to keep their campaigns alive by trying to prove their progressive credentials.
Liberal candidates advocating for a government-run health care system have deemed Obama's signature law, the Affordable Care Act, as inadequate. Some of Biden's Democratic rivals attempted to hold him accountable or the high level of deportations during Obama's tenure. Even the massive trade pact his administration negotiated with Pacific Rim nations was criticized as lacking environmental and labor protections - by Biden himself.
Trump, who watched the debates and is following the Democratic primary closely, gleefully took note.
"The Democrats spent more time attacking Barack Obama than they did attacking me, practically," Trump told a rally crowd Thursday night in Cincinnati.
A spokesman for Obama on Thursday declined to comment on the attacks, keeping with the former President's practice of not directly weighing in on the 2020 campaign and political discussions.
But the blistering criticism underscores a dramatic shift underway inside the Democratic Party, which is no longer the party of Obama, despite him being out of office less than three years.
Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who served as the first White House chief to Obama, said Democratic presidential candidates were being extraordinarily short-sighted and wrong-headed by assailing the Obama administration's record, rather than trying to build upon it.
"We have seen this movie before. Democrats need to wake up," Emanuel told CNN. "I would not treat the Obama years as something to be airbrushed out of history. Every one of these things needs to be built upon."
In an interview on Thursday morning, less than 12 hours after the debate ended, the displeasure was clear in Emanuel's voice. Several of the party's presidential candidates were misreading the electorate, he said, and should be taking cues from last year's successful midterm elections when Democrats reminded voters that Trump and Republicans are trying to wipe out the Affordable Care Act.
"Everybody has got to be kidding me here," Emanuel said. "You have a perfect set up. President Trump is suing to undue it. We won an election on it. I don't get this."
Even as the Democratic Party has notably shifted to the left, a critical discussion of the Obama record has been largely overshadowed by the chaotic first term of the Trump administration.
Nowhere is that more evident than in the debate over immigration, an issue that's galvanized the country as Trump adopted a hardline approach, including ordering raids on undocumented immigrants and controversial policies that have led to children being separated from their parents.
The attention on the issue has led to scrutiny of Obama's own record, which earned him the nickname "deporter in chief" from some immigration activists and regularly prompted protests at his events while he was in office.
Even Trump, watching from the White House, saw an opportunity in the Democrats' rebukes of Obama's immigration record.
"The cages for kids were built by the Obama Administration in 2014," he wrote, referring to the facilities used to hold undocumented migrant children. "He had the policy of child separation. I ended it even as I realized that more families would then come to the Border!"
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/08/01/politics/obama-legacy-democratic-primary/index.html
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