Though Constitutionally prohibited from running for a third term, President Obama’s days of campaigning and giving stump speeches are far from over. The President has recently found himself working to ensure the 2016 election of Democrats to the House, Senate and Presidency, and thereby help to preserve his most excellent legacy.
Speaking recently at a fundraiser for the DCCC, DSCC, and DNC, the President had disparaging words about the current state of the Republican Party, as well as dire predictions for the future of our United States should the GOP take back the oval office. Obama acknowledged that despite the administration’s many successes with the economy people still suffer from economic anxiety due the stagnation of wages and income.
When people are forced to worry about each dollar, he conceded, “The politics of fear oftentimes can override the politics of hope.” Though not directly referencing the candidacy of Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner, Obama explained that anxiety of this type of character often leads to an anti-immigrant sentiment, as well as “in cheap jingoism and militarism and nationalism that’s not grounded in our national security interests. And it’s a dangerous path.”
Despite admitting that he was never an intrinsically partisan politician, Obama made it clear that the current choice for the election in 2016 couldn’t be more stark. Stating that facts, evidence, and values were all on the side of the Democrats, the President then offered his harshest indictment of the current state of the Republican Party:
“The other side has gone off the deep end. And what you’re witnessing in the House fight right now is that even deeply conservative folks are not considered ideologically pure enough and we would rather burn the House down than admit the possibility of democratic process that requires compromise.”
Obama stressed that the time had come for anyone who supported his administration to work harder than they had ever. The alternative would be to let the GOP, and their anti-change agenda to dominate the polls the way they did in 2010 and 2012. And the consequences of that would be devastating, not just for the country, but also for planet as a whole. The opportunity to cement the progress of his administration is now, the president said.
“If you let it pass, then you’ve got people in charge who don’t believe in climate change. So I feel as much urgency about this upcoming election as I’ve felt about any election, and I am not on the ballot.”
Summing up, his concern for the nation, Obama finished with this:
“I definitely need a Democratic successor because the alternatives we’ve got are not what I had in mind.”